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Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes #18
The Lantern's Dance
September, 1925. After their recent adventures in Transylvania, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes look forward to spending time with Holmes’ son, the famous artist Damian Adler, and his family in the French countryside. But when they arrive at Damian’s house, they discover that the Adlers have fled from a mysterious threat.
In the ominously empty house, Russell discovers several crates packed with memorabilia related to the artist Horace Vernet, including an old journal written in a nearly impenetrable code. Intrigued, Russell sets about deciphering the intricate cryptograph.
The secrets of the past appear to be reaching into the present. Could there be things about Holmes’ own history that even the master detective does not perceive?
In the ominously empty house, Russell discovers several crates packed with memorabilia related to the artist Horace Vernet, including an old journal written in a nearly impenetrable code. Intrigued, Russell sets about deciphering the intricate cryptograph.
The secrets of the past appear to be reaching into the present. Could there be things about Holmes’ own history that even the master detective does not perceive?
384 pages, Paperback
First published February 13, 2024
470 people are currently reading
15218 people want to read
About the author
Laurie R. King
135 books6,842 followersEdgar-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 677 reviews
January 26, 2024
As readers of historical mysteries know, every one of Laurie R. King's Russell and Holmes mysteries is a delight. The characters are complex and fascinating. The plotting is detailed. The research is impeccable. Having said that, I want to add that within this body of work, The Lantern's Dance is a standout. This volume reveals a great deal more about Holes and his family history—at least King's version of it. You'll leave it feeling that you've deepened your relationship with Holmes and will also meet characters you hope will appear in future volumes. Even if you've had somewhat mixed experiences with this series, The Lantern's Dance is not to be missed.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
March 11, 2024
I usually read Laurie R. King’s Russell/Holmes mysteries in book form so I can look for clues and check for understanding as I read. And I collect, and therefore buy, her books in Hardback because they, or at least the dust jackets, are so beautiful. I read this one on Audible because I had a credit I kinda needed to use. Nevertheless, I enjoyed listening to this 18th in the series. Forgetting the well-done audible performance, the book itself was extraordinary. To me it was right up there with her first three: The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, A Monstrous Regiment of Women, A Letter to Mary, and her 14th book, The Murder of Mary Russell. King peoples many of her novels with real-life historical personages who intermingle with fictional icons which adds so much to their appeal. In the course of the series, we meet people such as Lord Peter Wimsey, Kimbal O’Hara (Rudyard Kipling’s Kim) Dashiell Hammett, Cole Porter, Elsa Maxwell, T.E. Lawrence, and J.R.R. Tolkien. But like The Murder of Mary Russell, one of the most compelling aspects of this book is the exploration of the backstories of Arthur Conan Doyle's creations by way of Laurie R. King by way of Mary Russell’s journals. In King’s books, Sherlock is not a fictional character created by Doyle but a real person whom his friend Watson (who is only mentioned in passing a time or two and whom Mary calls “Uncle John”) has based a series of famous detective stories. The resulting fame is sometimes very much an irritation and inconvenience to the real detective. The books begin after Holmes has “retired” to the country and meets 15-year-old Mary Russell, who gives him a new lease on life. He takes her on as an apprentice and later marries her. Or she marries him, maybe I should say.
In The Murder of Mary Russell King delved into Mrs. Hudson’s eye-popping history. In this one, the curtain is flung open on Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes’ family background and a past childhood tragedy. Of course, this tale of Holmes's past is not based on ACD canon. All we know from the creator of Sherlock Holmes is that Sherlock’s grandmother was the sister of non-fictional French Artist, Horace Vernet. From that little nugget, King weaves a fantastical yet meticulously researched tale that is grounded firmly in Sherlockiana lore and respected speculative theories concerning the great detective. I won’t go into detail, but I will just say that Laurie takes it to a whole new level. I was blown away by the great reveal at the end which I suspect that I would have suspected had I been able to carefully read the book rather than listen to it. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Having just arrived home from Transylvania, Holmes and Russell are looking forward to a quiet visit with Holmes’ son, the artist, Damian Adler, and his little family. But it is not to be. The Adler home was broken into by a machete-wielding intruder shortly after some mysterious trunks and crates had arrived for Damien. Now the Adler family has gone missing. Mary, hobbled by a broken ankle is left to her own devices while Sherlock tracks down his son. Of course, Damian’s mysterious boxes are not safe from Mary’s curiosity. What she discovers in the trunks keeps her well-occupied in decoding and translating the fascinating journals of a girl named Lakshmi. We are introduced to her as a child as she is transplanted from France to India. The journals end with her settled in England after fleeing India under great danger. But what does she have to do with the Vernets, Sherlock Holmes, or Damian Adler? Or is the connection with his mother Irene?
The answer is both intriguing, moving, and even amusing. I had a lump in my throat and at the last, was chuckling. And I can’t wait for King’s next entry in the series. I hope and trust the plot will pick up where this one leaves off and build on the last sentence: Well,I thought, This is certainly going to make for an interesting conversation when next we see Mycroft.”
https://rebekahsreadingsandwatchings....
In The Murder of Mary Russell King delved into Mrs. Hudson’s eye-popping history. In this one, the curtain is flung open on Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes’ family background and a past childhood tragedy. Of course, this tale of Holmes's past is not based on ACD canon. All we know from the creator of Sherlock Holmes is that Sherlock’s grandmother was the sister of non-fictional French Artist, Horace Vernet. From that little nugget, King weaves a fantastical yet meticulously researched tale that is grounded firmly in Sherlockiana lore and respected speculative theories concerning the great detective. I won’t go into detail, but I will just say that Laurie takes it to a whole new level. I was blown away by the great reveal at the end which I suspect that I would have suspected had I been able to carefully read the book rather than listen to it. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Having just arrived home from Transylvania, Holmes and Russell are looking forward to a quiet visit with Holmes’ son, the artist, Damian Adler, and his little family. But it is not to be. The Adler home was broken into by a machete-wielding intruder shortly after some mysterious trunks and crates had arrived for Damien. Now the Adler family has gone missing. Mary, hobbled by a broken ankle is left to her own devices while Sherlock tracks down his son. Of course, Damian’s mysterious boxes are not safe from Mary’s curiosity. What she discovers in the trunks keeps her well-occupied in decoding and translating the fascinating journals of a girl named Lakshmi. We are introduced to her as a child as she is transplanted from France to India. The journals end with her settled in England after fleeing India under great danger. But what does she have to do with the Vernets, Sherlock Holmes, or Damian Adler? Or is the connection with his mother Irene?
The answer is both intriguing, moving, and even amusing. I had a lump in my throat and at the last, was chuckling. And I can’t wait for King’s next entry in the series. I hope and trust the plot will pick up where this one leaves off and build on the last sentence: Well,I thought, This is certainly going to make for an interesting conversation when next we see Mycroft.”
https://rebekahsreadingsandwatchings....
February 19, 2024
I find I am struggling with these books, the more LRK writes them. The first few are extraordinary, but I am now finding them less exciting and more bland. The reveal at the end of this one is certainly exciting, but not pleasing. Instead, I am sad for the characters, especially after they spend the whole book apart. I really think Russell and Holmes are best together.
On a side note, it is a peeve of mine when an author assumes a reader knows other languages and uses them freely without translation.
On a side note, it is a peeve of mine when an author assumes a reader knows other languages and uses them freely without translation.
March 29, 2024
Absolutely superb! Laurie R. King has a way of writing that puts me there with Russel & Holmes--I am in all the places she describes and am enjoying myself the whole time.
May 10, 2024
A quick Google search tells me that there have been no fewer than 250 versions of Sherlock Holmes since Arthur Conan Doyle's original, including books, stories, movies, TV shows and any other medium you can name. Clearly there is something about the character that has maintained its appeal over the past 125+ years.
I can't claim to be familiar with many of these, but few of them have endured as long as Laurie King's Russell/Holmes series. I don't want to say too much about the plot of this one since it would be too easy to let a spoiler slip. Instead, in case you've been doing something else for the past 30 years, since the publication of The Beekeeper's Apprentice, I'll give you a snapshot of the premise to pique your curiosity.
In 1915 Holmes is retired and occupying himself tending bees and conducting scientific experiments on the Sussex coast. Into his serene life drops Mary Russell, a 15 year old orphan, transplanted from the US and frustrated by her restricted rural life and lack of control over her life and fortune. It quickly evolves that she is his intellectual equal, and their partnership takes off from there. Over the next few years she assists him in solving cases while studying at Oxford. Eventually they marry, despite the age difference.
So here's the tricky part: How to come up with enough plots to cover 18 books (and counting) without becoming redundant, as so often happens with crime fiction series? King addresses this by building on open-ended topics from the Conan Doyle stories. She finds fertile ground in the character of Sherlock's older brother Mycroft, whose unspecified-but-important occupation in the British government turns out to be tied to espionage, allowing him to point them toward various adventures (often to Mary's consternation). Other books have followed up on the characters Irene Adler and Mrs. Hudson, and elements of the original stories also come into play from time to time.
The plots are invariably complex, with colorful characters and exotic locations, and incorporating actual historical events and personages. Holmes and Russell often work independently, with Mary Russell's portions told in the first person and Holmes the third. That works to highlight the fact that these are Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes books, not the other way around. She's a marvelous character, smart, intrepid, and skilled at self-defense (and at offense when necessary). Once enough years have passed so that she's not a child bride at the time of her wedding, the adventures become compressed in time so that a half dozen or more books can take place within a year. A clever ploy, since Holmes doesn't have to age out and the stories don't have to reflect the 1930's economic climate.
Although the plot of this one is connected to Holmes' past, it is Mary who does most of the detecting. As with the The Murder of Mary Russell, there is an elaborate story-within-a-story involving a strong woman who makes the most of the circumstances of her life. I loved her as much as Mary!
Like every series, some Russell/Holmes books are stronger than others. This was definitely one of the best.
I can't claim to be familiar with many of these, but few of them have endured as long as Laurie King's Russell/Holmes series. I don't want to say too much about the plot of this one since it would be too easy to let a spoiler slip. Instead, in case you've been doing something else for the past 30 years, since the publication of The Beekeeper's Apprentice, I'll give you a snapshot of the premise to pique your curiosity.
In 1915 Holmes is retired and occupying himself tending bees and conducting scientific experiments on the Sussex coast. Into his serene life drops Mary Russell, a 15 year old orphan, transplanted from the US and frustrated by her restricted rural life and lack of control over her life and fortune. It quickly evolves that she is his intellectual equal, and their partnership takes off from there. Over the next few years she assists him in solving cases while studying at Oxford. Eventually they marry, despite the age difference.
So here's the tricky part: How to come up with enough plots to cover 18 books (and counting) without becoming redundant, as so often happens with crime fiction series? King addresses this by building on open-ended topics from the Conan Doyle stories. She finds fertile ground in the character of Sherlock's older brother Mycroft, whose unspecified-but-important occupation in the British government turns out to be tied to espionage, allowing him to point them toward various adventures (often to Mary's consternation). Other books have followed up on the characters Irene Adler and Mrs. Hudson, and elements of the original stories also come into play from time to time.
The plots are invariably complex, with colorful characters and exotic locations, and incorporating actual historical events and personages. Holmes and Russell often work independently, with Mary Russell's portions told in the first person and Holmes the third. That works to highlight the fact that these are Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes books, not the other way around. She's a marvelous character, smart, intrepid, and skilled at self-defense (and at offense when necessary). Once enough years have passed so that she's not a child bride at the time of her wedding, the adventures become compressed in time so that a half dozen or more books can take place within a year. A clever ploy, since Holmes doesn't have to age out and the stories don't have to reflect the 1930's economic climate.
Although the plot of this one is connected to Holmes' past, it is Mary who does most of the detecting. As with the The Murder of Mary Russell, there is an elaborate story-within-a-story involving a strong woman who makes the most of the circumstances of her life. I loved her as much as Mary!
Like every series, some Russell/Holmes books are stronger than others. This was definitely one of the best.
February 14, 2024
This is a favorite series of mine and I loved this book. The audiobook version was marvelous to listen to, I recommend listening to it. 😊
December 13, 2023
This series is an auto read for me. You don’t have to read them order, but you’ll enjoy it more if you at least know Mary. Go grab The Beekeeper’s Apprentice if you haven’t read it yet.
This book, like all of them, has a great historical setting and a fantastic blend of canon and new. Mary is strong minded, brilliant, and likable; and Holmes is a character Doyle would recognize. I still like the earlier books in the series better than the recent ones, but this one doesn’t disappoint. Does the mystery standalone? Yes. Will this book hook you if you haven’t read some of the other books? Probably not. Mary’s brilliance isn’t as much display although we learn more about Holmes. It was a little slow to start and the format of Mary exploring letters didn’t help. But the story that unfolded tied together in a brilliant way. This was a rarity where I found Holmes’ chapters more interesting than Mary’s. But fans will enjoy it.
I received an arc from NetGalley
This book, like all of them, has a great historical setting and a fantastic blend of canon and new. Mary is strong minded, brilliant, and likable; and Holmes is a character Doyle would recognize. I still like the earlier books in the series better than the recent ones, but this one doesn’t disappoint. Does the mystery standalone? Yes. Will this book hook you if you haven’t read some of the other books? Probably not. Mary’s brilliance isn’t as much display although we learn more about Holmes. It was a little slow to start and the format of Mary exploring letters didn’t help. But the story that unfolded tied together in a brilliant way. This was a rarity where I found Holmes’ chapters more interesting than Mary’s. But fans will enjoy it.
I received an arc from NetGalley
February 27, 2024
I very much enjoyed The Lantern’s Dance, Laurie R. King’s 18th novel in a series featuring Sherlock Holmes and his clever, much-younger wife and partner, Mary Russell. In this novel, Holmes and his headstrong estranged son simultaneously try to repair their relationship while trying to discover why an Indian man broke into the son’s cottage in the French countryside. To tell any more would be to ruin the fun for readers, but be prepared for some shocking revelations in this meticulous researched book.
That said, I’m not sure this book is right for anyone new to the series. Without having read The Language of Bees and The God of the Hive (ninth and tenth in the series, respectively), one would be somewhat lost in reading King’s latest novel.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Random House Publishing ¬– Ballantine, and Bantam in exchange for an honest review.
That said, I’m not sure this book is right for anyone new to the series. Without having read The Language of Bees and The God of the Hive (ninth and tenth in the series, respectively), one would be somewhat lost in reading King’s latest novel.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Random House Publishing ¬– Ballantine, and Bantam in exchange for an honest review.
March 29, 2024
This author is dedicated to descriptive writing. Not to say that’s a bad thing, just not to my liking. Long passages describe things and places, all very much overdone in my opinion.
Mary & Sherlock arrive at Damian’s home only to learn that Damian & family have rushed off after a suspicious person broke into their home.
Mary is incapacitated by a sprained ankle and is left on her own at Sherlock’s son’s home while Sherlock is off searching for his son. But Mary is not going to sit still so she begins to investigate some newly arrived trunks in the home.
The contents of the trunk & boxes prove quite a mystery for Mary which (within several chapters) she comes close to solving.
I am glad I forced myself to read to the end because I liked the surprise reveal but it wasn’t enough to get me past a 1-star!
I like the characters but the writing has put me off because the ongoing descriptions make my eyes glaze over.
#17 in this series suffered the very same fate so I don’t think I’ll be looking for more of this series.
Mary & Sherlock arrive at Damian’s home only to learn that Damian & family have rushed off after a suspicious person broke into their home.
Mary is incapacitated by a sprained ankle and is left on her own at Sherlock’s son’s home while Sherlock is off searching for his son. But Mary is not going to sit still so she begins to investigate some newly arrived trunks in the home.
The contents of the trunk & boxes prove quite a mystery for Mary which (within several chapters) she comes close to solving.
I am glad I forced myself to read to the end because I liked the surprise reveal but it wasn’t enough to get me past a 1-star!
I like the characters but the writing has put me off because the ongoing descriptions make my eyes glaze over.
#17 in this series suffered the very same fate so I don’t think I’ll be looking for more of this series.
March 9, 2024
The Lantern's Dance (Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes #18), Laurie R. King (1952- ), 2024.
This is one of the best.
The eighteen books:
Sherlock Holmes with his new partner, Mary Russell. Good stories. Likeable characters. More fun than the Arthur Conan Doyle stories that inspired them. Each book is distinct: set in many and varied physical, social, religious, linguistic, and literary environments. World War I, anti-colonial struggles, natural disasters; prominent real people, occasional fictional characters of other authors. Insightful and fun! Eighteen novels plus short stories, and they keep getting more compelling:
Later books build on, and have spoilers for, earlier ones. Read them in the following order (the Arthur Conan Doyle canon is completely optional, with the sole exception that "The Gloria Scott" should be read before Laurie R. King's novel #14, The Murder of Mary Russell). And you don't have to have previously met the other authors' fictional characters that appear in King's books. If you have, you'll enjoy remeeting them here.
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).
1. The Beekeeper's Apprentice (1994. Events 1915.04.08–1919.07, England, Wales, Palestine). Sherlock Holmes (b. early 1861), 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, Palestine). Fifth-written and fifth-published Mary Russel/Sherlock Holmes novel, fleshes out an interlude in book one. It's also a prequel for book six. If you're reading the Kindle edition of /O Jerusalem/, start at the cover. 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. A Monstrous Regiment of Women (1995. Events 1920.12.26–1921.06, England.)
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 12, Garment of Shadows.)
"The Marriage of Mary Russell" (2016. Events 1921.02), short story #4 of 10 in /Mary Russell's War/ (2016).
Ozymandias (1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1792–1822): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymand...
"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," very 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, England.)
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, Dartmoor, Devon, England.) Includes spoilers for The Hound of the Baskervilles.
The moor is Dartmoor, in southwest England, setting of The Hound of the Baskervilles:
6 background, very optional. The Purloined Letter (1844), Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
6. Justice Hall. (2002. Events 1923.11.05–1923.12.26, England, France, Canada.) Includes spoilers for O Jerusalem.
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, Northern India: Simla in Himchal Pradesh; Khalka in Haryana; Khanpur in Punjab.) 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, San Francisco.)
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, England, Scotland.) ends "to be continued" in 10. The God of the Hive (2010. Events 1924.08.29–1924.10.31, England, Scotland). Includes spoilers for A Scandal in Bohemia (1891) and The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter (1893).
11 background, optional. The Pirates of Penzance (comic opera, 1879), W.S. Gilbert (1836–1911)
11. Pirate King (2011. Events 1924.11.06–1924.11.30, Lisbon; Morocco.)
Heath Robinson (a kind of British Rube Goldberg): https://www.pinterest.com/drumseddie5...
12. Garment of Shadows (2012. Events 1924.12–1925.01, Morocco.)
13. Dreaming Spies. (2015. Events 1925.03–1925.04, 1924.04, Japan & Oxfordshire). This one ends in confusion: it's unclear what happens.
Thomas Carlyle: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
14 NECESSARY background for The Murder of Mary Russell: THE GLORIA SCOTT (1893): online here, in print and audio, https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/40/the-mem... 8400-word short story in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle. The story, its characters and events, are the foundation of the Mary Russell book, which gives a different perspective on them. Holmes says it's his first case. (In Conan Doyle's telling it's set in about 1885; yet he's been in Baker Street since about 1881. Conan Doyle is careless about dates. Laurie R. King takes trouble to make them as self-consistent as she can.)
14 background, optional. His Last Bow (1917), The Five Orange Pips (1891), A Scandal in Bohemia (1891), The Man with the Twisted Lip (1891), The Sign of the Four (1890), The Adventure of the Final Problem (1893), Arthur Conan Doyle. (Events and/or characters of these stories are mentioned in The Murder of Mary Russell.)
14 background, entirely optional, but good stories: the Horatio Hornblower stories by C. S. Forester: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio...
14 background, optional. Oliver Twist (1838 novel), Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
14 background, optional. The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841), Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
14. The Murder of Mary Russell. (2016. Events 1925.05.13–1925.05.18 and backstory 1852–1915.04.08 Britain, Atlantic, Australia.) Has spoilers for The Gloria Scott and The Five Orange Pips by Conan Doyle, and for The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe. We find out more about Holmes' housekeeper, Clara Hudson, b. 1856.05.09 (chapter 39), and Billy Mudd, b. about 1872 (chapter 27: age 8 in October 1880), and Clara Hudson meets Sherlock Holmes 1879.09.29 Sunday (chapter 19). Dr. John Watson comes to Baker Street, 1881.01. 1891.04 Holmes disappears at the Reichenbach Falls. 1894.04 Holmes reappears. 1901.01.22 Queen Victoria dies. 1903 Holmes relocates to East Sussex.
15 background, optional. The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax (1911), Arthur Conan Doyle.
15 background, optional. Ten Days in a Mad-House (1887), Nellie Bly (1864–1922)
15 background, optional. The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), H.G. Wells (1866–1946)
15. The Island of the Mad. (2018. Events 1925.06 Venice, and backstory 1922–)
Pierrot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierrot
Julian and Maddalo (1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1792–1822): https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem...
16 background, optional. The Purloined Letter (1844), Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
16. Riviera Gold. (2020. Events 1925.05–1925.08; backstory 1877.04) Has spoilers for The Gloria Scott by Arthur Conan Doyle and The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe. Continues the story of Mrs. Hudson from novel 14, The Murder of Mary Russell.
17 background, optional. The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire (1924), Arthur Conan Doyle; Dracula (1897), Bram Stoker; The Monkey's Paw (1902), W.W. Jacobs, online here: https://www.kyrene.org/cms/lib/AZ0100... .
17. Castle Shade (2021. Events 1925.08, Romania.) Includes spoilers for The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire and The Monkey's Paw. We meet Queen Marie Alexandra Victoria of Romania (1875-1938) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_o... (who wrote several books https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... ) and her daughter Ileana (1909-1991) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princes...
Bran castle:
http://www.bran-castle.com/
on google maps:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bra...
in Transylvania:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bra...
18 background, optional. A Study in Scarlet (novel, 1887, introduces Sherlock Holmes), A Scandal in Bohemia (1891, Introduces Irene Adler), The Man with the Twisted Lip (short story, 1891, introduces a Lascar), The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter (short story, 1893, introduces Mycroft Holmes), The Adventure of the Final Problem (short story, 1893), 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); The Moonstone (1868), Wilkie Collins (1824-1889).
18. The Lantern's Dance. (2024. Events 1925.09.10- , France.) Has spoilers for 1. The Beekeeper's Apprentice, 5. O Jerusalem, The Marriage of Mary Russell, 9. The Language of Bees, 10. The God of the Hive, and for A Scandal in Bohemia.
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, 10. God of the Hive, and 12. Garment of Shadows, and for A Scandal in Bohemia (1891), Arthur Conan Doyle.
The author's website:
autobiography:
https://laurierking.com/author-pages/...
I love my job. Never would I have believed, when I was a dreamy child, that one day I would be paid to tell myself stories.
Chronology: https://laurierking.com/books/russell...
(née Richardson, b. 1952.09.19).
Order of books: https://www.orderofbooks.com/authors/...
wikipedia entry on Laurie R. King: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurie_...
This is one of the best.
The eighteen books:
Sherlock Holmes with his new partner, Mary Russell. Good stories. Likeable characters. More fun than the Arthur Conan Doyle stories that inspired them. Each book is distinct: set in many and varied physical, social, religious, linguistic, and literary environments. World War I, anti-colonial struggles, natural disasters; prominent real people, occasional fictional characters of other authors. Insightful and fun! Eighteen novels plus short stories, and they keep getting more compelling:
Later books build on, and have spoilers for, earlier ones. Read them in the following order (the Arthur Conan Doyle canon is completely optional, with the sole exception that "The Gloria Scott" should be read before Laurie R. King's novel #14, The Murder of Mary Russell). And you don't have to have previously met the other authors' fictional characters that appear in King's books. If you have, you'll enjoy remeeting them here.
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).
1. The Beekeeper's Apprentice (1994. Events 1915.04.08–1919.07, England, Wales, Palestine). Sherlock Holmes (b. early 1861), 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, Palestine). Fifth-written and fifth-published Mary Russel/Sherlock Holmes novel, fleshes out an interlude in book one. It's also a prequel for book six. If you're reading the Kindle edition of /O Jerusalem/, start at the cover. 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. A Monstrous Regiment of Women (1995. Events 1920.12.26–1921.06, England.)
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 12, Garment of Shadows.)
"The Marriage of Mary Russell" (2016. Events 1921.02), short story #4 of 10 in /Mary Russell's War/ (2016).
Ozymandias (1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1792–1822): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymand...
"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," very 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, England.)
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, Dartmoor, Devon, England.) Includes spoilers for The Hound of the Baskervilles.
The moor is Dartmoor, in southwest England, setting of The Hound of the Baskervilles:
6 background, very optional. The Purloined Letter (1844), Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
6. Justice Hall. (2002. Events 1923.11.05–1923.12.26, England, France, Canada.) Includes spoilers for O Jerusalem.
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, Northern India: Simla in Himchal Pradesh; Khalka in Haryana; Khanpur in Punjab.) 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, San Francisco.)
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, England, Scotland.) ends "to be continued" in 10. The God of the Hive (2010. Events 1924.08.29–1924.10.31, England, Scotland). Includes spoilers for A Scandal in Bohemia (1891) and The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter (1893).
11 background, optional. The Pirates of Penzance (comic opera, 1879), W.S. Gilbert (1836–1911)
11. Pirate King (2011. Events 1924.11.06–1924.11.30, Lisbon; Morocco.)
Heath Robinson (a kind of British Rube Goldberg): https://www.pinterest.com/drumseddie5...
12. Garment of Shadows (2012. Events 1924.12–1925.01, Morocco.)
13. Dreaming Spies. (2015. Events 1925.03–1925.04, 1924.04, Japan & Oxfordshire). This one ends in confusion: it's unclear what happens.
Thomas Carlyle: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
14 NECESSARY background for The Murder of Mary Russell: THE GLORIA SCOTT (1893): online here, in print and audio, https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/40/the-mem... 8400-word short story in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle. The story, its characters and events, are the foundation of the Mary Russell book, which gives a different perspective on them. Holmes says it's his first case. (In Conan Doyle's telling it's set in about 1885; yet he's been in Baker Street since about 1881. Conan Doyle is careless about dates. Laurie R. King takes trouble to make them as self-consistent as she can.)
14 background, optional. His Last Bow (1917), The Five Orange Pips (1891), A Scandal in Bohemia (1891), The Man with the Twisted Lip (1891), The Sign of the Four (1890), The Adventure of the Final Problem (1893), Arthur Conan Doyle. (Events and/or characters of these stories are mentioned in The Murder of Mary Russell.)
14 background, entirely optional, but good stories: the Horatio Hornblower stories by C. S. Forester: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio...
14 background, optional. Oliver Twist (1838 novel), Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
14 background, optional. The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841), Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
14. The Murder of Mary Russell. (2016. Events 1925.05.13–1925.05.18 and backstory 1852–1915.04.08 Britain, Atlantic, Australia.) Has spoilers for The Gloria Scott and The Five Orange Pips by Conan Doyle, and for The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe. We find out more about Holmes' housekeeper, Clara Hudson, b. 1856.05.09 (chapter 39), and Billy Mudd, b. about 1872 (chapter 27: age 8 in October 1880), and Clara Hudson meets Sherlock Holmes 1879.09.29 Sunday (chapter 19). Dr. John Watson comes to Baker Street, 1881.01. 1891.04 Holmes disappears at the Reichenbach Falls. 1894.04 Holmes reappears. 1901.01.22 Queen Victoria dies. 1903 Holmes relocates to East Sussex.
15 background, optional. The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax (1911), Arthur Conan Doyle.
15 background, optional. Ten Days in a Mad-House (1887), Nellie Bly (1864–1922)
15 background, optional. The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), H.G. Wells (1866–1946)
15. The Island of the Mad. (2018. Events 1925.06 Venice, and backstory 1922–)
Pierrot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierrot
Julian and Maddalo (1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1792–1822): https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem...
16 background, optional. The Purloined Letter (1844), Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
16. Riviera Gold. (2020. Events 1925.05–1925.08; backstory 1877.04) Has spoilers for The Gloria Scott by Arthur Conan Doyle and The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe. Continues the story of Mrs. Hudson from novel 14, The Murder of Mary Russell.
17 background, optional. The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire (1924), Arthur Conan Doyle; Dracula (1897), Bram Stoker; The Monkey's Paw (1902), W.W. Jacobs, online here: https://www.kyrene.org/cms/lib/AZ0100... .
17. Castle Shade (2021. Events 1925.08, Romania.) Includes spoilers for The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire and The Monkey's Paw. We meet Queen Marie Alexandra Victoria of Romania (1875-1938) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_o... (who wrote several books https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... ) and her daughter Ileana (1909-1991) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princes...
Bran castle:
http://www.bran-castle.com/
on google maps:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bra...
in Transylvania:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bra...
18 background, optional. A Study in Scarlet (novel, 1887, introduces Sherlock Holmes), A Scandal in Bohemia (1891, Introduces Irene Adler), The Man with the Twisted Lip (short story, 1891, introduces a Lascar), The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter (short story, 1893, introduces Mycroft Holmes), The Adventure of the Final Problem (short story, 1893), 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); The Moonstone (1868), Wilkie Collins (1824-1889).
18. The Lantern's Dance. (2024. Events 1925.09.10- , France.) Has spoilers for 1. The Beekeeper's Apprentice, 5. O Jerusalem, The Marriage of Mary Russell, 9. The Language of Bees, 10. The God of the Hive, and for A Scandal in Bohemia.
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, 10. God of the Hive, and 12. Garment of Shadows, and for A Scandal in Bohemia (1891), Arthur Conan Doyle.
The author's website:
autobiography:
https://laurierking.com/author-pages/...
I love my job. Never would I have believed, when I was a dreamy child, that one day I would be paid to tell myself stories.
Chronology: https://laurierking.com/books/russell...
(née Richardson, b. 1952.09.19).
Order of books: https://www.orderofbooks.com/authors/...
wikipedia entry on Laurie R. King: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurie_...
May 23, 2024
Another winner from Laurie R. King! Like Locked Rooms, this is one of the more deeply personal books in the series. This time, it is Holmes who confronts past trauma and woe. But this book has a very happy ending indeed -- much happier than I expected for a long time! I found it very satisfying.
February 29, 2024
4.5 stars for a very quiet book for this series. I liked it very much.
Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are supposed to be having a relaxing, calm, visit with his son, famous painter Damian Adler. But they arrive at his home near Paris to find that Damian, his doctor fiancee Aileen Henning, and his daughter Estelle have fled the house.The cause--a break-in, with possible murderous intent, by a "Lascar", and the presence in the village of two strangers who are asking for Damian's whereabouts.
Holmes sets out to find Damian while Mary stays behind to nurse her sprain ankle. To amuse herself, she explores the house and what she finds drives her half of the story, finally leading to the reason for the break-in.
I so enjoyed Mary's discovery of an encrypted diary and her efforts to decipher it. The story therein was written by a Franco-Indian woman, with vignettes of life in India, followed by other adventures. But what did she have to do with Damian?
Oh, there are many twists and turns as all the puzzle pieces begin to fall into place. The author gives us a wonderful addition to her version of Holmes' later life.
It will be interesting to see where she next takes her marvelous duo.
Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are supposed to be having a relaxing, calm, visit with his son, famous painter Damian Adler. But they arrive at his home near Paris to find that Damian, his doctor fiancee Aileen Henning, and his daughter Estelle have fled the house.The cause--a break-in, with possible murderous intent, by a "Lascar", and the presence in the village of two strangers who are asking for Damian's whereabouts.
Holmes sets out to find Damian while Mary stays behind to nurse her sprain ankle. To amuse herself, she explores the house and what she finds drives her half of the story, finally leading to the reason for the break-in.
I so enjoyed Mary's discovery of an encrypted diary and her efforts to decipher it. The story therein was written by a Franco-Indian woman, with vignettes of life in India, followed by other adventures. But what did she have to do with Damian?
Oh, there are many twists and turns as all the puzzle pieces begin to fall into place. The author gives us a wonderful addition to her version of Holmes' later life.
It will be interesting to see where she next takes her marvelous duo.
June 22, 2024
Maybe less of a mystery but greater insight into Holmes, Irene Adler and his son. We learn the family background, scandals and those involved. Quite an interesting history. Made Holmes more human, and in parts he showed a softer side. Mary Russell, still recuperating, stays at home, using her investigative skills to pull all the threads together.
An awesome read that readers of this series will find much here to like.
An awesome read that readers of this series will find much here to like.
May 13, 2024
This installment of Mary Russell and Holmes was everything a reader could want and finally answered many questions. No spoiler here, but when you finish Lantern Dance, you won't be disappointed. However, if you don't read the books in sequence you won't understand some of what was resolved.
As usual, the writing is stellar and so is the plot and characterizations. This was the first installment where we see King's take on how Holmes operates, it is also where we get to know Damian (his newly found son) and perhaps see how the future will be with them. Highly recommended.
As usual, the writing is stellar and so is the plot and characterizations. This was the first installment where we see King's take on how Holmes operates, it is also where we get to know Damian (his newly found son) and perhaps see how the future will be with them. Highly recommended.
February 17, 2024
It was strange to hear someone different narrating the audiobook. It's hard to know if the issues I had were actual problems, or me just not liking change, but overall I thought Amy Scanlon did a decent job.
Overall, I liked the book. I always like Mary Russell, and the other characters were also solid, although one hit a pet peeve of mine with this series-- why is every young girl so incredibly precocious?
I enjoyed the mystery, and the return to India (even if The Game is not one of my favorites of the series). I'm looking forward to the next entry in the series.
Overall, I liked the book. I always like Mary Russell, and the other characters were also solid, although one hit a pet peeve of mine with this series-- why is every young girl so incredibly precocious?
I enjoyed the mystery, and the return to India (even if The Game is not one of my favorites of the series). I'm looking forward to the next entry in the series.
March 11, 2024
New favorite installment in this series! I love the deep dive into Holmes' background, giving voice to a character (no spoilers) who has barely been more than a footnote in Doyle's writing. Absolutely satisfying.
June 13, 2024
Another quietly delightful book, with twists and turns and too many coincidences that aren't. There is something so unique and enjoyable about the Mary Russell series - it has kept me hooked for almost 15 years, and each book has me voraciously devouring it as soon as I can get my hands on it.
August 2, 2025
I love all of these books. And a surprise ending!
February 27, 2024
This one was disappointing. It seemed almost more like a soap opera. Not up to earlier standards.
March 4, 2024
Mary and Holmes arrive at the house in the south of France where Holmes’ artist son, Damian Adler and his family live, but the visit is off to a mysterious start when they discover the Adlers have gone into hiding after a late night intruder leaves them uneasy. A mysterious tale in two time lines unfolds and for the first time in the series, Holmes is forced to not only reveal the details of his childhood, but face the past an investigation reveals.
The Lantern’s Dance is the eighteenth of a connected series of historical mysteries set in the world of Sherlock Holmes with a clever investigation team of the older Holmes and his young wife, Mary Russell.
As I indicated, Russell and Holmes arrive to Damian and the family off in hiding leaving the mystery of the intruder and other strangers asking about Damian. Holmes goes on to secure the family’s safety while Mary, due to a sprained ankle, stays behind to begin the investigation. Mary uncovers a coded journal that leads to a second time line story set nearly a hundred years in the past. Does the journal have a bearing on the current situation? Someone is looking for something and Damian is at the heart of it.
A couple of the previous books took Russell and Holmes to faraway places and mysteries, but The Lantern’s Dance brings things back to a personal connection within the Holmes-Adler family. Holmes and Damian have not had a good history trying to reconnect as father and son. The tension between them crackles. I was in suspense when the pair shared any scenes together.
The journal story Mary uncovered was riveting and I kept wanting to slip back into that story.
The present day case of the strangers chasing Damian was engaging, but didn’t hold my interest as much as the more personal storylines.
I enjoyed learning the connection to the indigo dye industry, French Colonial India, and art giving a vivid historical backdrop. But, most of all, I was highly engaged when the reveals came and all the secrets were out for those final scenes.
All in all, I was simply satisfied to be right back in the Russell and Holmes world with Mary and Sherlock sharpening their wits and rooting out the secrets. I was glad to see things advance with Holmes and his son, and I look forward to further adventurous cases for Mary and Sherlock. Historical Mystery fans really need to give this series a go.
I rec’d an eARC via NetGalley to read in exchange for an honest review.
My full review will post at Caffeinated Reviewer Feb 28, 2024.
Buddy Read with Lark @ A Bookwyrm's Hoard
The Lantern’s Dance is the eighteenth of a connected series of historical mysteries set in the world of Sherlock Holmes with a clever investigation team of the older Holmes and his young wife, Mary Russell.
As I indicated, Russell and Holmes arrive to Damian and the family off in hiding leaving the mystery of the intruder and other strangers asking about Damian. Holmes goes on to secure the family’s safety while Mary, due to a sprained ankle, stays behind to begin the investigation. Mary uncovers a coded journal that leads to a second time line story set nearly a hundred years in the past. Does the journal have a bearing on the current situation? Someone is looking for something and Damian is at the heart of it.
A couple of the previous books took Russell and Holmes to faraway places and mysteries, but The Lantern’s Dance brings things back to a personal connection within the Holmes-Adler family. Holmes and Damian have not had a good history trying to reconnect as father and son. The tension between them crackles. I was in suspense when the pair shared any scenes together.
The journal story Mary uncovered was riveting and I kept wanting to slip back into that story.
The present day case of the strangers chasing Damian was engaging, but didn’t hold my interest as much as the more personal storylines.
I enjoyed learning the connection to the indigo dye industry, French Colonial India, and art giving a vivid historical backdrop. But, most of all, I was highly engaged when the reveals came and all the secrets were out for those final scenes.
All in all, I was simply satisfied to be right back in the Russell and Holmes world with Mary and Sherlock sharpening their wits and rooting out the secrets. I was glad to see things advance with Holmes and his son, and I look forward to further adventurous cases for Mary and Sherlock. Historical Mystery fans really need to give this series a go.
I rec’d an eARC via NetGalley to read in exchange for an honest review.
My full review will post at Caffeinated Reviewer Feb 28, 2024.
Buddy Read with Lark @ A Bookwyrm's Hoard
February 20, 2024
A merry dance, indeed. We learn more about Holmes’ family than even he knew himself. Not much dread or mystery here. The focus is mainly on Mary, Russell, and her interpretation of an old journal she finds in a crate.
February 25, 2024
The Good: Holmes Family secrets galore! Backstory! New, interesting characters! The return of Estelle and Dr. Hemming!
The Bad: Damian Adler is an idiot. I mean, straight-up DUMB. How is this man the child of Sherlock Holmes?!? It’s possible that it’s the lingering effects that a WWI traumatic brain injury, but I’m more inclined to believe he’s just stupid.
The Ugly: Look, a Holmes/Russell book is never going to be *bad*, per se. But I fell asleep reading this book on three separate occasions. Three! (And the fact that I didn’t finish it in one go should also tell you something!) In my mind, the worse thing a Laurie R. King book can be is boring. THE LANTERN’S DANCE is skating pretty close to that edge. It’s not as bad as THE MURDER OF MARY RUSSELL- a book that was so excruciatingly boring that I’ve never wanted to reread it. This was pleasant enough. I’m not a person who tries to solve the mystery before the characters do (I would rarely succeed, tbh), but even *I* figured out the Lakshmi-identity mystery fairly quickly. From there it was hop, skip, and a jump to figure out her “deal”, which for me happened long before Russell and Holmes (presumably- it’s a bit of a cliff hanger on his part) did.
The “Huh? Wait, what?!?”- somehow Estelle is still three and the events of THE GAME happened only last year??! This is some Time Lord nonsense.
The Bad: Damian Adler is an idiot. I mean, straight-up DUMB. How is this man the child of Sherlock Holmes?!? It’s possible that it’s the lingering effects that a WWI traumatic brain injury, but I’m more inclined to believe he’s just stupid.
The Ugly: Look, a Holmes/Russell book is never going to be *bad*, per se. But I fell asleep reading this book on three separate occasions. Three! (And the fact that I didn’t finish it in one go should also tell you something!) In my mind, the worse thing a Laurie R. King book can be is boring. THE LANTERN’S DANCE is skating pretty close to that edge. It’s not as bad as THE MURDER OF MARY RUSSELL- a book that was so excruciatingly boring that I’ve never wanted to reread it. This was pleasant enough. I’m not a person who tries to solve the mystery before the characters do (I would rarely succeed, tbh), but even *I* figured out the Lakshmi-identity mystery fairly quickly. From there it was hop, skip, and a jump to figure out her “deal”, which for me happened long before Russell and Holmes (presumably- it’s a bit of a cliff hanger on his part) did.
The “Huh? Wait, what?!?”- somehow Estelle is still three and the events of THE GAME happened only last year??! This is some Time Lord nonsense.
November 6, 2023
I haven’t picked up a book in this series for years, but I decided to try this one and found it very compelling! There are a few developments that have taken place since the early days of the series, but nothing that’s not at least briefly explained. So although it’s not at all meant to be a stand-alone, it can feasibly be read that way.
The blend of mystery and personal history in this installment made for a riveting read. Sherlock Holmes fans can expect a smattering of Irene Adler reminiscence and a certain amount of family revelation, all underpinned by scenes in 1920s France where Mary Russell whiles away her time with a sprained ankle by code-breaking and translating a mysterious journal.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this digital review copy!
The blend of mystery and personal history in this installment made for a riveting read. Sherlock Holmes fans can expect a smattering of Irene Adler reminiscence and a certain amount of family revelation, all underpinned by scenes in 1920s France where Mary Russell whiles away her time with a sprained ankle by code-breaking and translating a mysterious journal.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for this digital review copy!
January 15, 2024
“The Lantern’s Dance” by Laurie R. King is #18 in this series. I admit I haven’t read one in a long time but have always been a Sherlock Holmes fan. This book develops his relationship with his son to a deeper level and lets us see the talents of his current wife Mary Adler’s investigative skills. I did figure out the mystery way before the end of the book as well as finding this book a slow read. If you are a fan of Sherlock you will learn a lot more about his family in this book and I recommend the book for that reason to all his true fans.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
March 3, 2024
I felt this series had jumped the shark around book 13 but picked this up at the library to see the current state of things. This is a clever and creative story imagining many characters’ past and present. At this point though, Holmes has to be 80 and the notion that the ending could play out authentically isn’t credible. Why not just shift to Mary Russell on her own stories?
March 2, 2024
Laurie R King has done it again. Another imaginative addition to her Russell and Holmes series. I hope she’s already working on the next one, because this one left me on the edge of my seat. No wonder her Holmes has abandonment and trust issues.
July 20, 2024
3 stars because it’s Laurie King, it’s the characters I’ve grown to love, and her voice is one I thoroughly enjoy.
But this book bored the hell out of me. It’s not so much a mystery as a family drama, and it dragged.
But this book bored the hell out of me. It’s not so much a mystery as a family drama, and it dragged.
March 23, 2024
Narrator: Jenny Sterlin, the fine narrator of the past books, passed away, so this book is narrated by Amy Scanlon. Scanlon has some big shoes to fill. her voice for Mary is ok, Sherlock is a bit shrill, but ok. Unfortunately, her voice for Damian, Holmes’ son is awful. When she has him with an American accent it is ok, but somehow, she has him slip into a weird sort of French accent? Anyway, it really didn’t work, so the scenes with Damian were annoying. 3.5 stars for narrator.
It’s so great to read a true 5 star book again! The new narrator had me reading more than I usually do with Mary Russell books, but as these book often have hidden clues and other names or words that I like clarified or just need to reread, it was fine.
This book has Holmes and Russell splitting up to work on the mystery. Damian, Holmes’ son, has fled his home in a small Village in French. The home was left to him by his mother, Irene Adler. Someone has broken into Damian’s house, and he is identified as an Indian sailor, and most alarming, he has a knife.
Holmes goes off to find Damian and figure out who and why has broken into Damian’s house. Russell stays in the house since she is recovering from a sprained ankle. She goes through various chests which contain art from an ancestor of Damian and Holmes, through Holmes’ mother. We learn through a conversation between Holmes and Damian that Holmes’ mother had committed suicide because she was being blackmailed.
Mary finds a coded journal, and both Mary and the reader become engaged in the story of a little girl, taken from her mother in France to live with her Father in India. The story progresses and eventually Mary realizes that the little girl in the story is Holme's mother, and it is possible that she did not commit suicide.
At the end of the story, they finally meet Holmes' mother. She is still sharp at 100 years old. There will probably be more to unpack in later books regarding Holmes' relationship with his mother and his son.
It’s so great to read a true 5 star book again! The new narrator had me reading more than I usually do with Mary Russell books, but as these book often have hidden clues and other names or words that I like clarified or just need to reread, it was fine.
This book has Holmes and Russell splitting up to work on the mystery. Damian, Holmes’ son, has fled his home in a small Village in French. The home was left to him by his mother, Irene Adler. Someone has broken into Damian’s house, and he is identified as an Indian sailor, and most alarming, he has a knife.
Holmes goes off to find Damian and figure out who and why has broken into Damian’s house. Russell stays in the house since she is recovering from a sprained ankle. She goes through various chests which contain art from an ancestor of Damian and Holmes, through Holmes’ mother. We learn through a conversation between Holmes and Damian that Holmes’ mother had committed suicide because she was being blackmailed.
Mary finds a coded journal, and both Mary and the reader become engaged in the story of a little girl, taken from her mother in France to live with her Father in India. The story progresses and eventually Mary realizes that the little girl in the story is Holme's mother, and it is possible that she did not commit suicide.
At the end of the story, they finally meet Holmes' mother. She is still sharp at 100 years old. There will probably be more to unpack in later books regarding Holmes' relationship with his mother and his son.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 23, 2024
I have read nearly every book that Laurie R King has written. I had heard rumors this was her final Holmes, and Russel book . I am so glad that is not true. I loved her characters in this story. It gives me a deeper understanding into Sherlock Holmes. Plus I am glad it was Mary Russel who broke the code of the journal found in the old boxes. This was a very good mystery, about Holmes mother, and grandmother, and a bit more about Irene Adler. I found it brilliant, but I usually do. She never disappoints. Plus her take on Sherlock is fascinating. I gave it 5 stars.
May 6, 2024
Longtime fans of the Russell/Holmes series will be very pleased with this story. It has the return of a beloved yet complicated character. The mystery itself captured Russells heart, and will do the same for the reader. I will give no details about the plot, it would only spoil the experience. All I will say is this: I hope the Lantern of Russell and Holmes keeps dancing for many stories to come.
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