A Letter Of Mary - Laurie R. King

1996; 315 pages. Genre : Mystery. Sub-Genre : Sherlock Holmes. Book #3 in the "Mary Russell" series. New Author? : No. Overall Rating : 5*/10.

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The third book in this series finds Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes now married and still sleuthing. A Letter Of Mary opens with a cantankerous lady archaeologist paying a visit to get their opinion of an ancient papyrus scroll that seems to have been written by Mary Magdalene. That would seem to be an obvious hoax, until someone murders the archaeologist and ransacks the Holmes/Russell abode in an apparent search for the scroll.

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What's To Like...

Mycroft Holmes is back, as is Inspector Lestrade. Russell and Holmes make for a fascinating couple. Particularly Mary, who is an anachronistic feminist. Some people were put off by this, but I thought it was a unique and worthy twist. Plus, Mary is left-handed, a sure sign of genius.

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The descriptions of 1923 London are neat, and some obscure tidbits of historical trivia are sprinkled throughout. For example, I got to learn about Abishag and Shunammism. Thank you, Wikipedia! The wit runs the length of the story and is quite entertaining.

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In the end however, any book that name-drops Sherlock Holmes will inevitably be compared to Arthur Conan Doyle's works, and in that respect, ALOM falls flat. There are very few Holmesian feats of observation, and when the breakthrough finally comes, it feels like an arbitrary turn of events. Far too many pages are filled with dead-ends (although I suppose you could claim they were red herrings), and the titular letter has almost nothing to do with the story.

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Kewl New Word...

Tutrix : a female tutor. (is that a kewl word, or what?! and I've changed the format of this section - from now on it will be one KNW per book, max.)

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Excerpts...

"Shall we see her?"

"We? My dear Russell, I am the husband of an emancipated woman who, although she may not yet vote in an election, is at least allowed to see her own friends without male chaperonage.:

"Don't be an ass, Holmes. She obviously wants to see both of us..." (pg. 7)

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Actually, I am not against the killing of foxes, being a farmer myself and having lost numerous poultry to them over the years. What I dislike is the unnecessary glorification of bloodthirstiness. We no longer execute our criminals with the prolonged agony of stoning or torture, and I cannot see why we should grant a wild creature any less dignity. (pg. 210-211)

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Cor, stone the crows, as my granfa' used to say..." (pg. 186)

This is the second book I've read from this series (the other one is reviewed here), and both left me muttering "meh". I almost think Laurie King would've been better off developing Mary Russell as a free-standing character. The feminist and theological angles could be more fully addressed, without being overshadowed by the unavoidable and distracting comparison to Conan Doyle's stories.

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OTOH, with some additional effort, A Letter Of Mary really could've been a fine Sherlock Holmes tale. Add in some more Holmesian deductions, tie in all the tangents, make the breakthrough a "Cold Case" type clue that would be easily overlooked at first glance, and give the purported ancient letter some relevance, even if it turns out to be a forgery. Arthur Conan Doyle would have done as much. 5 Stars.

The Beekeeper's Apprentice - Laurie R. King

1994; 405 pages. First in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series. Genre : Mystery. New Aurthor? : Yes. Overall Rating : 6*/10.

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Beware, criminal element! There's a new crime-fighting team afoot. Old and retired Sherlock Holmes has taken on a 15-year-old precocious protégée, Mary Russell. It'll take her a couple years to learn all about footprints, fibers, disguises, tailing suspects, tobaccos, chemistry (yay!), and the several hundred types of soils in London. Oh, and she ought to learn about bombs, too. Since someone is trying to blow Holmes and everyone associated with him (including protégées) up.

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What's To Like...

Most of the familiar gang is here - Dr. Watson, Mrs. Hudson, Inspector Lestrade, and my personal favorite - brother Mycroft. The Baker Street Irregulars aren't, but one gets the feeling they'll show up pretty soon in one of the sequels.

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The unlikely pairing of sleuths works, although it means the book starts off sluggishly as Mary learns the trade. The first case doesn't start until page 59, and you don't get to the main case (there are three of them) until the book's halfway over. But at least Mary is quicker on the uptake than Stephanie Plum. ;-)

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Laurie King mimics the detecting style of Holmes quite well, but the cases themselves lack the complexity of an Arthur Conan Doyle story. See for example, The Adventure Of The Speckled Band. We will cut some slack here, as this is the debut book in the series. One hopes the mysteries "deepen" as the series progresses. OTOH, the one puzzle to solve is incredibly unfathomable. Don't waste your time trying to decipher it; just let Mary do it.

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And a quick note to Ms. King. Your padding of the Amazon-US and Amazon-Canada reviews of this book is both blatant and excessive. I'm cool with a few self-promoting blurbs there; but when you hit triple digits, give it a rest. Also, you forgot about Amazon-UK.

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Kewl New Words...

Peripatetic : walking around. Peroration : a flowery and highly rhetorical oration. Weald : an area of open or forested countryside (British). Sybaritic : marked by pleasure and luxury. Asperity : with severity or harshness. Vulpine : cunning like a fox. Patristics : the writings of the early Church fathers.

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Excerpts...

I returned to Oxford the following week-end, to a winter term that was much the same as the autumn weeks had been, only more so. My main passions were becoming theoretical mathematics and the complexities of Rabbinic Judaism, two topics that are dissimilar only on the surface. (pg. 54)

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He let himself out into the hallway, then put his head back in the door. "By the way, don't touch that machine on the desk. It's a bomb." (pg. 185)

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"Oh. How is your back?"

"Damn my back, I do wish you would stop harping on the accursed thing. If you must know, I had it serviced again this afternoon by a retired surgeon who does a good line in illegal operations and patching up gunshot wounds. He found very little to do on it, told me to go away, and I find the topic tiresome."

I was pleased to hear his mood so improved. (pg. 241)

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When faced with the unthinkable, one chooses the merely impossible. (pg. 300)

Laurie King makes some changes to the Conan Doyle format. Sherlock Holmes is "cleaner" - he's kicked his drug habits, and has acquired at least a semblance of Alan Alda sensitivity. Also, it doesn't take a matchmaker to sense a budding romance. OTOH, Watson fares poorly here, and the Ultimate Evil is not very ...well... Ultimate.

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The Beekeeper's Apprentice is a decent, but not a great, addition to Holmesian literature. Your rating of the book will depend a lot on how much of a Conan Doyle "purist" you are. I happen to be a pretty staunch one. Will the mysteries get more complex as the series progresses? Or will it schlep into just another forgettable variation of chick-lit? We shall see. The book was sufficiently interesting to merit reading at least one more installment. 6 Stars.