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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
"Another woman might have been cowed, but another woman was not Mary Russell"
I love this series.
I love this series.
A fascinating and fun entry to the series. Holmes and Russell get to do good old fashioned sleuthing but there's the added fun of looking for the missing Kim of Kipling fame. Besides an enjoyable story, I found the background on the politics of the area to be as thought provoking as her earlier delve into Palestine. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Generally I am not a fan of books that feature beloved classic characters or settings and are reworked by contemporary writers. Laurie King's series is the exception to my rule -- probably because I was never a huge Sherlock Holmes fan. I really enjoy these stories. there is some detail and historical fact that I find enlightening. I love that the protagonist is a gutsy and intelligent woman. And the author does a wonderful job of maintaining the era-appropriate atmosphere.
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Another amazing installment to the Mary Russell series. I very much enjoyed this adventure, where Russell and Holmes set off from their home turf to the politically tense and potentially explosive land of India. King does an amazing job setting her characters down in early 1920s British-controlled India, throwing all the complexities of the time at the characters and forcing them to juggle them throughout their investigation.
SpoilerFor all that, though, I think my favorite passage is the one where Holmes gives voice to Russell's unconscious fear of leaving him behind/being separated in a hostile situation, something they had faced before in the events of O Jerusalem, which had left marks on both of them. I love how Russell pushed through her own fears and apprehensions and focused on getting the job done. That getting the job done involved Russell pulling a revolver and threatening to shoot Kimball O'Hara if he did not get a move on was some very tasty icing.
Very enjoyable.
SpoilerFor all that, though, I think my favorite passage is the one where Holmes gives voice to Russell's unconscious fear of leaving him behind/being separated in a hostile situation, something they had faced before in the events of O Jerusalem, which had left marks on both of them. I love how Russell pushed through her own fears and apprehensions and focused on getting the job done. That getting the job done involved Russell pulling a revolver and threatening to shoot Kimball O'Hara if he did not get a move on was some very tasty icing.
Very enjoyable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cultural appropriation
Really enjoyed this novel (listened to on audiobook--great reader!). I had slogged through an earlier one of this series, set in Palestine, and sworn off her for a bit, but this was fascinating and informative and exciting. Am now rereading Kipling's Kim as a result. Ending was a little bit of a let-down, but that's partly due to listening timing: I was nearly done on Friday and then didn't finish listening till Monday. So: highly recommended, ESP. as a read aloud!
Very hard to like this when the Maharaja is so unlikeable and the animal cruelty awful.
Finally, not only was I immersed in India with Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, but Laurie King surprised me at least twice, if not three times, with a twist here and a turn there. Her descriptions of places continue to paint pictures that seem real; I imagine them and I am there.
Indeed, it is the sense of being there as the action happens that causes me to say this is her best tale yet overall. I quite liked Oh Jerusalem and all the books since, but this one was as close to perfect as possible!
Indeed, it is the sense of being there as the action happens that causes me to say this is her best tale yet overall. I quite liked Oh Jerusalem and all the books since, but this one was as close to perfect as possible!
I like the premise of this series.. that Sherlock Holmes unofficially took on a young female apprentice and trained her to see as well as he did.And eventually married her. But often as in THE MOOR and this one, I feel the author falls in love with her research and the story takes second place to the setting and the atmosphere. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy the research she's done and I'm impressed with it, but as a writer of historical fiction myself, I feel that story should always come first.