Synopses & Reviews
Edgar Award-winning author Laurie R. King again proves her flair for tantalizing mystery in this first novel of an acclaimed series. Long since retired from his observations of criminal humanity, Sherlock Holmes is engaged in a reclusive study of honeybee behavior on the Sussex Downs. Never did he expect to meet an intellect to match his own until he made the acquaintance of a very modern 15-year-old girl whose mental acuity is equaled only by her audacity, tenacity, and unconventional taste for trousers and cloth caps. Under the master detectives sardonic instruction, Miss Mary Russell hones her talent for deduction, disguises, and danger in the chilling case of a landowners mysterious fever, and in the kidnapping of an American senators daughter in the wilds of Wales. But her ultimate challenge is yet to come. A near-fatal bomb on her doorstep and another on Holmess sends the two sleuths on the trail of a villain whose machinations scatter meaningless clues and seem utterly without motive. The bombers objective, however, is quite clear: to end Russell and Holmes's partnership...and their lives.
Review
"Amazing first novel with intelligence, intrigue, and intricacy...This work exhibits strong psychological undertones, compelling urgency, and dramatic action. [Laurie King is] a writer to watch." Library Journal
Review
"If there is a new P. D. James...I would put my money on Laurie R. King." -The Boston Globe
Review
"Rousing...riveting...suspenseful." Chicago Sun-Times
Synopsis
In 1915, long since retired from his crime-fighting days, Sherlock Holmes is engaged in a reclusive study of honeybees on the Sussex Downs. Never did the Victorian detective think to meet an intellect matching his own-until his acquaintance with Miss Mary Russell, a young twentieth-century lady whose mental acuity is equaled only by her penchant for deduction, disguises, and danger. Under Holmes's reluctant tutelage,
Russell embarks on a case involving a landowner's mysterious fever and the kidnapping of an American senator's daughter in the wilds of Wales. Then a near-fatal bomb on her doorstep-and another on Holmes's-sends the two sleuths on the trail of a murderer who scatters bizarre clues and seems utterly without motive. The villain's objective, however, is quite unequivocal: to end Russell and Holmes's partnership-and then their lives.
About the Author
Laurie is a third-generation Californian who emerged on the mystery writing scene in 1993 with A Grave Talent and shortly thereafter won the Edgar for Best First Novel. She has a master's degree in theology and is married to a man thirty years older than herself, whom she fondly describes as "a peripatetic anglo-Indian professor of religious studies." They have two teenaged children, and currently reside in northern California.