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Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes #11
Pirate King
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller (2011)
In England's budding silent-film industry, megalomaniac Randolph Fflytte is king. At the request of Scotland Yard, Mary Russell is dispatched to investigate rumors of criminal activities. At Lisbon rehearsals for "Pirate King", based on Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance", thirteen blond-haired, blue-eyed actresses meet the real buccaneers Fflytte has recruited to provide authenticity. But when the crew embarks for Morocco and the actual filming, troubles escalate.
300 pages, Hardcover
First published September 6, 2011
About the author
Laurie R. King
118 books6,561 followers
Edgar-winning mystery writer Laurie R. King writes series and standalone novels. Her official forum is
THE LRK VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB here on Goodreads--please join us for book-discussing fun.
King's 2018 novel, Island of the Mad, sees Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes travel from London's Bedlam to the glitter of Venice's Lido,where Young Things and the friends of Cole Porter pass Mussolini's Blackshirts in the streets. The Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series follows a brilliant young woman who becomes the student, then partner, of the great detective. [click here for an excerpt of the first in the series, The Beekeeper's Apprentice] The Stuyvesant and Grey series (Touchstone; The Bones of Paris) takes place in Europe between the Wars. The Kate Martinelli series follows an SFPD detective's cases on a female Rembrandt, a holy fool, and more. [Click for an excerpt of A Grave Talent]
King lives in northern California, which serves as backdrop for some of her books.
Please note that Laurie checks her Goodreads inbox intermittently, so it may take some time to receive a reply. A quicker response may be possible via email to info@laurierking.com.
THE LRK VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB here on Goodreads--please join us for book-discussing fun.
King's 2018 novel, Island of the Mad, sees Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes travel from London's Bedlam to the glitter of Venice's Lido,where Young Things and the friends of Cole Porter pass Mussolini's Blackshirts in the streets. The Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series follows a brilliant young woman who becomes the student, then partner, of the great detective. [click here for an excerpt of the first in the series, The Beekeeper's Apprentice] The Stuyvesant and Grey series (Touchstone; The Bones of Paris) takes place in Europe between the Wars. The Kate Martinelli series follows an SFPD detective's cases on a female Rembrandt, a holy fool, and more. [Click for an excerpt of A Grave Talent]
King lives in northern California, which serves as backdrop for some of her books.
Please note that Laurie checks her Goodreads inbox intermittently, so it may take some time to receive a reply. A quicker response may be possible via email to info@laurierking.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,251 reviews
Where I got the book: purchased at indie bookstore (author event, signed).
I am a big fan of King's Mary Russell series, but Pirate King will not number among my favorites. King has stated that she agreed to write this book (under, I assume, the usual publisher pressure to keep churning on) with the proviso that she would go back to the light-hearted feel of the early Russell books. I would actually say that she went beyond her remit and came up with something that is so much more light-hearted than usual that it feels rather out of place.
The plot: Russell is inveigled into investigating a) why a film company keeps attracting the same kind of adventures as those depicted in its movies, and b) the disappearance of a woman assistant. She takes said assistant's place on a jaunt to Portugal and Morocco that involves her with a bunch of actresses, some of whom are only acting the part of actresses, assorted (and impossible to keep track of) actors, and a band of real pirates who are hired as actors pretending to be pirates. Confused? You will be. King leans toward intricate plots, and this time she's leaned so far that the reader is dangling off the rigging trying to hold on to the gist.
Things I liked: the sparkling wit and hilarity of the writing. King really is a very good writer. Things I didn't like: the absence of Holmes until mid-book, and the rather silly resolution of the two main questions Russell sets out to answer. This romp of a novel may be light relief after the drama of the last two Russell books, but I suspect I'm not the only fan who wants to get back to the sturm und drang.
I am a big fan of King's Mary Russell series, but Pirate King will not number among my favorites. King has stated that she agreed to write this book (under, I assume, the usual publisher pressure to keep churning on) with the proviso that she would go back to the light-hearted feel of the early Russell books. I would actually say that she went beyond her remit and came up with something that is so much more light-hearted than usual that it feels rather out of place.
The plot: Russell is inveigled into investigating a) why a film company keeps attracting the same kind of adventures as those depicted in its movies, and b) the disappearance of a woman assistant. She takes said assistant's place on a jaunt to Portugal and Morocco that involves her with a bunch of actresses, some of whom are only acting the part of actresses, assorted (and impossible to keep track of) actors, and a band of real pirates who are hired as actors pretending to be pirates. Confused? You will be. King leans toward intricate plots, and this time she's leaned so far that the reader is dangling off the rigging trying to hold on to the gist.
Things I liked: the sparkling wit and hilarity of the writing. King really is a very good writer. Things I didn't like: the absence of Holmes until mid-book, and the rather silly resolution of the two main questions Russell sets out to answer. This romp of a novel may be light relief after the drama of the last two Russell books, but I suspect I'm not the only fan who wants to get back to the sturm und drang.
As a long-time reader of crime fiction, I like Laurie R King's writing a lot. It's distinguished by excellent research, intelligent prose and interesting characterisation. However, this episode in the Mary Russell / Sherlock Holmes series is disappointing.
The series, which is set in the 1920s, is presented as the memoir of a young Oxford University educated woman who marries the "real" Sherlock Holmes, a man many years her senior. Holmes is real, you see, even though for most of his life people have thought he was the fictional creation of Arthur Conan Doyle. Mary Russell is also "real", if somewhat anachronistic. She's a woman with 21st century sensibilities, born in 1900 and meant to represent what Sherlock Holmes would have been like had he been (a) female and (b)not Victorian. Mary is a brilliant linguist, an Old Testament scholar and a dab hand at martial arts of various sorts and at getting herself and others out of sticky situations. The "real" Sherlock Holmes to whom Mary is married has a lot more social skills and is generally easier to get along with than Conan Doyle's character. Together they make a formidable pair.
To any died-in-the-wool Sherlock Holmes fan, the whole idea of the series must sound an absolute abomination. That's what I thought for many years after the first book in the series was published. Not so much because I'm a big Sherlock Holmes fan, but because for a very long time I assumed that I wouldn't like historical crime fiction. But you live and learn, or at least you read and learn, and when I finally read the first book in this series a few years ago, I learned that I could indeed like historical crime fiction quite a lot. I also learned that I could appreciate the characters for what they are, and not denigrate King's Sherlock Holmes for not being Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.
So I've been steadily working my way through the series, not surprisingly enjoying some of the novels more than others. This one is (I think) the penultimate of those so far published. The conceit on which the novel is based is clever. Mary Russell goes to Portugal to investigate the link between a film production company and criminal activity thematically and temporally linked to the release of the company's films. The film being made on this occasion is about people making a filmed version of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance. In the film within a film "real" pirates make an appearance. So, what happens in the novel is that - beware the mild spoiler which follows - "real" real pirates are engaged to play the "real" film character pirates who play the operetta pirates. Danger and a need to escape ensues.
Confused? Well, it is a bit confusing in a self-consciously metafictional way. It could have been lots of fun, but it ends up being more than a bit irritating, as there's no real action to speak of until about 75% of the way through the narrative and then the conflict and danger are resolved very quickly. Moreover, there are too many characters to keep track of: mostly actors playing Pirates characters, who have to be there because there are lots of characters in the operetta, but who otherwise serve no real purpose. There are also whole scenes which serve no real purpose and which are not interesting enough to be included on their own merits - the one in which Mary learns the names of all the parts of a brigantine comes to mind in this regard.
The most interesting scenes in the novel are those involving the real life Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa who features as a character in that part of the novel which is set in Lisbon. I knew nothing about Pessoa before and now I'm interested in reading some of his work, so that's no bad thing. I've also not been to Lisbon and the scenes set there confirmed my interest in visiting that city some day, which is also no bad thing. But otherwise, this is not a novel I can recommend. I will choose to regard it as an unfortunate blip in an otherwise more than satisfactory series. This gets 2.5 stars, and would have rated fewer but for Pessoa, Lisbon, King's readable prose and the snippets of The Pirates of Penzance which are at the beginning of all but one of the chapters. I'm a sucker for the works of G&S and I could sing every one of those chapter headings.
For over 10 years, I've enjoyed reading King's novels because of her incredible dedication to research, unfailing ear for dialogue and fantastic use of detail. However, in this book, the most recent in her Mary Russell series, all three of those staples are missing. Even for a series that posits that Holmes is some 10 years younger than generally accepted and married to a woman half his age, this addition strains credulity. Set in the mid-1920s on the moving set of a silent film about pirates, Mary is hired as a secretary/production assistant and is quickly thrown into the lunacy of film-making amidst the foreign culture of first Portugal, and the Morocco. However, unlike previous novels, Russell doesn't know the language and doesn't take pains to learn any of it, so she reduced to guessing (GUESSING!) at what the bad guys are saying! And, little mention is made of the political tumult of either location, as the plot quickly spirals toward a ridiculous white slavery storyline. Holmes is rarely present, and when he does make an appearance, he is reduced to a chiding, supercilious old man. Mary doesn't seem herself either, as her dialogue is too fast and too fatuous to seem genuine. All in all, makes me miss the first few books in the series, and hopes that King takes a break to do better research!
I've literally never been able to make it through this book before, even though I love this series. There was something about it that give me a total mental block.
I finally broke the back of it with the audiobook. It exceeded my expectations, but my expectations were so low that this is not particularly a compliment. I was mostly bored, and I found the basic story line silly. It's likely that this will remain the low point of the series for me, and I will likely skip it during rereads.
Anyway, I'm glad I finally got through it, if for no other reason than that I don't need to read it again.
I finally broke the back of it with the audiobook. It exceeded my expectations, but my expectations were so low that this is not particularly a compliment. I was mostly bored, and I found the basic story line silly. It's likely that this will remain the low point of the series for me, and I will likely skip it during rereads.
Anyway, I'm glad I finally got through it, if for no other reason than that I don't need to read it again.
Mary Russell agrees to go undercover for Scotland Yard rather than spend time in the same house with Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft, after he announces he’s coming for a visit. Her assignment is as an assistant to the assistant to Randolph Fflytte, the leading producer of silent films in England. There have been rumors of criminal activities within Fflytte’s inner circle and Russell must find what they are and who’s involved. Fflytte is about to begin filming “Pirate King,” a film about filming Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance,” and the crew, including Russell, heads for Lisbon.
Laurie King is on my short list of authors whose books I eagerly await for the next installment in their series. Unfortunately, there isn’t much I can say that is good about the 11th entry in the series.
Those who have never read anything else in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series might not be as disappointed as those of us who have been reading the series from the first entry, “The Beekeeper’s Apprentice.” The series entries have always been mesmerizing, intelligent, intense, and terribly enjoyable. Until now. In this outing, Russell has lost some of her fire, Holmes is all but nonexistent, the plot is convoluted and, at times, absurd and even boring, and the writing mediocre. It is as if a looming deadline caught King by surprise and this is the result.
Sadly, I’ve begun to wonder if, after 11 books in this series, King isn’t bored with her characters. I hope if she is, she’ll only write one more allowing some closure for her readers and end the series on a high note. It would be a shame to continue publishing such mediocrity as her readership begins to drop away and go to more interesting series like Louise Penny’s Gamache series.
I was so excited to download this...and so let down as the book plodded on...and on...and on...with no hint of a mystery in sight.
Really, some sort of mystery should be present before the book is mostly over.
Perhaps some readers might be amused at Mary Russell being surrounded by a gaggle of mindless actresses, egotistical directors, and various other insipid personae surrounding a motion picture. I found it probably as trying as Mary Russell to be constantly sorting through the 13 female actresses, their mothers, the male cast, and then all the pirates and constables to boot.
I was frankly bored by the lot of them, including the translator. The character of the Pirate King held promise, but this rapidly faded. I remain confused as to why Ms. King did not capitalize on this character--after a book like "Oh Jerusalem" you would think that she would have a lot of fun with mysterious dark characters like the Pirate King and his side kick.
Even the much maligned "The Moor" was better.
Really, some sort of mystery should be present before the book is mostly over.
Perhaps some readers might be amused at Mary Russell being surrounded by a gaggle of mindless actresses, egotistical directors, and various other insipid personae surrounding a motion picture. I found it probably as trying as Mary Russell to be constantly sorting through the 13 female actresses, their mothers, the male cast, and then all the pirates and constables to boot.
I was frankly bored by the lot of them, including the translator. The character of the Pirate King held promise, but this rapidly faded. I remain confused as to why Ms. King did not capitalize on this character--after a book like "Oh Jerusalem" you would think that she would have a lot of fun with mysterious dark characters like the Pirate King and his side kick.
Even the much maligned "The Moor" was better.
An excellent read. I was hoping for a little bit more from the ending, but I think it's just that I pictured it going a different way.
Investigating possible evildoers while filming a silent movie about a movie about a comic opera. It should have been a farce. But in Laurie R. King's The Pirate King, it's Holmes and Russell, so it's an absolutely marvelous froth instead.
Mary Russell does not particularly want to spend a fortnight (that's two weeks to us Americans) cooped up in Sussex with her brother-in-law Mycroft. In their last meeting (The God of the Hive) Russell discovered that some of Mycroft's actions on the part of the government were even shadier than she had thought. And Russell, being Russell, didn't cavil at letting Mycroft know exactly what she thought. This does not contribute to family harmony, even in the Holmes family.
Inspector Lestrade needs someone to infiltrate a film company that seems to have a run of bad luck. Fflytte Films makes a film about gunrunning, and suddenly there's a rash of illegal firearms everywhere. Fflytte makes a movie about rum-running, and there's bathtub gin all over the place (1924--Prohibition, remember?) When the producer's assistant goes missing, Lestrade wants someone who can type to substitute, so he can get a man on the inside. Russell "volunteers" to get away from the Holmes brothers' family reunion.
Fflytte Films leaves London for Morocco by way of Lisbon to film a movie about a film company making a movie about the making of a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance. Which is in Wales. But Fflytte Films would never do anything so boring as to film in Wales. Or so boring as to use anything like the real story of the opera. Instead of 4 daughters, the Major General of famous song has 13 daughters. And then, there are the pirates. Since there are 13 daughters, there need to be 13 pirates. And because Fflytte Films is famous for its realism, Randolph Fflytte recruits real pirates, along with a real, honest-to-goodness (or badness) Pirate King.
Escape Rating A+: I stayed up until 1 am to finish this book. This was the lighter side of Holmes and Russell, and was a welcome antidote to the darker doings of The Language of Bees and The God of the Hive. The Pirate King is a lark. Some serious events happen, but there is a happily ever after in this one. Even though it turns out that all of the events were manipulated by Mycroft from the beginning, it is worth it just for the image of Holmes playing an actor playing the Major General courting Russell under the eyes of the entire film cast and crew. Priceless!
Mary Russell does not particularly want to spend a fortnight (that's two weeks to us Americans) cooped up in Sussex with her brother-in-law Mycroft. In their last meeting (The God of the Hive) Russell discovered that some of Mycroft's actions on the part of the government were even shadier than she had thought. And Russell, being Russell, didn't cavil at letting Mycroft know exactly what she thought. This does not contribute to family harmony, even in the Holmes family.
Inspector Lestrade needs someone to infiltrate a film company that seems to have a run of bad luck. Fflytte Films makes a film about gunrunning, and suddenly there's a rash of illegal firearms everywhere. Fflytte makes a movie about rum-running, and there's bathtub gin all over the place (1924--Prohibition, remember?) When the producer's assistant goes missing, Lestrade wants someone who can type to substitute, so he can get a man on the inside. Russell "volunteers" to get away from the Holmes brothers' family reunion.
Fflytte Films leaves London for Morocco by way of Lisbon to film a movie about a film company making a movie about the making of a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance. Which is in Wales. But Fflytte Films would never do anything so boring as to film in Wales. Or so boring as to use anything like the real story of the opera. Instead of 4 daughters, the Major General of famous song has 13 daughters. And then, there are the pirates. Since there are 13 daughters, there need to be 13 pirates. And because Fflytte Films is famous for its realism, Randolph Fflytte recruits real pirates, along with a real, honest-to-goodness (or badness) Pirate King.
Escape Rating A+: I stayed up until 1 am to finish this book. This was the lighter side of Holmes and Russell, and was a welcome antidote to the darker doings of The Language of Bees and The God of the Hive. The Pirate King is a lark. Some serious events happen, but there is a happily ever after in this one. Even though it turns out that all of the events were manipulated by Mycroft from the beginning, it is worth it just for the image of Holmes playing an actor playing the Major General courting Russell under the eyes of the entire film cast and crew. Priceless!
I'm not sure why but something about musical theatre pleases me. And when you throw some Gilbert & Sullivan into the mix it should be evident that I will want to read it and will no doubt enjoy it, and this latest release from Laurie R. King is no exception.
The story is brilliantly composed. There are small intricacies within the tale that suck you in, so much so that I found myself wanting to wield a cutlass and go swashbuckling.
Unlike a few of the previous books in the Russell series, the Holmes aspect was kept quite minimalistic, which helped the story progress somewhat, since in prior stories Holmes took a more main role in helping assisting and generally being there to swoop in and wrap things up neatly.
Pirate King is more in the same vein as The Game in the way the tale plays out. Except you're swathed in Pirates of Penzance.
Do not be shocked if you suddenly burst into The Major-General's song.
If you have read past Russell stories you'll be familiar with the almost sarcastic and argumentative yet caring and loving bond that Russell and Holmes have, and will be familiar with the types of situations the two of them find themselves part of. For those who have read and are still uncertain, I'd like to think that maybe you'd love this installment.
For those yet to succumb to the sharp and witty duo I'd suggest throwing yourselves into the wind and allowing this piratical tale sweep you out into the seas of imagination. Plus it can be read as a standalone, as other than mentioning time spent in Arabic speaking countries there are no instances where they touch upon details of past events. This means that even newcomers to the books will be able to follow their story with ease.
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. Definetly worth the wait.
The story is brilliantly composed. There are small intricacies within the tale that suck you in, so much so that I found myself wanting to wield a cutlass and go swashbuckling.
Unlike a few of the previous books in the Russell series, the Holmes aspect was kept quite minimalistic, which helped the story progress somewhat, since in prior stories Holmes took a more main role in helping assisting and generally being there to swoop in and wrap things up neatly.
Pirate King is more in the same vein as The Game in the way the tale plays out. Except you're swathed in Pirates of Penzance.
Do not be shocked if you suddenly burst into The Major-General's song.
If you have read past Russell stories you'll be familiar with the almost sarcastic and argumentative yet caring and loving bond that Russell and Holmes have, and will be familiar with the types of situations the two of them find themselves part of. For those who have read and are still uncertain, I'd like to think that maybe you'd love this installment.
For those yet to succumb to the sharp and witty duo I'd suggest throwing yourselves into the wind and allowing this piratical tale sweep you out into the seas of imagination. Plus it can be read as a standalone, as other than mentioning time spent in Arabic speaking countries there are no instances where they touch upon details of past events. This means that even newcomers to the books will be able to follow their story with ease.
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. Definetly worth the wait.
And now for something completely different!! To be honest, I was quite prepared to be disappointed in this unlikely foray by Mary Russell. I mean, pirates? really?? give me a break! I'm not quite sure what I expected this novel to be, but I was thoroughly entertained by what it turned out to be. I'm not going to reveal any spoilers (most of you will just have to wait 'til September!) but I have to hand it to Laurie; in other hands this story could have quickly gone south but Ms. King used her ability to interleave an engaging plotline with a fascinating array of characters and multiple twists and surprises to bring us a unique story. Bravo! Bem feito!
It's been awhile since I've been so disappointed in a book. Connie and I have become great fans of Laurie King's series of books about Mary Russell, the young woman who becomes Sherlock Holmes' apprentice and then his wife. Overall, the series is clever, well-written, and a true homage to the great stories of Arthur Conan Doyle.
But "Pirate King" falls flat. I think the reason is that Ms. King tries too hard to match her style and plot points to the central conceit of the story. Russell and Holmes are asked to investigate some peculiar goings-on in a film company in which "the Palace" has invested. The film-maker's current project is a film about a film company making a movie of "The Pirates of Penzance," a play within a play based on the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. The artificiality of the silent film industry atop the artificiality of the D'Oyly Carte musical pervades the book -- plot twists come right out of both rather silly genres and the whole seems to collapse upon itself.
Not what we were looking for from this author or in this series. Both of us read the whole thing but neither of us will read it again.
But "Pirate King" falls flat. I think the reason is that Ms. King tries too hard to match her style and plot points to the central conceit of the story. Russell and Holmes are asked to investigate some peculiar goings-on in a film company in which "the Palace" has invested. The film-maker's current project is a film about a film company making a movie of "The Pirates of Penzance," a play within a play based on the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. The artificiality of the silent film industry atop the artificiality of the D'Oyly Carte musical pervades the book -- plot twists come right out of both rather silly genres and the whole seems to collapse upon itself.
Not what we were looking for from this author or in this series. Both of us read the whole thing but neither of us will read it again.
This book was a mess. I understand that it is the latest of a long series of novels, all with the premise of having been penned by Sherlock Holmes' wife, Mary Russell. This falls so short of anything aspiring to a Holmes mystery. Anachronisms! Sloppiness! Awkward and just plain silly plot. I was embarrassed for the author as I was reading along, hoping that some brilliant stroke would calm my fears and make the time spent worthwhile. It never came about, and loose strings were so abruptly and carelessly tied up that I felt as if the author looked up at the clock, said: OMG! I've got to go! and sealed up the main leaking seams by slapping on duct tape, leaving all the potentially interesting stuff to wither.
I'm curious enough about how things got to this point that I may be willing to try an earlier entry--something that has generated this many books ought to have something there, at least in the beginning, that makes it worth reading. Perhaps it was just a limited conceit. If so, this volume is the shark jumper.
I'm curious enough about how things got to this point that I may be willing to try an earlier entry--something that has generated this many books ought to have something there, at least in the beginning, that makes it worth reading. Perhaps it was just a limited conceit. If so, this volume is the shark jumper.
Weakest in the series, alas.
For a further review: http://susannag.booklikes.com/post/42... .
For a further review: http://susannag.booklikes.com/post/42... .
After reading Pirate King, the 11th book in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series, I really struggled with how to rate it. I did like the book, but the mostly absent Sherlock Holmes in the story was a disappointment. Mary Russell is a brilliant character, but the series is at its best when Russell and Holmes join forces and engage in witty discourse and coordinated action. However, it certainly had elements that I enjoyed a lot, as Laurie King is one of my favorite authors and writes brilliantly. King's wit still shines through, and her knowledge of places and history is impeccable. And, pirates, well they are a interesting sort, although a bit unpredictable and hard to control.
Mary Russell goes undercover at the request of Scotland Yard to aid in their investigation into possible criminal activity of a major silent film company. British director Randolf Fflyte is making a movie based on the Pirates of Penzance, and he wants to use real pirates and film it in Morocco (Northern Africa). Mary joins the troupe in Lisbon at their rehearsals. She is pretending to be an assistant who has actually gone missing, and her responsibilities include looking after a group of young actresses and their mothers. So, we have real pirates and young actresses in the mix. How could anything go wrong?
The action is a bit slow at first, but once all the actresses and actors and pirates and movie crew leave for Morocco, the action cranks up. It does seem like the plot is more adventure and chaos rather than solving a mystery. There's a definite dearth of detecting, which is what most people who read a mystery want. However, I came away from the book feeling entertained, and that's always a good result. King gives us her usual array of unique characters to follow, and the setting is fun, so you won't want to skip this book in a series that is a favorite for so many.
Mary Russell goes undercover at the request of Scotland Yard to aid in their investigation into possible criminal activity of a major silent film company. British director Randolf Fflyte is making a movie based on the Pirates of Penzance, and he wants to use real pirates and film it in Morocco (Northern Africa). Mary joins the troupe in Lisbon at their rehearsals. She is pretending to be an assistant who has actually gone missing, and her responsibilities include looking after a group of young actresses and their mothers. So, we have real pirates and young actresses in the mix. How could anything go wrong?
The action is a bit slow at first, but once all the actresses and actors and pirates and movie crew leave for Morocco, the action cranks up. It does seem like the plot is more adventure and chaos rather than solving a mystery. There's a definite dearth of detecting, which is what most people who read a mystery want. However, I came away from the book feeling entertained, and that's always a good result. King gives us her usual array of unique characters to follow, and the setting is fun, so you won't want to skip this book in a series that is a favorite for so many.
Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock Holmes have just returned from a heart-wrenching case when Mary discovers that Mycroft intends to park himself with them for some time while he has the builders in. This prompts her to accept a case from Lestrade, investigating a film company that seems to have a shady side. From the moment she joins the company as assistant to one of the producers, Mary's life is turned upside down with constant chaos. The company, known always for shooting on location, is making a film about a film company filming 'The Pirates of Penzance' and then getting captured by pirates themselves. The company, including the 13 blonde 'daughters' of the Major General, travel to Lisbon to find suitable 'pirates' for the shoot. Soon after, they find themselves on a sailing ship headed for Morocco, where the eccentric director intends to film more of the movie. Of course, things don't go quite as planned.
This was clearly intended to be more lighthearted than the previous Russell books, and it certainly is--and is to blame for the fact that I've had Gilbert and Sullivan songs in my head for two weeks. It certainly gives good insight into the vagaries and chaos of filming on location in 1924, and is stuffed full of well-drawn, interesting, frightening, and amusing characters. Holmes is absent for two thirds of the book, which is unfortunate--I always prefer it when they work together--but I completely enjoyed this nonetheless.
This was clearly intended to be more lighthearted than the previous Russell books, and it certainly is--and is to blame for the fact that I've had Gilbert and Sullivan songs in my head for two weeks. It certainly gives good insight into the vagaries and chaos of filming on location in 1924, and is stuffed full of well-drawn, interesting, frightening, and amusing characters. Holmes is absent for two thirds of the book, which is unfortunate--I always prefer it when they work together--but I completely enjoyed this nonetheless.
Imagine Mary and Sherlock caught up with a film company making a movie of people making a movie of The Pirates of Penzance. With 13 Major General's daughters and real pirates. Lots of fun if you're a G&S fan. I have no idea how it plays if you're not. :)
"With cat-like tread upon our prey we steal..." If that line doesn't make you smile this may not be the book for you. If it does, prepare to have some fun.
"With cat-like tread upon our prey we steal..." If that line doesn't make you smile this may not be the book for you. If it does, prepare to have some fun.
3.5 stars. There is A LOT going on here. A lot of characters, a convoluted plot and a story within a story within a story. It feels like when a TV show does a musical episode. An interesting effort, but was it really necessary?
I don't know if it's just me, but I have a certain devotion toward authors I started reading at a young age. Right about the time I started venturing out of the juvenile and young adult sections of the library I was about fourteen, and I will always be doomed to give the benefit of the doubt to these first "adult" authors that captivated me.
"Why do you choose the word 'doomed'?" you may ask. My answer to that question is Laurie R. King's new novel Pirate King. Before I enumerate all the reasons why you would be best served in leaving this novel on the shelf, I want to praise some of her previous novels. The first novel of Ms. King's that I read was The Beekeeper's Apprentice. The book centers on a young, extremely smart woman who lives in Sussex in the early 1900's. One day she just happens to trip over Sherlock Holmes (who, if you will remember, retires to Sussex post Conan Doyle's stories to be a beekeeper.) Due to her intelligence she makes a spetacular detective in training, and so begins the Mary Russell series, which has, since age fourteen, been one of my favorites.
(photo courtesy of laurierking.com)
The Beekeeper's Apprentice is easily the best book in the now eleven book series. While the books have waxed and waned in terms of readability over the years, the last two books (before Pirate King, that is) gave me great hope for the series as a whole. 2009's The Language of Bees and 2010's The God of the Hive were first rate page turners with depth not often found in the average mystery novel.
Pirate King, however, lacks both depth and suspense. The premise of the novel is a tough one. A famous film maker in the silent film industry is making a movie about people making a movie about Gilbert and Sullivan's opera The Pirates of Penzance. If this is not confusing enough remember that in The Pirates of Penzance there are twelve blonde daughters who end up getting kidnapped by (as luck would have it) twelve pirates who eventually marry them. There are, therefore, twelve actresses in the movie within the novel who are playing these twelve daughters. The reader has to keep track of all of these characters, none of whom are particularly interesting. Mary Russell is called in because there are some fishy things (perhaps drug trade?) going on with the film company. She stays because they end up getting kidnapped by real pirates. (Who saw that coming?!). A novel with this premise could be really fun. Or it could be confusing and tedious. Unfortunately Pirate King is the later.
The novel is not without at least one interesting character, however, and that is the translator, Fernando Pessoa, who is hired by the film crew. An amateur writer, Pessoa finds that by living out several different identities he can hone his craft. (In her acknowledgments King notes that Pessoa was actually a real person.) This makes for a very interesting and unpredicatable scene between him and Russell. After this, however, we don't encounter him again. Instead we are forced to hear Russell speculate over and over (even though her character claims to be annoyed with the whole affair) on possible romantic feelings between specific actresses and the pirates.
Halfway through the novel I was really hoping Holmes would show up so that I could be treated to some of his and Russell's intellectual banter. When he does show up, however, we only get pages of Russell repeating to Holmes all of the clues that have already been pointed out to the reader. This is just redundant.
In the end Pirate King feels like just what it describes: being on a film set. You wait around for something to happen and then when it does it is almost not worth the wait. Read Ms. King's wonderful first novel of the series The Beekeeper's Apprentice, but leave Pirate King on the shelf.
"Why do you choose the word 'doomed'?" you may ask. My answer to that question is Laurie R. King's new novel Pirate King. Before I enumerate all the reasons why you would be best served in leaving this novel on the shelf, I want to praise some of her previous novels. The first novel of Ms. King's that I read was The Beekeeper's Apprentice. The book centers on a young, extremely smart woman who lives in Sussex in the early 1900's. One day she just happens to trip over Sherlock Holmes (who, if you will remember, retires to Sussex post Conan Doyle's stories to be a beekeeper.) Due to her intelligence she makes a spetacular detective in training, and so begins the Mary Russell series, which has, since age fourteen, been one of my favorites.
(photo courtesy of laurierking.com)
The Beekeeper's Apprentice is easily the best book in the now eleven book series. While the books have waxed and waned in terms of readability over the years, the last two books (before Pirate King, that is) gave me great hope for the series as a whole. 2009's The Language of Bees and 2010's The God of the Hive were first rate page turners with depth not often found in the average mystery novel.
Pirate King, however, lacks both depth and suspense. The premise of the novel is a tough one. A famous film maker in the silent film industry is making a movie about people making a movie about Gilbert and Sullivan's opera The Pirates of Penzance. If this is not confusing enough remember that in The Pirates of Penzance there are twelve blonde daughters who end up getting kidnapped by (as luck would have it) twelve pirates who eventually marry them. There are, therefore, twelve actresses in the movie within the novel who are playing these twelve daughters. The reader has to keep track of all of these characters, none of whom are particularly interesting. Mary Russell is called in because there are some fishy things (perhaps drug trade?) going on with the film company. She stays because they end up getting kidnapped by real pirates. (Who saw that coming?!). A novel with this premise could be really fun. Or it could be confusing and tedious. Unfortunately Pirate King is the later.
The novel is not without at least one interesting character, however, and that is the translator, Fernando Pessoa, who is hired by the film crew. An amateur writer, Pessoa finds that by living out several different identities he can hone his craft. (In her acknowledgments King notes that Pessoa was actually a real person.) This makes for a very interesting and unpredicatable scene between him and Russell. After this, however, we don't encounter him again. Instead we are forced to hear Russell speculate over and over (even though her character claims to be annoyed with the whole affair) on possible romantic feelings between specific actresses and the pirates.
Halfway through the novel I was really hoping Holmes would show up so that I could be treated to some of his and Russell's intellectual banter. When he does show up, however, we only get pages of Russell repeating to Holmes all of the clues that have already been pointed out to the reader. This is just redundant.
In the end Pirate King feels like just what it describes: being on a film set. You wait around for something to happen and then when it does it is almost not worth the wait. Read Ms. King's wonderful first novel of the series The Beekeeper's Apprentice, but leave Pirate King on the shelf.
Those who believe that a series gets weaker the longer it goes on have not read Laurie King's Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes books. This is the eleventh title in the series, and while it may not be the best of the bunch, it certainly ranks in the top three or four.
Russell/Holmes aficionados will know that Mary does not feel kindly towards her brother-in-law Mycroft. (Something about him being manipulative...?) So, when her husband tells her that his brother will be coming to stay for a few weeks while some work his done on his own house, Mary feels the need to be elsewhere. But her flat in Oxford has been flooded due to a broken pipe, so it appears she has no recourse.
Inspector Lestrade to the rescue! He asks Mary to be his "mole" in a silent film company owned by megalomaniac Randolph St. John Warminster-Fflyte ("Fflyte films -- Fflytes of fancy") who has decided to make a film about a film company making a film of a production of The Pirates of Penzance. And Mr. Fflyte has a need for authenticity, so they will be filming on location. No, not in Penzance. In Lisbon. You'll need to read the book to find out why.
From the time that Mary appears to the offices of Fflyte Films and introduces herself to general manager Geoffrey Hale, whose assistant she is replacing, the narrative begins to resemble an episode of I Love Lucy, with the distinction that if Mary takes one action things could be fine, the opposite could mean death or worse.
Yes, the tale is more humorous than other stories in the series, but that doesn't make it trivial. Trying to keep track of the whole cast and crew of the production is no easy task, but of course Mary manages magnificently. And in the process, she just happens to solve a mystery or two (with some help from her husband).
This book is truly a delight. It will certainly be enjoyed by Mary Russell fans, and might even draw some more into the company.
*Many thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Russell/Holmes aficionados will know that Mary does not feel kindly towards her brother-in-law Mycroft. (Something about him being manipulative...?) So, when her husband tells her that his brother will be coming to stay for a few weeks while some work his done on his own house, Mary feels the need to be elsewhere. But her flat in Oxford has been flooded due to a broken pipe, so it appears she has no recourse.
Inspector Lestrade to the rescue! He asks Mary to be his "mole" in a silent film company owned by megalomaniac Randolph St. John Warminster-Fflyte ("Fflyte films -- Fflytes of fancy") who has decided to make a film about a film company making a film of a production of The Pirates of Penzance. And Mr. Fflyte has a need for authenticity, so they will be filming on location. No, not in Penzance. In Lisbon. You'll need to read the book to find out why.
From the time that Mary appears to the offices of Fflyte Films and introduces herself to general manager Geoffrey Hale, whose assistant she is replacing, the narrative begins to resemble an episode of I Love Lucy, with the distinction that if Mary takes one action things could be fine, the opposite could mean death or worse.
Yes, the tale is more humorous than other stories in the series, but that doesn't make it trivial. Trying to keep track of the whole cast and crew of the production is no easy task, but of course Mary manages magnificently. And in the process, she just happens to solve a mystery or two (with some help from her husband).
This book is truly a delight. It will certainly be enjoyed by Mary Russell fans, and might even draw some more into the company.
*Many thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
So this is Laurie R. King writing a book about fictional Mary Russell who has written another memoir of an adventure with Sherlock Holmes, this one about the time she went undercover as an assistant to a crew making a silent movie about a crew making a movie about The Pirates of Penzance.
By all rights, you should need to diagram out the layers of narrative and meta narrative, but you don’t. As usual, King passes but lightly over these points, and in fact pauses briefly to make fun of critical readings of narrative and identity constructs.
No, basically, this is a romp from Portugal to Morocco, with real pirates and fake pirates and a lot of actresses and a parrot. Don’t bother hoping for a classic mystery, or anything more than a desultory and deliberately silly bit of plot frippery. These aren’t critiques, mind you. I mean, this book thinks it is somewhat more hilarious and charming than I thought it was, but it was pleasingly diverting. There just isn’t much besides the frippery, and a definite lack of Holmes. And I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is not my Sherlock Holmes. He is hilariously functional, just for starters.
By all rights, you should need to diagram out the layers of narrative and meta narrative, but you don’t. As usual, King passes but lightly over these points, and in fact pauses briefly to make fun of critical readings of narrative and identity constructs.
No, basically, this is a romp from Portugal to Morocco, with real pirates and fake pirates and a lot of actresses and a parrot. Don’t bother hoping for a classic mystery, or anything more than a desultory and deliberately silly bit of plot frippery. These aren’t critiques, mind you. I mean, this book thinks it is somewhat more hilarious and charming than I thought it was, but it was pleasingly diverting. There just isn’t much besides the frippery, and a definite lack of Holmes. And I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is not my Sherlock Holmes. He is hilariously functional, just for starters.
I received this book as a digital ARC from the publisher through Net Galley in return for an honest review.
Russell is called to go undercover to Lisbon and then Morocco as a director's assistant of the silent movie based on The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan. Her job is to investigate strange troubles wit the team and the disappearance of the last assistant's director.
This idea is not so original since François Truffaut wrote and directed his famous movie "La nuit américaine" in 1973.
The plot made by laurie King is quite boring except by the appearance of Fernando Pessoa into the story, the famous Portuguese poet, who acts as a Portuguese translator. By coincidence, I've been recently to Lisbon and the author brilliantly described the real ambience of this town even at that time.
The main concern is the absence of Sherlock Holmes who reappears into the plot only in the last part of the book.
I hope the next book by Laurie King will be better than this one.
After several dark, intense cases, Russell and Holmes find themselves undercover on a silent film production featuring a bevy of blonde actresses and a group of real-life pirates. Much bemusement ensues. It's fun change of pace in the series--humorous, but still smart and thoughtful.
I am desperate to know about the author's process in creating this marvelous piece of madness. I loved the Gilbert and Sullivan-esque madcap adventures and double crosses and hidden identities-- this was a hoot! A big, fluffy, light-reading hoot.
A book that buckles its swash, or swashes its buckle; whichever. The plot is a bit silly - and comes with a disclaimer - but worth the read for King fans, Holmes fans, or pirate fans.
If you like Sherlock Holmes and enjoy a case to solve; or if you enjoy anything pirate related or the Pirates of Penzance play, then this is the book for you!
I enjoyed the subtleties of the case and how two inquiries were going on at the same time. Another great aspect of the novel was how the filming of a film crew filming a farce about the Pirates of Penznace where they run into real pirates turned out to be a reality. It was a great play within a play or in this case a film within a film within a book scenario!
This was my first book in the Mary Russell series and I enjoyed it immensely, enough to continue on with the other books!
I enjoyed the subtleties of the case and how two inquiries were going on at the same time. Another great aspect of the novel was how the filming of a film crew filming a farce about the Pirates of Penznace where they run into real pirates turned out to be a reality. It was a great play within a play or in this case a film within a film within a book scenario!
This was my first book in the Mary Russell series and I enjoyed it immensely, enough to continue on with the other books!
This used to be one of my favourite series' but the last several books have not been good for me at all. I had hopes for this one, but once I got into it and realized that Russell and Holmes aren't even together (at least for the first 10 chapters which is as far as I got before DNFing it) I was done. The best part of this entire concept is Holmes and Mary TOGETHER!
Oh well, at least I got the audio book from the library so all it cost me to find out this one wasn't for me was some time. Moving on to the next on my enormous TBR list.
Oh well, at least I got the audio book from the library so all it cost me to find out this one wasn't for me was some time. Moving on to the next on my enormous TBR list.
A few highlights, but mostly too much of... everything!
Not my favorite of Laurie’s stories.
This one, #11, Pirate King, has quite a bit of humor--inspired, as it is, by Gilbert and Sullivan. Others have been inspired by Rudyard Kipling, Dashiell Hammett, Lawrence of Arabia, old English mythology, and always Arthur Conan Doyle. Always something new. Always entertaining.
Sherlock Holmes with his new partner, Mary Russell. Good stories. Likeable characters. Set in many and varied physical, social, religious, linguistic, and literary environments. Many books in the series, and the stories keep getting more compelling:
Read them in this order:
1 background, optional. A Study in Scarlet (novel, 1887, introduces Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr. John Watson), The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter (short story, 1893, introduces Mycroft Holmes), The Adventure of the Final Problem (short story, 1893, introduces Professor James Moriarty), The Adventure of the Empty House (short story, 1903, set in 1894, explains Holmes' doings 1891–1894), and The Adventure of the Lion's Mane (short story, 1926, Holmes has retired to Sussex), by Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930). You don't have to read the whole canon, but some familiarity with the Conan Doyle stories makes the Holmes-and-Russell books more enjoyable.
1. The Beekeeper's Apprentice (1994. Events 1915.04.08–1919.07). Sherlock Holmes (b. early 1861), having retired to the East Sussex Downs, meets young Mary Russell (b. 1900.01.02), who becomes his apprentice. (Purported to have been written by Mary Russell in the late 1980s.) (Holmes on 1915.04.08 says he's 54, and on 1920.12.26 that he's 59.) Holmes lives half a mile from the sea (book 9, The Language of Bees, chapters 1 & 8) near Birling Gap, in East Sussex, https://www.google.com/maps/@50.8,0.0... northeast of the mouth of the Cuckmere river: puts him about at the end of Crowlink Lane, southwest of Friston.
5. O Jerusalem (1999. Events 1918.12.30–1919.02) Fifth-written and fifth-published of the Mary Russel/Sherlock Holmes novels, it fleshes out an interlude within the first book. It's also a prequel for book six. If you're reading the Kindle edition of /O Jerusalem/, start at the cover. Not at the table of contents. Not at the beginning, which is chapter 1. Before the table of contents are: Map of Jerusalem and of Palestine; Arabic Words and Phrases; A Note about Chapter Headings; "Editor's Remarks," "Author's Prologue:" 2% of the book is before the table of contents.
2. A Monstrous Regiment of Women (1995. Events 1920.12.26–1921.06)
Mary Russel's War (2016. Events 1906–1925. Ten short stories. Stories #1–9 can be read after book 2, A Monstrous Regiment of Women. Story #10, Stately Holmes, should be read after book 10, God of the Hive.)
"The Marriage of Mary Russell" (2016. Events 1921.02), short story #4 of 10 in /Mary Russell's War/ (2016).
"Mary's Christmas" (2014), short story #1 of 10 in /Mary Russell's War/, (2016). Mary reminisces about her childhood (1906–1913.12)
Background for "Mary Russell's War," optional. The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist (short story, 1903), and The Valley of Fear (novel, 1915), Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930). Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman (1899), E.W. Hornung (1866–1921) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
"Mary Russell's War" or "My War Journal" (2015. Events of 1914.08.04–1915.04.08), short story #2 of 10 in the collection, /Mary Russell's War/ (2016). Includes spoilers for The Valley of Fear.
"Beekeeping for Beginners" (2011. Events 1915.04.08–1915.05), short story #3 of 10 in /Mary Russell's War/ (2016).
"Mrs. Hudson's Case" (1997. Events 1918.09–1918.10), short story #5 of 10 in /Mary Russell's War/ (2016).
"A Venomous Death" (2009. Set in October, in or after 1921), very short story #6 in /Mary Russell's War/ (2016).
"Birth of a Green Man" (2010. Set sometime between June 1917--see book 10, The God of the Hive, chapter 52--and September 1924), very short story #7 in /Mary Russell's War (2016).
"My Story, or, The Case of the Ravening Sherlockians" (2009, Events of 1989–2009--note that Sherlock Holmes, born early in 1861, is 148 years old in 2009, and still alive. He must still be alive, as his obituary hasn't appeared in The Times of London. Conan Doyle tried to kill him in 1891, and his fans wouldn't have it.), short story #8 in /Mary Russell's War/ (2016).
"A Case in Correspondence" (2010, Events of 1992.05.03–1992.05.19), short story #9 in /Mary Russell's War/ (2016).
3 background, very optional. Almost any Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) mystery.
3. A Letter of Mary (1996. Events of 1923.08.14–1923.09.08)
4 background, optional. The Hound of the Baskervilles (novel, 1902), Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930).
4. The Moor (1998. Events of 1923.10–1923.11) Includes spoilers for The Hound of the Baskervilles.
The moor is Dartmoor, in southwest England, setting of The Hound of the Baskervilles, and almost a character in the book:
6. Justice Hall. (2002. Events 1923.11.05–1923.12.26) Includes spoilers for O Jerusalem, as does this:
Introduces
7 background, optional, but good. Kim (novel, 1901), Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936). Online:
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Kim
7 background, optional. Hind Swaraj (1901), Mohandas Gandhi (1869–1948). Online:
https://www.mkgandhi.org/ebks/hind_sw...
7. The Game. (2004. Events 1924.01.01–1924.02) The game is international espionage, called the Great Game by Kipling in Kim.
Introduces Kimball O'Hara, b. 1875.
8 background, very optional. The Maltese Falcon (novel, 1930), Dashiell Hammett (1894–1961). Sam Spade short stories: "A Man Called Spade," 1932, "Too Many Have Lived," 1932, "They Can Only Hang you Once," 1932, all collected in A Man Called Spade and Other Stories, 1944, and in Nightmare Town, 1994; and "A Knife Will Cut for Anybody," published 2013. Continental Op stories: The Big Book of the Continental Op, 2017, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
8 background, optional. Entry Denied: Exclusion and the Chinese Community in America, 1882–1943 (1994), Sucheng Chan (1941–).
8 background, entirely optional but well worth reading: Right Ho, Jeeves (novel, 1934), P.G. Wodehouse (1881–1975), online at:
http://www.online-literature.com/pg-w...
Or any similar Wodehouse--Right Ho, Jeeves, is particularly good.
8. Locked Rooms (2005. Events 1924.03–1924.05)
Eighteen years after the San Francisco earthquake and fires, April 18, 1906.
9 background, optional. A Scandal in Bohemia (short story, 1891) and The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter (short story, 1893), Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930).
9 background, very optional. The Varieties of Religious Experience, 1902, William James (1842–1910).
9. The Language of Bees (2009. Events 1924.08–1924.08.30 and 1919.08–1920.03) ends "to be continued" in 10. The God of the Hive (2010. Events 1924.08.29–1924.10.31). Includes spoilers for A Scandal in Bohemia (1891) and The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter (1893).
11 background, optional. The Pirates of Penzance (1879), W.S. Gilbert (1836–1911)
11. Pirate King (2011. Events 1924.11.06–1924.11.30) Heath Robinson (a kind of British Rube Goldberg): https://www.pinterest.com/drumseddie5...
Background for "Stately Holmes," optional. A Visit from St. Nicholas (1823), Clement Clark Moore (1779–1863): https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem... . A Christmas Carol (1843), Charles Dickens (1812–1870): http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46/46-... (control-+ to make it readable). A Scandal in Bohemia (1891); The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone (1921), Arthur Conan Doyle.
"Stately Holmes" (2016. Events 1925.12), short story #10 in /Mary Russell's War (2016). Includes spoilers for 6. Justice Hall, 9. The Language of Bees, and 10. God of the Hive, and for A Scandal in Bohemia.
The author's website:
https://laurierking.com/author-pages/...
(née Richardson, 1952.09.19– ).
Trivia questions: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/auth...
Sherlock Holmes with his new partner, Mary Russell. Good stories. Likeable characters. Set in many and varied physical, social, religious, linguistic, and literary environments. Many books in the series, and the stories keep getting more compelling:
Read them in this order:
1 background, optional. A Study in Scarlet (novel, 1887, introduces Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr. John Watson), The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter (short story, 1893, introduces Mycroft Holmes), The Adventure of the Final Problem (short story, 1893, introduces Professor James Moriarty), The Adventure of the Empty House (short story, 1903, set in 1894, explains Holmes' doings 1891–1894), and The Adventure of the Lion's Mane (short story, 1926, Holmes has retired to Sussex), by Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930). You don't have to read the whole canon, but some familiarity with the Conan Doyle stories makes the Holmes-and-Russell books more enjoyable.
1. The Beekeeper's Apprentice (1994. Events 1915.04.08–1919.07). Sherlock Holmes (b. early 1861), having retired to the East Sussex Downs, meets young Mary Russell (b. 1900.01.02), who becomes his apprentice. (Purported to have been written by Mary Russell in the late 1980s.) (Holmes on 1915.04.08 says he's 54, and on 1920.12.26 that he's 59.) Holmes lives half a mile from the sea (book 9, The Language of Bees, chapters 1 & 8) near Birling Gap, in East Sussex, https://www.google.com/maps/@50.8,0.0... northeast of the mouth of the Cuckmere river: puts him about at the end of Crowlink Lane, southwest of Friston.
5. O Jerusalem (1999. Events 1918.12.30–1919.02) Fifth-written and fifth-published of the Mary Russel/Sherlock Holmes novels, it fleshes out an interlude within the first book. It's also a prequel for book six. If you're reading the Kindle edition of /O Jerusalem/, start at the cover. Not at the table of contents. Not at the beginning, which is chapter 1. Before the table of contents are: Map of Jerusalem and of Palestine; Arabic Words and Phrases; A Note about Chapter Headings; "Editor's Remarks," "Author's Prologue:" 2% of the book is before the table of contents.
2. A Monstrous Regiment of Women (1995. Events 1920.12.26–1921.06)
Mary Russel's War (2016. Events 1906–1925. Ten short stories. Stories #1–9 can be read after book 2, A Monstrous Regiment of Women. Story #10, Stately Holmes, should be read after book 10, God of the Hive.)
"The Marriage of Mary Russell" (2016. Events 1921.02), short story #4 of 10 in /Mary Russell's War/ (2016).
"Mary's Christmas" (2014), short story #1 of 10 in /Mary Russell's War/, (2016). Mary reminisces about her childhood (1906–1913.12)
Background for "Mary Russell's War," optional. The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist (short story, 1903), and The Valley of Fear (novel, 1915), Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930). Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman (1899), E.W. Hornung (1866–1921) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
"Mary Russell's War" or "My War Journal" (2015. Events of 1914.08.04–1915.04.08), short story #2 of 10 in the collection, /Mary Russell's War/ (2016). Includes spoilers for The Valley of Fear.
"Beekeeping for Beginners" (2011. Events 1915.04.08–1915.05), short story #3 of 10 in /Mary Russell's War/ (2016).
"Mrs. Hudson's Case" (1997. Events 1918.09–1918.10), short story #5 of 10 in /Mary Russell's War/ (2016).
"A Venomous Death" (2009. Set in October, in or after 1921), very short story #6 in /Mary Russell's War/ (2016).
"Birth of a Green Man" (2010. Set sometime between June 1917--see book 10, The God of the Hive, chapter 52--and September 1924), very short story #7 in /Mary Russell's War (2016).
"My Story, or, The Case of the Ravening Sherlockians" (2009, Events of 1989–2009--note that Sherlock Holmes, born early in 1861, is 148 years old in 2009, and still alive. He must still be alive, as his obituary hasn't appeared in The Times of London. Conan Doyle tried to kill him in 1891, and his fans wouldn't have it.), short story #8 in /Mary Russell's War/ (2016).
"A Case in Correspondence" (2010, Events of 1992.05.03–1992.05.19), short story #9 in /Mary Russell's War/ (2016).
3 background, very optional. Almost any Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) mystery.
3. A Letter of Mary (1996. Events of 1923.08.14–1923.09.08)
4 background, optional. The Hound of the Baskervilles (novel, 1902), Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930).
4. The Moor (1998. Events of 1923.10–1923.11) Includes spoilers for The Hound of the Baskervilles.
The moor is Dartmoor, in southwest England, setting of The Hound of the Baskervilles, and almost a character in the book:
6. Justice Hall. (2002. Events 1923.11.05–1923.12.26) Includes spoilers for O Jerusalem, as does this:
Introduces
7 background, optional, but good. Kim (novel, 1901), Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936). Online:
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Kim
7 background, optional. Hind Swaraj (1901), Mohandas Gandhi (1869–1948). Online:
https://www.mkgandhi.org/ebks/hind_sw...
7. The Game. (2004. Events 1924.01.01–1924.02) The game is international espionage, called the Great Game by Kipling in Kim.
Introduces Kimball O'Hara, b. 1875.
8 background, very optional. The Maltese Falcon (novel, 1930), Dashiell Hammett (1894–1961). Sam Spade short stories: "A Man Called Spade," 1932, "Too Many Have Lived," 1932, "They Can Only Hang you Once," 1932, all collected in A Man Called Spade and Other Stories, 1944, and in Nightmare Town, 1994; and "A Knife Will Cut for Anybody," published 2013. Continental Op stories: The Big Book of the Continental Op, 2017, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
8 background, optional. Entry Denied: Exclusion and the Chinese Community in America, 1882–1943 (1994), Sucheng Chan (1941–).
8 background, entirely optional but well worth reading: Right Ho, Jeeves (novel, 1934), P.G. Wodehouse (1881–1975), online at:
http://www.online-literature.com/pg-w...
Or any similar Wodehouse--Right Ho, Jeeves, is particularly good.
8. Locked Rooms (2005. Events 1924.03–1924.05)
Eighteen years after the San Francisco earthquake and fires, April 18, 1906.
9 background, optional. A Scandal in Bohemia (short story, 1891) and The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter (short story, 1893), Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930).
9 background, very optional. The Varieties of Religious Experience, 1902, William James (1842–1910).
9. The Language of Bees (2009. Events 1924.08–1924.08.30 and 1919.08–1920.03) ends "to be continued" in 10. The God of the Hive (2010. Events 1924.08.29–1924.10.31). Includes spoilers for A Scandal in Bohemia (1891) and The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter (1893).
11 background, optional. The Pirates of Penzance (1879), W.S. Gilbert (1836–1911)
11. Pirate King (2011. Events 1924.11.06–1924.11.30) Heath Robinson (a kind of British Rube Goldberg): https://www.pinterest.com/drumseddie5...
Background for "Stately Holmes," optional. A Visit from St. Nicholas (1823), Clement Clark Moore (1779–1863): https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem... . A Christmas Carol (1843), Charles Dickens (1812–1870): http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46/46-... (control-+ to make it readable). A Scandal in Bohemia (1891); The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone (1921), Arthur Conan Doyle.
"Stately Holmes" (2016. Events 1925.12), short story #10 in /Mary Russell's War (2016). Includes spoilers for 6. Justice Hall, 9. The Language of Bees, and 10. God of the Hive, and for A Scandal in Bohemia.
The author's website:
https://laurierking.com/author-pages/...
(née Richardson, 1952.09.19– ).
Trivia questions: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/auth...
TL;DR - Worth reading if you can't get enough of Russell, but you can skip the book and not miss anything important
The writing is excellent, and once more Laurie King transports us into another time and world, evoking sights, smells, and sounds. She provides background information with a deft hand, setting the era and outlining the politics and social constraints that drive and shape the characters without the dreaded info-dump syndrome. That said, Russell and Holmes do not mature nor develop in the course of the story, nor do they reveal anything new about their relationship or themselves, and the mystery itself is not particularly interesting. The preface of the book tells us as much and warns us that this is the most "fantastical" of the tales to date. It is resolved with a turn of events just short of deus ex machina, which is certainly fitting for the plot and story, but disappointed me in not seeing more of the Russell and Holmes problem solving and skills. It seemed rushed, or compressed, after the lengthy buildup. *BAM* problem solved. *pop pop pop* small related problems resolved.
Since there is neither growth nor maturation with the Russell and Holmes characters, we are left looking at the other characters who populate the novel. There were a few who might have hidden depths, but for the most part Russell assesses and dismisses them. I will be curious to see if any of the events in this book are essential to future books, or if any of the characters are used as a resource or plot point.
Overall, I felt like I was watching a short feature before the main attraction. Well crafted, and worth sitting through, but nothing to mourn if you chose to use that time to visit the restroom or buy refreshments to consume during the main feature.
The writing is excellent, and once more Laurie King transports us into another time and world, evoking sights, smells, and sounds. She provides background information with a deft hand, setting the era and outlining the politics and social constraints that drive and shape the characters without the dreaded info-dump syndrome. That said, Russell and Holmes do not mature nor develop in the course of the story, nor do they reveal anything new about their relationship or themselves, and the mystery itself is not particularly interesting. The preface of the book tells us as much and warns us that this is the most "fantastical" of the tales to date. It is resolved with a turn of events just short of deus ex machina, which is certainly fitting for the plot and story, but disappointed me in not seeing more of the Russell and Holmes problem solving and skills. It seemed rushed, or compressed, after the lengthy buildup. *BAM* problem solved. *pop pop pop* small related problems resolved.
Since there is neither growth nor maturation with the Russell and Holmes characters, we are left looking at the other characters who populate the novel. There were a few who might have hidden depths, but for the most part Russell assesses and dismisses them. I will be curious to see if any of the events in this book are essential to future books, or if any of the characters are used as a resource or plot point.
Overall, I felt like I was watching a short feature before the main attraction. Well crafted, and worth sitting through, but nothing to mourn if you chose to use that time to visit the restroom or buy refreshments to consume during the main feature.
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