The Case of the Missing Marquess

The Case of the Missing Marquess is a mystery novel for young readers by the American writer Nancy Springer, published in 2006. It is the first of the books about Enola Holmes, the sister of the detective Sherlock Holmes.

Enola has grown up on the family estate with her mother, who raised her to think for herself and gave her the run of the countryside rather than a set of drawing-room accomplishments. When her mother vanishes without a note, her brothers arrive to take charge: Sherlock investigates, and Mycroft decides that Enola's education should be replaced by a suitable boarding establishment. Enola has other plans, and she takes the money her mother left her and makes for London in disguise, which is where she becomes involved in the disappearance of a young marquess. The novel follows her as she works out what her mother was doing before she disappeared and learns what the city is like for a girl on her own with no protector.

Springer's series uses the Holmes family from the outside, and its narrator has to build her own trade in detection because nobody is going to give her one.