Synopses & Reviews
In a case that will push their relationship to the breaking point, Mary Russell must help reverse the greatest failure of her legendary husbands storied pasta painful and personal defeat that still has the power to sting…this time fatally.
For Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, returning to the Sussex coast after seven months abroad was especially sweet. There was even a mystery to solvethe unexplained disappearance of an entire colony of bees from one of Holmess beloved hives.
But the anticipated sweetness of their homecoming is quickly tempered by a galling memory from her husbands past. Mary had met Damian Adler only once before, when the promising surrealist painter had been charged withand exonerated frommurder. Now the talented and troubled young man was enlisting their help again, this time in a desperate search for his missing wife and child.
When it comes to communal behavior, Russell has often observed that there are many kinds of madness. And before this case yields its shattering solution, shell come into dangerous contact with a fair number of them. From suicides at Stonehenge to a bizarre religious cult, from the demimonde of the Café Royal at the heart of Bohemian London to the dark secrets of a young womans past on the streets of Shanghai, Russell will find herself on the trail of a killer more dangerous than any shes ever faceda killer Sherlock Holmes himself may be protecting for reasons near and dear to his heart.
About the Author
Laurie R. King became the first novelist since Patricia Cornwell to win prizes for Best First Crime Novel on both sides of the Atlantic with the publication of her debut thriller, A Grave Talent. She is the bestselling author of four contemporary novels featuring Kate Martinelli, the award-winning Mary Russell series, and the bestselling novels A Darker Place, Folly, and Keeping Watch. She lives in northern California. Bantam will publish her next Russell and Holmes mystery in 2010.