The Sequel Is Afoot!

One of the television offerings that helped me weather the early months of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown was the Netflix flick Enola Holmes. While not a perfect picture, that historical mystery featuring Sherlock Holmes’ previously unknown younger sister was unquestionably entertaining, with teenage star Millie Bobby Brown utterly charming in the protagonist’s role. So I’m pleased to hear that a sequel is actually in the works.

According to Hull Daily Mail, Enola Holmes 2 will be shot, at least in part, in the English port city of Kingston upon Hull, aka simply Hull. “Residents living on city-centre streets,” the paper reports, “were informed over the weekend [in early August] that roads in the area will be closed in October” to make way for movie crews. “The production company, Matchsticks Productions, said the filming will take place on Tuesday, October 5, and Wednesday, October 6, later this year.”

Hull’s High Street is to be restored to a late-19th-century version of itself. “With permission from Hull City Council, location manager Esther Aja said, modern street furnishings and signage will be temporarily removed and the street will be dressed in a Victorian fashion,” the Daily Mail says. “High Street, Scale Lane, Bishops Lane and Chapel Lane will be closed off to traffic, but pedestrians would still be able to cross when the cameras are not rolling.”

Radio Times points out that Netflix has not yet announced a release date for this sequel. “The first film in the franchise began production in July 2019 before arriving on Netflix in September 2020,” it explains, “so working on the basis that the sequel will follow the same timeline, the earliest we predict Enola Holmes 2 getting released is summer 2022.” It adds that “as the franchise is based on Nancy Springer’s book series, The Enola Holmes Mysteries, it’s likely that Enola Holmes 2 will follow the events of the second book—The Case of the Left-Handed Lady [2007], which sees Enola search for a missing young girl with a talent for drawing.” The previous picture was, of course, based on Springer’s 2006 book, The Case of the Missing Marquess.

Folks who would prefer not to wait for another year before hearing more from the sprightly, perspicacious Miss Holmes should note that a seventh installment in Springer’s series, Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche, is due out from Wednesday Books on August 31.

READ MORE: “Mystery Minus Murder with Nancy Springer,” by Nancy Springer (Criminal Element).