A Study in Ashes is the final book in the Baskerville Affair trilogy. The end of A Study in Darkness found Evelina a prisoner of the Gold King after trying to bargain for Nick's life. Nick perished in the fight with Magnus and Keating's people. Imogen's soul is stuck in the clock at Hilliard House. Tobias is still under the control of Keating. Tension is in the air as everyone prepares for an inevitable war. Also here Emma Jane Holloway manages to tie a little into The Hound of the Baskervilles. 
 I'm very on the fence about this book. I love the premise of this trilogy and I really loved the first two books. But I think that Emma Jane Holloway ended up taking on too much and by the end there's just too much going on in A Study in Ashes. To make way for the big build up of the show down between the Steam Barons and the rebels, many other story threads are rushed through. It almost seemed, to me, as though the ends of many of the conflicts weren't done justice. Almost made many things seem too easy and if that were the case then why were they even introduced in the first place or why be dragged all the way to the third book before taken care of? I don't want to give anything away so I apologize if I may be a little vague on what specifically I'm talking about, but let's just say that unless you see someone die on the page, there's always a possibility they will turn up again and that's just a basic truth of anything whether it be books, movies, tv, etc. 
 Emma Jane Holloway didn't shy away from having her characters go through the tough times. Evelina struggles in this book even more with the dark magic that is inside of her. I really enjoyed seeing her struggle and fight with this. Something that is apart of her and something that she can't deny, yet not letting it consume the goodness completely within her was quite the predicament. 
 There are others probably most notably Tobias. At the end of A Study in Silks he gave up his true ambitions and someone he loved in order to save his family. From that point he has constantly torn between loyalties. I personally was frustrated quite often with Tobias because I think at times he ignored the true sense of what he was doing for the Gold King and could / should have made a stand sooner. In A Study in Ashes Tobias can't ignore the fact that he must choose which side he's on. He grew a lot in the book, and I genuinely liked where Emma Jane Holloway took his character. Of course being the series that it has been, Emma Jane Holloway throws twists and turns for her readers everywhere and I can say I really don't care for the turns in Tobias's case. I felt like he started taking one step forward in this book, and ended up taking twenty steps back. Don't want to give anymore away, you will understand when you read it. 
 There were equally things that I liked about this book. Evelina has been wonderful from the beginning. I was extremely happy in A Study in Darkness when her and Nick were finally able to take the chance and be with each other. With all their history, the chemistry between these two just burst off the page from the first book. Of course, it would be fool of Emma Jane Holloway to completely take that away and (as I hope it's no surprise because it wasn't to me) Nick is alive. I found myself quickly reading through the beginning of the book until we got to Nick again. I really liked where they picked things up and I really like the potential for them in the future. 
 For all that these book are touted as being about Evelina the books have everyone's viewpoint. In A Study in Silks we had the main players, but by the time we get here there are almost too many to count. I wish it could have been slimmed down a little bit personally. But on that note I did enjoy Watson and Holmes's passages the most besides Evelina and Nick's. 
 By the end the trilogy and what it stands for "The Baskerville Affair" has been tied-up. Emma Jane Holloway definitely leaves things open should she decide to do another story arc / trilogy set in this world. With the way some threads are left I would say it's almost guaranteed that will be the case. But as Holmes does remark in the end that "Loose threads are the very essence of life". I think if there is more written in this world I would read it, I just hope it focuses more on just a couple of conflicts and not so many, but overall I really enjoyed this series as a whole.