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jeriendhalSummary: On the run from the police in 1924, Mary Russell, wife of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes (and 40 years his junior), finds herself saddled with her quite unexpected step-granddaughter, while her husband goes his separate way to find treatment for his newly discovered son, an artist conceived during his affair with Irene Adler.
Along the way Russell gets aid fromRobin Goodfellow Robert Goodman, an impish hermit living in the woods of an abandoned country estate, and Sherlock kidnaps a lady doctor to fix his son's bullet wound and takes her on a very unplanned trip to Denmark.
But forces in London are moving against them as Mycroft Holmes is kidnapped, then murdered, by a rival for his considerable power.
Review: This is the eleventh book in Laurie R. King's long running Mary Russell books and apparently a direct continuation from the previous novel The Language of Bees which I haven't read yet. Which means I started in medeas res from a very unbelievable setup and had to follow along as the villain of the previous book is dumped for the villain of this one, a grey sort of fellow who's personality trait is that he has no personality traits, and is about as interesting as that sounds.
Oh, and Mycroft isn't really dead. Surprised? I wasn't.
I realize that professionally published fanfic based on the Sherlock Holmes novels is a long standing literary tradition. Heck, I loved The Seven Percent Solution, both the book and the movie, and the first few Mary Russell books, starting with The Beekeeper's Apprentice were great fun. This one is a dreary mess, with a none too tightly plotted plot and a villain that's barely there, as Holmes and Russell go their separate ways, come back together with a distinct lack of chemistry, and put down the plot without much effort.
About the only thing that does liven up the proceedings is the appropriately puckish Robert Goodman, an officer from the Great War who retreated into a second personality after his unit was destroyed. Unfortunately he's killed off rather pointlessly as the author arranges things to make sure he makes a heroic sacrifice to take out the villain, despite the very obvious need to interrogate the man, that Mycroft points out.. Essentially the villain died because Russell wanted to spite Mycroft for (horrors) using his position to embezzle funds to keep his department going.
Which he did with the express permission of the Prime Minister.
Headdesk.
NOT recommended.
Along the way Russell gets aid from
But forces in London are moving against them as Mycroft Holmes is kidnapped, then murdered, by a rival for his considerable power.
Review: This is the eleventh book in Laurie R. King's long running Mary Russell books and apparently a direct continuation from the previous novel The Language of Bees which I haven't read yet. Which means I started in medeas res from a very unbelievable setup and had to follow along as the villain of the previous book is dumped for the villain of this one, a grey sort of fellow who's personality trait is that he has no personality traits, and is about as interesting as that sounds.
Oh, and Mycroft isn't really dead. Surprised? I wasn't.
I realize that professionally published fanfic based on the Sherlock Holmes novels is a long standing literary tradition. Heck, I loved The Seven Percent Solution, both the book and the movie, and the first few Mary Russell books, starting with The Beekeeper's Apprentice were great fun. This one is a dreary mess, with a none too tightly plotted plot and a villain that's barely there, as Holmes and Russell go their separate ways, come back together with a distinct lack of chemistry, and put down the plot without much effort.
About the only thing that does liven up the proceedings is the appropriately puckish Robert Goodman, an officer from the Great War who retreated into a second personality after his unit was destroyed. Unfortunately he's killed off rather pointlessly as the author arranges things to make sure he makes a heroic sacrifice to take out the villain, despite the very obvious need to interrogate the man, that Mycroft points out.. Essentially the villain died because Russell wanted to spite Mycroft for (horrors) using his position to embezzle funds to keep his department going.
Which he did with the express permission of the Prime Minister.
Headdesk.
NOT recommended.
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no subject
Date: 2012-02-02 10:35 pm (UTC)You have to realize, it is a bit of a cult (yeah, I seem to be in it) and the ones since Locked Rooms seem to be flying.
To your readers, definitely don't start here with Mary Russell. You didn't and you still weren't buying in.
The next one up, Pirate King, is a bit of a romp, but not a good place to start, either.
One of my favorites is Justice Hall, if you haven't done that one. It is something of a follow on to Oh Jerusalem, but the story is completely independent - there are some asides that tie in, but they're not important to the story.
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Date: 2012-02-03 04:39 am (UTC)