Buzz, buzz...
The Beekeepers Apprentice by: Laurie R King
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Picador; Reprint edition (October 2, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0312427360
This is the first book of many that Laurie R King has written about Mary Russell, the lady who eventually becomes Mrs. Sherlock Holmes. I wanted to read this one (since I already read The Moor) to see how they met and what they were like then. There were some differences between The Moor and this book.. mostly I didn't find quite as much of the humor I found in the Moor. But.. for one, I needed to see how it all began. And two: I wanted to hear those voices in my head again of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce!! (I can't help loving those old old black and white movies, Hound of the Baskervilles, was always my favorite!).
But back to the book...
At age 15 Mary Russell meets Sherlock Holmes, retired in Sussex Downs where Conan Doyle left him retired and raising bees.
Mary, is an orphan rebelling against her guardian aunt. She impresses Holmes with her intelligence and Holmes takes her under his wing and teachers her the mysteries of detection, allowing her to participate in a few cases .
The cases begin very simple but as do many things.. they progress, until one day they find both of their lives at stake. It's either solve the case or die trying.
During the story you get to meet Watson, who at the time is also retired. Familiar characters and/ or mention of them (such as Moriarty) pop up during this story. This was an excellent book to read and I wouldn't have missed it!
Were I to have to choose which of the two books I've read as a favorite though.. it would still be "The Moor". Partly for the humor and partly because it brought back much of the old Hound of the Baskervilles! I am sure that I will read more of Laurie R King's work (I like this Mary Russell !).. and also checking on getting a copy of Hound of the Baskerville's!
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Picador; Reprint edition (October 2, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0312427360
This is the first book of many that Laurie R King has written about Mary Russell, the lady who eventually becomes Mrs. Sherlock Holmes. I wanted to read this one (since I already read The Moor) to see how they met and what they were like then. There were some differences between The Moor and this book.. mostly I didn't find quite as much of the humor I found in the Moor. But.. for one, I needed to see how it all began. And two: I wanted to hear those voices in my head again of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce!! (I can't help loving those old old black and white movies, Hound of the Baskervilles, was always my favorite!).
But back to the book...
At age 15 Mary Russell meets Sherlock Holmes, retired in Sussex Downs where Conan Doyle left him retired and raising bees.
Mary, is an orphan rebelling against her guardian aunt. She impresses Holmes with her intelligence and Holmes takes her under his wing and teachers her the mysteries of detection, allowing her to participate in a few cases .
The cases begin very simple but as do many things.. they progress, until one day they find both of their lives at stake. It's either solve the case or die trying.
During the story you get to meet Watson, who at the time is also retired. Familiar characters and/ or mention of them (such as Moriarty) pop up during this story. This was an excellent book to read and I wouldn't have missed it!
Were I to have to choose which of the two books I've read as a favorite though.. it would still be "The Moor". Partly for the humor and partly because it brought back much of the old Hound of the Baskervilles! I am sure that I will read more of Laurie R King's work (I like this Mary Russell !).. and also checking on getting a copy of Hound of the Baskerville's!
posted by DesLily | 5:03 PM
10 Comments:
Funnily enough I've been watching Sherlock Holmes tonight. Richard E. Grant made a documentary about the books and then they showed The Hound of the Baskervilles - the Jeremy Brett version. Which is very good but I'll always have a soft spot for the old Basil Rathbone film. Very creepy.
OK, so I'm definitely getting this book now! And I'm in love with Kester's little adventure! I can't stop watching it, lol!
Wait! Sherlock Holmes had a wife?? How in the world did I miss that?
cjh
Cath: ah yes, there is nothing like Basil Rathbone as Holmes! (nor Nigel Bruce as Watson)
Chris: I didn't do such a good job on Kesters adventure but sometimes those things could take hours and hours to make them look better, and I don't have enough readers to always do better lol..
oh well.. if you like mysteries you'll like these books. But I wish you could see a Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movie so you could hear the voices!
cj: well.. A.Conan Doyle didn't give him a wife.. but Laurie R King did.. eventually.. first and foremost she gave the reader a "female Holmes" lol..
Ah, so glad you liked it. Laurie R. King is one of my favourite author and her Mary Russell series is one of my favourite. I like it that Mary is intelligent, has a mind of her own, but she is never too annoying. And the relationship between her and Holmes is one between equals.
There's so much good humour in the books, and those odd bits of theology that comes up from time to time.
Laurie R. King also has a new book coming out this December - it's called "Touchstone' and it's a departure from Mary Russell. Just in case you're interested.
hi dark!.. yeah i loved these two books and fully intend on reading yet another Mary Russell book! It's the characters that have me, so I don't know if I'd depart from them, though she's an excellent writer/ story teller! These books have made me want to get the old Rathbone movies! They show so seldom on tv and then when they do it's almost always Hound of the Baskervilles and no others.
Would you believe I've only read one Sherlock Holmes book and watched one of the movies? I still just adore Rathbone though!
Love the little animated picture! I wish I could do stuff like that.
This sounds like such a fun series! I'm going to have to look for it.
You might enjoy checking out Laurie King's website and blog.
And she recently posted the first two chapters of her upcoming book, Touchstone, on the site--here
:)
Love the poppet animatic!
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