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Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes #17
Castle Shade
A queen, a castle, a dark and ageless threat--all await Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes in this chilling adventure.
The queen is Marie of Roumania: the doubly royal granddaughter of Victoria, Empress of the British Empire, and Alexander II, Tsar of Russia. A famous beauty who was married at seventeen into Roumania's young dynasty, Marie had beguiled the Paris Peace Conference into returning her adopted country's long-lost provinces, singlehandedly transforming Roumania from a backwater into a force.
The castle is Bran: a tall, quirky, ancient structure perched on high rocks overlooking the border between Roumania and its newly regained territory of Transylvania. The castle was a gift to Queen Marie, a thank-you from her people, and she loves it as she loves her own children.
The threat is . . . well, that is less clear. Shadowy figures, vague whispers, the fears of girls, dangers that may be only accidents. But this is a land of long memory and hidden corners, a land that had known Vlad the Impaler, a land from whose churchyards the shades creep.
When Queen Marie calls, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are as dubious as they are reluctant. But a young girl is involved, and a beautiful queen. Surely it won't take long to shine light on this unlikely case of what would seem to be strigoi?
Or, as they are known in the West . . . vampires.
The queen is Marie of Roumania: the doubly royal granddaughter of Victoria, Empress of the British Empire, and Alexander II, Tsar of Russia. A famous beauty who was married at seventeen into Roumania's young dynasty, Marie had beguiled the Paris Peace Conference into returning her adopted country's long-lost provinces, singlehandedly transforming Roumania from a backwater into a force.
The castle is Bran: a tall, quirky, ancient structure perched on high rocks overlooking the border between Roumania and its newly regained territory of Transylvania. The castle was a gift to Queen Marie, a thank-you from her people, and she loves it as she loves her own children.
The threat is . . . well, that is less clear. Shadowy figures, vague whispers, the fears of girls, dangers that may be only accidents. But this is a land of long memory and hidden corners, a land that had known Vlad the Impaler, a land from whose churchyards the shades creep.
When Queen Marie calls, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are as dubious as they are reluctant. But a young girl is involved, and a beautiful queen. Surely it won't take long to shine light on this unlikely case of what would seem to be strigoi?
Or, as they are known in the West . . . vampires.
384 pages, Paperback
First published June 8, 2021
511 people are currently reading
13231 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 766 reviews
June 6, 2021
3.5 A series I've long admired. Sherlock Holmes of course, the man who always manages to pull the rabbit out of the air, make deductions from random, often to me, meaningless clues. Mary Russell, is all a worthy, interesting companion. This series is more than a mystery, combines elements of a travelogue and a solid historical. We are introduced to historical characters of which I have read little. Last outing took us to Monaco, this one to Transylvania, where we meet Queen Marie of Roumania.
King brings the reader into the setting, which are always described with an attention to detail. For some reason though, I found this mystery less to my liking than others in her last writings. Don't really know why, but I just couldn't connect. Still I loved the history, the details and look forward to the next installment.
ARC from Netgalley.
King brings the reader into the setting, which are always described with an attention to detail. For some reason though, I found this mystery less to my liking than others in her last writings. Don't really know why, but I just couldn't connect. Still I loved the history, the details and look forward to the next installment.
ARC from Netgalley.
April 7, 2021
I love this series and this book is no exception. This time, Holmes and Mary are off to Bran Castle in Transylvania at the bequest of the queen. They must solve the mysterious threat to her only daughter before things escalate.
The multiple mysteries are a real treat. Is there really a ghost in the castle? Who sent the letter to the queen? Is someone pretending to be the ghost of a local soldier to scare the castle maids? The author layers all of these together into one exquisite, heart-thumping tale. She kept me on my toes. As soon as I thought I figured out one mystery, she threw another at me.
I will recommend this series to all my mystery-loving friends. Thank you NetGally and Random House Publishing Group for the chance to read and review this advanced ready copy.
The multiple mysteries are a real treat. Is there really a ghost in the castle? Who sent the letter to the queen? Is someone pretending to be the ghost of a local soldier to scare the castle maids? The author layers all of these together into one exquisite, heart-thumping tale. She kept me on my toes. As soon as I thought I figured out one mystery, she threw another at me.
I will recommend this series to all my mystery-loving friends. Thank you NetGally and Random House Publishing Group for the chance to read and review this advanced ready copy.
April 11, 2021
This may be my new favorite book of this wonderful series. The book starts with a humorous exchange between Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock as she initiates a solution for getting off a train they are stuck on and transfer to another that will get them to their destination more efficiently, a new assignment in Roumania. They are needed by Queen Victoria's granddaughter, Queen Marie, at her Castle Bran. They prepare themselves to enter the Transylvanian world where vampire myths are held true by many inhabitants. They plan to present themselves as consultants in architecture as the queen is having a great deal of work done on the castle.
Once welcomed and settled in a comfortable suite they make their plans to investigate what is behind sightings and strange happenings of the vampire variety. Sherlock has to go off to meet with Mycroft's wishes whilst Mary sets off on her evening reconnaissance missions. It is a most unpleasant situation she finds herself in.
With no wish to spoil the book for others, I will only say there are many mental and physical challenges for both detectives during this action-filled book. I really enjoyed the novelty of having Queen Marie featured in this book and had fun looking up information on her life as well as the Castle Bran.
Thanks to Random House through Net Galley for this advanced reader copy. Watch for it early June!
Once welcomed and settled in a comfortable suite they make their plans to investigate what is behind sightings and strange happenings of the vampire variety. Sherlock has to go off to meet with Mycroft's wishes whilst Mary sets off on her evening reconnaissance missions. It is a most unpleasant situation she finds herself in.
With no wish to spoil the book for others, I will only say there are many mental and physical challenges for both detectives during this action-filled book. I really enjoyed the novelty of having Queen Marie featured in this book and had fun looking up information on her life as well as the Castle Bran.
Thanks to Random House through Net Galley for this advanced reader copy. Watch for it early June!
April 26, 2021
On the whole, I am hugely enthusiastic about Laurie R. King's Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series, but I haven't enjoyed the last few novels as much as previous ones. Maybe it's the lack of Russell and Holmes working together. Maybe the settings just haven't been places I'd want to be transported to. But Castle Shade is up there with the best of the series.
Castle Shade juggles some classic horror tropes with a keen-eyed examination of European politics post-WWI European politics. We get concerns about vampires, about the disappearances of young women. We also get Queen Marie of Romania, a politically astute grandchild of both Queen Victoria and Tsar Alexander II of Russia. These two worlds collide at Castle Bran—Marie's favorite retreat located on the border of Romania and the recently reannexed Transylvania. Is this mystery paranormal or political? Not even Russell and Holmes are sure.
If you love the Russell-Holmes series, you'll be reading this novel regardless of my review, but if it's a series that is new to you or it's one that you haven't kept up with, Castle Shade offers an excellent opportunity to bring yourself back into the fold.
I received a free electronic review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
Castle Shade juggles some classic horror tropes with a keen-eyed examination of European politics post-WWI European politics. We get concerns about vampires, about the disappearances of young women. We also get Queen Marie of Romania, a politically astute grandchild of both Queen Victoria and Tsar Alexander II of Russia. These two worlds collide at Castle Bran—Marie's favorite retreat located on the border of Romania and the recently reannexed Transylvania. Is this mystery paranormal or political? Not even Russell and Holmes are sure.
If you love the Russell-Holmes series, you'll be reading this novel regardless of my review, but if it's a series that is new to you or it's one that you haven't kept up with, Castle Shade offers an excellent opportunity to bring yourself back into the fold.
I received a free electronic review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.
June 18, 2021
At times I found this a bit frustrating to read, what I enjoy about these books is the way a case is analysed, systematically pulled apart and problems solved. With this book I never felt like they were making any progress and Mary seemed particularly ineffective.
There is more happening in the last quarter of the book and there is a satisfactory conclusion to the story, but it is not one of the best in the series.
There is more happening in the last quarter of the book and there is a satisfactory conclusion to the story, but it is not one of the best in the series.
July 23, 2021
Sigh…disappointing.
For such a wonderful series of books, this one is a let down. None of the usual wit. Just doesn’t draw you into the story - a bigger disappointment when you consider the setting is Transylvania and Dracula’s Castle. It’s just not in the same league as earlier books. Those I have read and reread. This one, once is enough.
For such a wonderful series of books, this one is a let down. None of the usual wit. Just doesn’t draw you into the story - a bigger disappointment when you consider the setting is Transylvania and Dracula’s Castle. It’s just not in the same league as earlier books. Those I have read and reread. This one, once is enough.
October 25, 2022
For those who don't know this series: Mary Russell is a 15 year old wealthy Anglo-American, recently orphaned, when she meets Sherlock Holmes on the Sussex Downs. Having abandoned his career as a consulting detective in London for beekeeping in the countryside, Holmes finds this bright, athletic young woman some 5 decades his junior to be an intriguing companion as they work together to solve a local crime. Thus begins their collaboration, eventual marriage, and travels around the globe resolving matters domestic and political.
Although there have been occasional dips in quality, overall this series has shone in its plotting, settings, action, witty dialogue, appealing characters, and historical accuracy. In this volume they travel to Rumania to assist Queen Marie (grand-daughter of Queen Victoria and related to most of European nobility) resolve what may be a local matter, but may also be a matter of international intrigue.
This would have been a 5 star for me except for the rather clunky ending, an effort to tie together some loose ends that fell short. Most of it sparkled, though, so I will happily award 4 stars. As usual, it provided that reading comfort that derives from a return to well loved characters.
Although there have been occasional dips in quality, overall this series has shone in its plotting, settings, action, witty dialogue, appealing characters, and historical accuracy. In this volume they travel to Rumania to assist Queen Marie (grand-daughter of Queen Victoria and related to most of European nobility) resolve what may be a local matter, but may also be a matter of international intrigue.
This would have been a 5 star for me except for the rather clunky ending, an effort to tie together some loose ends that fell short. Most of it sparkled, though, so I will happily award 4 stars. As usual, it provided that reading comfort that derives from a return to well loved characters.
July 3, 2021
Great fun! Read the blurb for an excellent set-up for the story.
Someone is definitely trying to stir up the residents of Bran and turn them against their beloved Queen by setting rumors in motion that she is behind a number of mysterious events. However, our villain didn't count on Mary and Holmes doing their best to stop the rumors before they could get started.
All in all, another satisfying mystery and a wonderful time spent with one of my favorite detecting duos. Bonus points for the painless lesson in Balkan politics and the introduction to a fabulous woman.
Note: the author has had Russell and Holmes bouncing around Europe for several books now: Venice (Island of the Mad), Southern France/Monaco (Riviera Gold) and now this foray into Romania. When ever will they return to England?
I'll be on hand when the next book comes out--wherever she sends them.
Someone is definitely trying to stir up the residents of Bran and turn them against their beloved Queen by setting rumors in motion that she is behind a number of mysterious events. However, our villain didn't count on Mary and Holmes doing their best to stop the rumors before they could get started.
All in all, another satisfying mystery and a wonderful time spent with one of my favorite detecting duos. Bonus points for the painless lesson in Balkan politics and the introduction to a fabulous woman.
Note: the author has had Russell and Holmes bouncing around Europe for several books now: Venice (Island of the Mad), Southern France/Monaco (Riviera Gold) and now this foray into Romania. When ever will they return to England?
I'll be on hand when the next book comes out--wherever she sends them.
June 9, 2021
Transylvania fears!
Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes leave the Côte d’Azur (see Riviera Gold) and forge onward to Roumania, “a place where the maps have ‘Here be dragons.’” Actually they are heading for a village near to Brasov and Queen Marie’s favourite castle. ”Castle Bran in the Transylvania hills [that] has everything one could wish, including it seems witches, vampires and things that go bump in the night.” They’ve come at the bequest of Queen Marie, a granddaughter of Victoria.
It also appears that Sherlock had been this way when he’d been absent during Mary’s time in the Riviera. Both journies enabled by Mycroft to ensure that the Queen is not being targeted by groups determined to be rid of her. (Interestingly by now May and Sherlock have come to the decision that Mycroft needs to stop interfering with their lives. I sense a thoughtfulness from Sherlock about Mary as his wife and what that means that I haven’t detected before.)
Dangers are apparent. People have seen strange happenings, witches and shadowy figures are whispered about. The locals are hanging garlic and sharpening wooden stakes. When one of the Queen’s maids disappears and rumours start up about the Queen maintaining her youthfulness by drinking the blood of virgins, quick and decisive action is needed. All very tricky and Bram Stocker.
Another fascinating episode in the lives of Russell and Sherlock.
A Random - Ballantine ARC via NetGalley
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change
Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes leave the Côte d’Azur (see Riviera Gold) and forge onward to Roumania, “a place where the maps have ‘Here be dragons.’” Actually they are heading for a village near to Brasov and Queen Marie’s favourite castle. ”Castle Bran in the Transylvania hills [that] has everything one could wish, including it seems witches, vampires and things that go bump in the night.” They’ve come at the bequest of Queen Marie, a granddaughter of Victoria.
It also appears that Sherlock had been this way when he’d been absent during Mary’s time in the Riviera. Both journies enabled by Mycroft to ensure that the Queen is not being targeted by groups determined to be rid of her. (Interestingly by now May and Sherlock have come to the decision that Mycroft needs to stop interfering with their lives. I sense a thoughtfulness from Sherlock about Mary as his wife and what that means that I haven’t detected before.)
Dangers are apparent. People have seen strange happenings, witches and shadowy figures are whispered about. The locals are hanging garlic and sharpening wooden stakes. When one of the Queen’s maids disappears and rumours start up about the Queen maintaining her youthfulness by drinking the blood of virgins, quick and decisive action is needed. All very tricky and Bram Stocker.
Another fascinating episode in the lives of Russell and Sherlock.
A Random - Ballantine ARC via NetGalley
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change
August 11, 2021
I loved this exciting book Sherlock, and Mary head to Transylvania to try and help a Queen protect her daughter. Strange happenings have been occurring in Bran castle, and the surrounding villages. Things that are based on folklore, and fear. Holmes does not want to see this Queen hurt for the sake of superstition. He, nor his wife believe in things that go bump in the night. They are out to prove the evil intentions are more human, then paranormal. I really enjoyed that they stayed very close in this book. Mary took lots of risks to find the truth, and Sherlock had to save her from her spontaneous nature. He was even caring at times, which I enjoyed. It was a good gothic mystery, and great chemistry between Sherlock, and Mary. The other characters were interesting, and there were sub plots to follow as well. The ending was exciting, and dangerous. Sherlock lives up to his name, and his partner, and wife gives him a run for his money. 5 stars. I have read all of this series, and I really enjoy it.
July 1, 2021
Mary and Sherlock are off to Transylvania to seek out vampires on behalf of the half Russian/half British Queen Marie of Romania. The Queen is concerned that her daughter may be in danger. There are strange goings-on around her Castle Bran.
This feels like a gothic tale with ghosts and unexplained happenings.
There are exceptionally long passages describing every nook and cranny of Castle Bran which may or may not interest the reader. It took up pages but added nothing to the story.
I like Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes together but there is not a lot of action for most of the 357 pages of this book.
Sorry to say I found it disappointing.
This feels like a gothic tale with ghosts and unexplained happenings.
There are exceptionally long passages describing every nook and cranny of Castle Bran which may or may not interest the reader. It took up pages but added nothing to the story.
I like Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes together but there is not a lot of action for most of the 357 pages of this book.
Sorry to say I found it disappointing.
June 5, 2022
In other series, globetrotting seems forced, but not for Mary Russell and her partner in life and crime, Sherlock Holmes. Fresh from Monaco, they’re summoned to Romania by no less than Queen Marie, whose daughter has been threatened. In less deft hands, the plot would seem contrived, but Laurie R. King, who can capture Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s voice perfectly, makes Castle Shade into a suspenseful page-turner loaded with peasant superstitions and political intrigue. Highly recommended.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Random House Publishing Groups and Ballantine, Bantam in exchange for an honest review.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Random House Publishing Groups and Ballantine, Bantam in exchange for an honest review.
December 3, 2023
I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway. It took me longer than usual to read this book. I just wasn't into it like other books. It's a decent plot, well written but lacked thrill, or excitement. I felt it was kind of bland. It had a slow start and didn't pick up any until chapter 30. Holmes and Russell are invited to Castle Bran in Transylvania by Queen Marie to investigate strange rumors and missing people that happen to reappear after just a couple of days. The villagers are spreading rumors that it's vampires. There also seems to be a ghostly presence in the castle. Should have been an excellent read, but it felt like it had been just lacking.
June 9, 2022
As usual a very good book in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. Quite interesting mystery and fabulous setting (who doesn't find Transylavina fascinating?)
I've been a fan of this series since I was a teenager and have read every book released. You can read this book and the other ones as stand-alone. However, I do recommend reading from the beginning.
I've been a fan of this series since I was a teenager and have read every book released. You can read this book and the other ones as stand-alone. However, I do recommend reading from the beginning.
June 29, 2021
My only problem with the book was that it was too short!
August 16, 2021
I listened to this book, narrated by Jenny Sterlin.
It was definitely slow until about one third of the way. I was worried about Mary and Sherlock from the last story, and the beginning of this one did nothing to make me feel any better. However, as Mary met the people in the Castle Bran and the story progressed, I began to feel better and the story took on more of good King mystery. A few surprise turnings and another scare for Mary's life.
I am looking forward to the "next" book release.
It was definitely slow until about one third of the way. I was worried about Mary and Sherlock from the last story, and the beginning of this one did nothing to make me feel any better. However, as Mary met the people in the Castle Bran and the story progressed, I began to feel better and the story took on more of good King mystery. A few surprise turnings and another scare for Mary's life.
I am looking forward to the "next" book release.
April 2, 2021
I've often looked for books on Queen Marie of Roumania and was so glad when I found this one.Doubly so because it turned out to be such an entertaining story.This is part of a series told by Mary Russell,Sherlock Holmes's wife and in this installment they investigate strange,creepy and dangerous happenings at Castle Bran in Transylvania.I loved the pacing,the writing and never guessed the culprit until the very end.I thought it was good too that I had never read any of the other books but everything was still understandable.I will definitely be purchasing some others in this captivating series.Much thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
April 12, 2021
CASTLE SHADE by Laurie King
I do love a good story with a satisfying ending! . . . in Transylvania!
CASTLE SHADE layered modern plots with echoes of old tales and beliefs, with so many twists, so many possible causes. Myriad puzzles challenged the combined and separate efforts of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. Ghosts, witches, vampires, wolves, strega, and human enemies seemed to be trying, inexplicably, to drive Queen Marie from her castle and turn her people against her.
References to Bram Stoker’s DRACULA, Polidori’s THE VAMPYRE (which I had not read, but found worth the search) and other tales added to the eerie atmosphere. These adventures increased my already high respect for the courage and intelligence of the heroic Russell, and for her compassion as well.
Reentry into the real world came gradually, feeling still partly immersed in the intrigues in Roumania afterward. I confess to lost sleep and neglected chores, time well-spent, with no regrets except that I didn’t want it to end. Fervently hoping for more adventures in the future. What a team they make!
Coming in June, so if you haven’t read the earlier books in the series, there’s time.
I do love a good story with a satisfying ending! . . . in Transylvania!
CASTLE SHADE layered modern plots with echoes of old tales and beliefs, with so many twists, so many possible causes. Myriad puzzles challenged the combined and separate efforts of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. Ghosts, witches, vampires, wolves, strega, and human enemies seemed to be trying, inexplicably, to drive Queen Marie from her castle and turn her people against her.
References to Bram Stoker’s DRACULA, Polidori’s THE VAMPYRE (which I had not read, but found worth the search) and other tales added to the eerie atmosphere. These adventures increased my already high respect for the courage and intelligence of the heroic Russell, and for her compassion as well.
Reentry into the real world came gradually, feeling still partly immersed in the intrigues in Roumania afterward. I confess to lost sleep and neglected chores, time well-spent, with no regrets except that I didn’t want it to end. Fervently hoping for more adventures in the future. What a team they make!
Coming in June, so if you haven’t read the earlier books in the series, there’s time.
June 20, 2021
Sherlock Holmes with his new partner, Mary Russell. Good stories. Likeable characters. Each book is distinct: set in many and varied physical, social, religious, linguistic, and literary environments. WWI, anti-colonial struggles, natural disasters; prominent real people, occasional fictional characters of other authors. Insightful and fun! Seventeen novels plus short stories, and they keep getting more compelling:
Later books build on, and have spoilers for, earlier ones. 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). 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, 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."
Quiz for O Jerusalem: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
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...
Quiz for The Marriage of Mary Russell: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
"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).
Quiz for Beekeeping for Beginners: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
"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:
Quiz for The Moor: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
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, as does this:
Introduces
Quiz for Justice Hall: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
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 the Punjab.) The game is international espionage, called the Great Game by Kipling in Kim.
Introduces Kimball O'Hara, b. 1875.
Quiz for The Game: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
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.
Quiz for Locked Rooms: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
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).
Quiz for The Language of Bees: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
Quiz for The God of the Hive: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
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.)
Quiz for Garment of Shadows: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
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.
14. Quiz for The Murder of Mary Russell: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
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.
*** 15,000-character limit. Continues in comments: ***
Later books build on, and have spoilers for, earlier ones. 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). 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, 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."
Quiz for O Jerusalem: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
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...
Quiz for The Marriage of Mary Russell: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
"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).
Quiz for Beekeeping for Beginners: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
"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:
Quiz for The Moor: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
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, as does this:
Introduces
Quiz for Justice Hall: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
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 the Punjab.) The game is international espionage, called the Great Game by Kipling in Kim.
Introduces Kimball O'Hara, b. 1875.
Quiz for The Game: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
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.
Quiz for Locked Rooms: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
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).
Quiz for The Language of Bees: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
Quiz for The God of the Hive: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
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.)
Quiz for Garment of Shadows: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
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.
14. Quiz for The Murder of Mary Russell: https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...
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.
*** 15,000-character limit. Continues in comments: ***
November 3, 2021
It isn't easy, sustaining a series over seventeen books. Since Locked Rooms (#8), Laurie King's heart does not appear to be in Russell and Holmes. Kind of like when the Beatles broke up, after eight years, it should be enough to celebrate the brilliance of the first eleven years (in her case), then allow her to let go of these characters and find new inspiration.
March 20, 2021
Note- I received a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I love this series- I've read a lot of mystery series, especially historical mysteries, and this is hands down my favorite. Ms. King is a fantastic writer, and the characters of Russell and Holmes are so rich and have become so comfortable to me. The plot of this one was very interesting, as usual, but definitely unusual/unexpected. Without giving anything away- it's set in Romania and it made for a gripping setting. Holmes and Russell are working together for the majority of the book- something I always greatly prefer to them working apart- and it was definitely another satisfying installment to this great series.
I would absolutely recommend anyone new to the series to start at the beginning, though this could be read as a standalone it's much richer with having read all the books in the series prior.
There is a couple of references to the 2nd book in the series that I especially enjoyed! The only real negative about this book was now that I've read it, I'm craving more Russell/Holmes adventures already!
I love this series- I've read a lot of mystery series, especially historical mysteries, and this is hands down my favorite. Ms. King is a fantastic writer, and the characters of Russell and Holmes are so rich and have become so comfortable to me. The plot of this one was very interesting, as usual, but definitely unusual/unexpected. Without giving anything away- it's set in Romania and it made for a gripping setting. Holmes and Russell are working together for the majority of the book- something I always greatly prefer to them working apart- and it was definitely another satisfying installment to this great series.
I would absolutely recommend anyone new to the series to start at the beginning, though this could be read as a standalone it's much richer with having read all the books in the series prior.
There is a couple of references to the 2nd book in the series that I especially enjoyed! The only real negative about this book was now that I've read it, I'm craving more Russell/Holmes adventures already!
September 27, 2022
Cum vă sună combinația Sherlock Holmes, Regina Maria și Castelul Bran? Promițător, nu-i așa?
Castelul umbrelor de Laurie R. King este un volum ce ne duce direct în inima Transilvaniei, unde Sherlock Holmes este chemat în ajutor de Regina Maria a României în legătură cu o amenințare primită la adresa fiicei sale de 16 ani, Principesa Ileana. Acesta nu vine singur, ci însoțit de soția sa, Mary Russell. Amenințările par să fie în strânsă legătură cu Castelul Bran, primit de Regină în dar de la popor, ceea ce duce misterul prin cotloanele ascunse ale impozantei așezări, cât și prin împrejurimile acestuia. Mai multe despre acest antrenant roman polițist unde Castelul Bran este vedeta am scris într-un articol publicat pe blog.
„Castelul Bran era, trebuia să recunosc, o scenă construită special pentru lucruri dramatice. Erau acolo toate elementele teatrale tipice: era izolat, înconjurat de pădure și misterios.„
https://ciobanuldeazi.home.blog/2022/...
Castelul umbrelor de Laurie R. King este un volum ce ne duce direct în inima Transilvaniei, unde Sherlock Holmes este chemat în ajutor de Regina Maria a României în legătură cu o amenințare primită la adresa fiicei sale de 16 ani, Principesa Ileana. Acesta nu vine singur, ci însoțit de soția sa, Mary Russell. Amenințările par să fie în strânsă legătură cu Castelul Bran, primit de Regină în dar de la popor, ceea ce duce misterul prin cotloanele ascunse ale impozantei așezări, cât și prin împrejurimile acestuia. Mai multe despre acest antrenant roman polițist unde Castelul Bran este vedeta am scris într-un articol publicat pe blog.
„Castelul Bran era, trebuia să recunosc, o scenă construită special pentru lucruri dramatice. Erau acolo toate elementele teatrale tipice: era izolat, înconjurat de pădure și misterios.„
https://ciobanuldeazi.home.blog/2022/...
June 6, 2021
This mystery was amazing in every way. I have enjoyed all of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes adventures I have read so far, and this one is one of the most enjoyable yet. I like the historical background and the featuring of historic figures in the story, portrayed in a real life type setting with personalities very well developed. It makes the story come alive.
I loved that Mary and Holmes worked closely together on this adventure, as they did when Mary was newly assisting Holmes in the beginning. It is always Mary's voice, in the narrative, that keeps things exciting and has me waiting for the next story. The wit is fun and often has me grinning to myself as I am reading, sometimes receiving strange looks from people who see me,
Even the author's notes afterwards are entertaining. "Please don’t blame me for Miss Russell’s deliberate imprecisions."
Thank you to Netgalley and Bantam / Random House for the opportunity to read the e-ARC from a favorite author and series.
I loved that Mary and Holmes worked closely together on this adventure, as they did when Mary was newly assisting Holmes in the beginning. It is always Mary's voice, in the narrative, that keeps things exciting and has me waiting for the next story. The wit is fun and often has me grinning to myself as I am reading, sometimes receiving strange looks from people who see me,
Even the author's notes afterwards are entertaining. "Please don’t blame me for Miss Russell’s deliberate imprecisions."
Thank you to Netgalley and Bantam / Random House for the opportunity to read the e-ARC from a favorite author and series.
June 6, 2021
Originally published at Reading Reality
As this one opens, Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock Holmes, are leaving the sunny Riviera, the scene of their previous adventure, Riviera Gold, for the chillier and considerably more forbidding Carpathian Mountains. For the very scene of Count Dracula’s fictional adventures.
But Castle Bran, unlike the fictional residence of Dracula that was based on it, is the real life retreat of Queen Marie of Roumania.
There is a bit of Dorothy Parker doggerel that I memorized a long time ago, that goes:
“Life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea.
Love is a thing that can never go wrong,
And I am Marie of Roumania.”
I had no idea that Marie of Roumania was a real person. I thought it was something Parker made up in order to make the thing rhyme and scan correctly. Color me chagrined.
Holmes is on his way to Castle Bran and the town of Bran that it overlooks at the behest of Queen Marie herself. Someone is threatening the Queen’s young daughter, Princess Ireana and Her Majesty wants Holmes to find the culprit and stop them. That Holmes is also in the area at the suggestion, at least, of his brother Mycroft turns out to be a source of irritation for both Holmes and Russell.
Mycroft, the eminence grise of the British government, has a habit of commanding and commandeering the services of his brother for political purposes and occasionally downright espionage, in ways that give Russell serious qualms.
Qualms that are quite serious, a situation that has been developing since Russell learned the full scope of Mycroft’s government remit during The God of the Hive. Qualms that are compelling Holmes to, effectively, pick a side. He can either continue to serve his brother whenever and wherever called upon, at a moment’s notice for purposes that he may or may not strictly agree with and may or may not be for the so-called “greater good” – or he can remain married and in full partnership with his wife Mary Russell.
Because Mary requires honesty and Mycroft requires secrecy, and those requirements cannot both be met. (The fallout, when it finally comes in a later book in the series, is going to be EPIC.)
But at the moment, Holmes and Russell have a case. A case that has entirely too many shades of The Sussex Vampire, while potentially covered in all the blood that the infamous Roumanian countess Erzsebet (AKA Elizabeth) Bathory, ever bathed in.
There’s someone running around Bran and its neighboring villages trying to convince the locals that Queen Marie is as evil as Bathory and Dracula combined, and that no one in Bran will be safe until she’s been evicted from her castle.
Or, until Russell and Holmes figure out who is really behind this local reign of attempted terror.
Escape Rating A-: Castle Shade was good fun. Not quite as much good fun as Riviera Gold, but still absolutely worth the read for anyone who has followed the adventures of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes since The Beekeeper’s Apprentice.
Speaking of which, while I don’t think you have to have read Mary Russell’s entire opus to get into Castle Shade, you do have to have read some, if only to make sure you can get past the astonishing premise, that when Holmes retired to Sussex to keep bees he took on a 15-year-old apprentice who later – after she attained her majority – became both his investigative partner and his spouse.
But the case, with its echoes of Holmes’ earlier investigation, The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire, is, in its way, a kind of a callback to Holmes’ earlier adventures.
In spite of the potential political overtones, the brush with real-life royalty and the unresolved issue of Brother Mycroft, among other things, the case that the Queen has asked Holmes to investigate and that Holmes has, in turn, requested Russell’s assistance with, winds its way around and about until it resolves into something classic.
When Holmes rules out any political motivations, the heart of the mystery turns into one of the basic questions in mystery. “Qui bono?” or more familiarly, “Who benefits?”
Because it’s all about Queen Marie and her ownership of Bran Castle. The whole point of the strange happenings and rumor mongering and attempts at raising unbridled hysteria among the local population are all aimed at Queen Marie.
Someone wants her out of Castle Bran. Someone believes they benefit from driving Marie out of her castle. It’s up to Holmes and Russell to see through all the misdirection swirling around them, find a way clear of all the many and various secrets that the locals are obviously keeping that may or may not have anything to do with what’s really going on, to determine exactly who it is who is up to no good.
And stop them.
One of the other lovely things about this particular entry in the series is that, unlike Riviera Gold and other recent stories, the focus is equally split between Holmes and Russell. They have equal but separate parts to play in this mystery and I’m happy to see that, at the moment of this story at least, their partnership is still working for both of them.
While this mystery comes to a satisfactory conclusion, it is equally clear that the adventures of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes still have many more stories yet to tell. And I’m looking forward to each and every one.
As this one opens, Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock Holmes, are leaving the sunny Riviera, the scene of their previous adventure, Riviera Gold, for the chillier and considerably more forbidding Carpathian Mountains. For the very scene of Count Dracula’s fictional adventures.
But Castle Bran, unlike the fictional residence of Dracula that was based on it, is the real life retreat of Queen Marie of Roumania.
There is a bit of Dorothy Parker doggerel that I memorized a long time ago, that goes:
“Life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea.
Love is a thing that can never go wrong,
And I am Marie of Roumania.”
I had no idea that Marie of Roumania was a real person. I thought it was something Parker made up in order to make the thing rhyme and scan correctly. Color me chagrined.
Holmes is on his way to Castle Bran and the town of Bran that it overlooks at the behest of Queen Marie herself. Someone is threatening the Queen’s young daughter, Princess Ireana and Her Majesty wants Holmes to find the culprit and stop them. That Holmes is also in the area at the suggestion, at least, of his brother Mycroft turns out to be a source of irritation for both Holmes and Russell.
Mycroft, the eminence grise of the British government, has a habit of commanding and commandeering the services of his brother for political purposes and occasionally downright espionage, in ways that give Russell serious qualms.
Qualms that are quite serious, a situation that has been developing since Russell learned the full scope of Mycroft’s government remit during The God of the Hive. Qualms that are compelling Holmes to, effectively, pick a side. He can either continue to serve his brother whenever and wherever called upon, at a moment’s notice for purposes that he may or may not strictly agree with and may or may not be for the so-called “greater good” – or he can remain married and in full partnership with his wife Mary Russell.
Because Mary requires honesty and Mycroft requires secrecy, and those requirements cannot both be met. (The fallout, when it finally comes in a later book in the series, is going to be EPIC.)
But at the moment, Holmes and Russell have a case. A case that has entirely too many shades of The Sussex Vampire, while potentially covered in all the blood that the infamous Roumanian countess Erzsebet (AKA Elizabeth) Bathory, ever bathed in.
There’s someone running around Bran and its neighboring villages trying to convince the locals that Queen Marie is as evil as Bathory and Dracula combined, and that no one in Bran will be safe until she’s been evicted from her castle.
Or, until Russell and Holmes figure out who is really behind this local reign of attempted terror.
Escape Rating A-: Castle Shade was good fun. Not quite as much good fun as Riviera Gold, but still absolutely worth the read for anyone who has followed the adventures of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes since The Beekeeper’s Apprentice.
Speaking of which, while I don’t think you have to have read Mary Russell’s entire opus to get into Castle Shade, you do have to have read some, if only to make sure you can get past the astonishing premise, that when Holmes retired to Sussex to keep bees he took on a 15-year-old apprentice who later – after she attained her majority – became both his investigative partner and his spouse.
But the case, with its echoes of Holmes’ earlier investigation, The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire, is, in its way, a kind of a callback to Holmes’ earlier adventures.
In spite of the potential political overtones, the brush with real-life royalty and the unresolved issue of Brother Mycroft, among other things, the case that the Queen has asked Holmes to investigate and that Holmes has, in turn, requested Russell’s assistance with, winds its way around and about until it resolves into something classic.
When Holmes rules out any political motivations, the heart of the mystery turns into one of the basic questions in mystery. “Qui bono?” or more familiarly, “Who benefits?”
Because it’s all about Queen Marie and her ownership of Bran Castle. The whole point of the strange happenings and rumor mongering and attempts at raising unbridled hysteria among the local population are all aimed at Queen Marie.
Someone wants her out of Castle Bran. Someone believes they benefit from driving Marie out of her castle. It’s up to Holmes and Russell to see through all the misdirection swirling around them, find a way clear of all the many and various secrets that the locals are obviously keeping that may or may not have anything to do with what’s really going on, to determine exactly who it is who is up to no good.
And stop them.
One of the other lovely things about this particular entry in the series is that, unlike Riviera Gold and other recent stories, the focus is equally split between Holmes and Russell. They have equal but separate parts to play in this mystery and I’m happy to see that, at the moment of this story at least, their partnership is still working for both of them.
While this mystery comes to a satisfactory conclusion, it is equally clear that the adventures of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes still have many more stories yet to tell. And I’m looking forward to each and every one.
October 12, 2021
This book made me want to travel back to Romania and see the beautiful countryside again. I loved reading about Russell and Holmes' adventures at Bran Castle and am looking forward to the next installment.
June 11, 2021
I am a fan of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series by Laurie R King. I've read most of the earlier books more than once. I've really enjoyed the depth the novels went into the historical or cultural contexts in which they were set. However, the last couple books in the series were not as satisfying, this one included.
This story was set in a castle in Romania, with allusions to and outright invocations of Bram Stoker's Dracula, and featuring the real-life persons of Queen Marie of Romania, her daughter Ileana and other family members and friends. The writing was evocative, specifically in descriptions of the countryside, the native dress, and the weather. That the weather here was sunny while I read helped me relate to the heat of the summer in which the story was set. As in other novels of this series, I found King's descriptions of landscapes, road networks, and floor plans tedious and hard to fully grasp, but they did feature prominently in the storyline, so may be worth more study than I gave them. Yet I would prefer to leave the scrutiny of such details to the story's detectives, Russell and Holmes.
The pair begin to suspect the perpetrator, among a set of suspects, about 2/3rd of the way through the book, and the person's guilt does become apparent before events climax. The motivation behind the actions came as more of a surprise.
It was odd that the story reflected in the book's title, Castle Shade, was a minor storyline; the main story could have been told without it. It was, however, an interesting historical aspect that could have featured more prominently.
I enjoyed learning about Romania's history as of the mid-1920s, and joining Russell and Holmes on another case. But the dynamics between the duo were not as enjoyable as they have been in other books, nor did Russell seem to be "on her game" for much of the book. The book was entertaining, but won't lodge as one of my top picks of the series (it ranks above Pirate King and Riviera Gold, but below O Jerusalem, Justice Hall, The Language of Bees, The God of the Hive, ... many of the others). The early 20th century was a fascinating period, and I hope the author can again feature history and culture as equally captivating third characters in the novels.
This story was set in a castle in Romania, with allusions to and outright invocations of Bram Stoker's Dracula, and featuring the real-life persons of Queen Marie of Romania, her daughter Ileana and other family members and friends. The writing was evocative, specifically in descriptions of the countryside, the native dress, and the weather. That the weather here was sunny while I read helped me relate to the heat of the summer in which the story was set. As in other novels of this series, I found King's descriptions of landscapes, road networks, and floor plans tedious and hard to fully grasp, but they did feature prominently in the storyline, so may be worth more study than I gave them. Yet I would prefer to leave the scrutiny of such details to the story's detectives, Russell and Holmes.
The pair begin to suspect the perpetrator, among a set of suspects, about 2/3rd of the way through the book, and the person's guilt does become apparent before events climax. The motivation behind the actions came as more of a surprise.
It was odd that the story reflected in the book's title, Castle Shade, was a minor storyline; the main story could have been told without it. It was, however, an interesting historical aspect that could have featured more prominently.
I enjoyed learning about Romania's history as of the mid-1920s, and joining Russell and Holmes on another case. But the dynamics between the duo were not as enjoyable as they have been in other books, nor did Russell seem to be "on her game" for much of the book. The book was entertaining, but won't lodge as one of my top picks of the series (it ranks above Pirate King and Riviera Gold, but below O Jerusalem, Justice Hall, The Language of Bees, The God of the Hive, ... many of the others). The early 20th century was a fascinating period, and I hope the author can again feature history and culture as equally captivating third characters in the novels.
June 19, 2021
I love this series. The Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes books are my go-to comfort reads, and every time I reread a book, I pick up another nuance.
Castle Shade is another great installment. It's subtly creepy. And I found myself wishing I'd read Dracula beforehand. Though it's certainly not necessary. Every book opens my eyes to a new historical period, era, or person. And I loved learning about Transylvania in the 20s and before. The books always make me want to travel to the setting of each book!
Suspenseful, deliciously creepy, and a wonderful partnership. What more can you ask for in a book?
Castle Shade is another great installment. It's subtly creepy. And I found myself wishing I'd read Dracula beforehand. Though it's certainly not necessary. Every book opens my eyes to a new historical period, era, or person. And I loved learning about Transylvania in the 20s and before. The books always make me want to travel to the setting of each book!
Suspenseful, deliciously creepy, and a wonderful partnership. What more can you ask for in a book?
July 19, 2023
Having spent a lot of time reading about the descendants of Queen Victoria, "the Grandmama of Europe," I enjoyed the involvement of Marie of Romania in this story, but yet somehow something here didn't work for me. Or, to use a frequent line of my daughter's, "I liked it but it's not my favorite."
May 30, 2021
1920’s Transylvania might be centuries from the Blood Countess and Vlad the Impaler, but something dark is lurking in the shadows of Castle Bran sending Russell and Holmes to delve into the mystery. I couldn’t wait to crack the cover on this latest historical mystery in a long-time series that I love and it didn’t hurt that the setting was the atmospheric Romanian countryside.
Castle Shade is the seventeenth of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. It could be read standalone in a pinch though it offers a better reading experience when the series is taken in order.
After wrapping up their latest adventure in Monaco and tucking away the secret she is keeping from Holmes, Mary Russell is ready to assist on a new case with her husband, Sherlock Holmes, commissioned by Romania’s Queen Marie who believes a threat has been made against her youngest daughter and seems focused at her retreat, Bran Castle. Mary and Holmes find a village and castle steeped in the superstition of the past, but with modern ways making gradual in roads. They discover a chain of curious events affecting those in the village and castle that seem designed to rouse the village into a fervor of terror aimed at their queen. Late night forays, careful engagements with village personalities like the Roma in their nearby encampment, a woodsy witch, a modern doctor, and a castle majordomo who might know more than he’s saying.
At this point, Mary Russell has come into her own and has been a full detecting partner with her husband, Sherlock Holmes for some time. They divide tasks and sleuth away. This doesn’t mean that they don’t fear for each other’s safety or get upset when their partner is hurt. Nor, does it mean that they have married life figured out. In fact, they seem to struggle a bit figuring that part out when the other side of their partnership goes so well. I’ve enjoyed seeing Mary grow into womanhood and grow into her roles throughout the series. She truly is the equal of the great detective and challenges his intellect as he does, hers.
The setting for this latest mystery, rural post-WWI Romania, was written well. The author included the royal aspect, politics, traditions, and social life to add layers to the plot. I enjoyed this backdrop of the people from all classes who were well-represented in several side characters.
The mystery was a slow burn type as they steadily gathered facts and worked out who, what and why. They figured out what was going on and then the who. I was interested, but I confess that the mystery side was a little lackluster. There was no dearth of exciting moments, but they didn’t feel as life threatening so my heart was in my throat.
That said, it was a pleasurable diversion and well worth my anticipation for the latest series release. Those who love Sherlock Holmes and Historical Mysteries should definitely give this a go.
I rec’d the eARC from Net Galley to read in exchange for an honest review.
Castle Shade is the seventeenth of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. It could be read standalone in a pinch though it offers a better reading experience when the series is taken in order.
After wrapping up their latest adventure in Monaco and tucking away the secret she is keeping from Holmes, Mary Russell is ready to assist on a new case with her husband, Sherlock Holmes, commissioned by Romania’s Queen Marie who believes a threat has been made against her youngest daughter and seems focused at her retreat, Bran Castle. Mary and Holmes find a village and castle steeped in the superstition of the past, but with modern ways making gradual in roads. They discover a chain of curious events affecting those in the village and castle that seem designed to rouse the village into a fervor of terror aimed at their queen. Late night forays, careful engagements with village personalities like the Roma in their nearby encampment, a woodsy witch, a modern doctor, and a castle majordomo who might know more than he’s saying.
At this point, Mary Russell has come into her own and has been a full detecting partner with her husband, Sherlock Holmes for some time. They divide tasks and sleuth away. This doesn’t mean that they don’t fear for each other’s safety or get upset when their partner is hurt. Nor, does it mean that they have married life figured out. In fact, they seem to struggle a bit figuring that part out when the other side of their partnership goes so well. I’ve enjoyed seeing Mary grow into womanhood and grow into her roles throughout the series. She truly is the equal of the great detective and challenges his intellect as he does, hers.
The setting for this latest mystery, rural post-WWI Romania, was written well. The author included the royal aspect, politics, traditions, and social life to add layers to the plot. I enjoyed this backdrop of the people from all classes who were well-represented in several side characters.
The mystery was a slow burn type as they steadily gathered facts and worked out who, what and why. They figured out what was going on and then the who. I was interested, but I confess that the mystery side was a little lackluster. There was no dearth of exciting moments, but they didn’t feel as life threatening so my heart was in my throat.
That said, it was a pleasurable diversion and well worth my anticipation for the latest series release. Those who love Sherlock Holmes and Historical Mysteries should definitely give this a go.
I rec’d the eARC from Net Galley to read in exchange for an honest review.
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