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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
4.5
I loved the alternating POVs- getting inside Holmes’ mind was fascinating. I really liked the supporting characters in this one, and I appreciated the way Holmes and Mary’s relationship was depicted. It was realistic and sweet, and I was glad this one didn’t follow the typical scenario where Holmes leaves Mary on her own for a significant period of time just to reappear at an opportune moment.
I wish the resolution was a little longer- there was a lot of buildup and the epilogue could have covered quite a bit more than it did. And I never fully understood the villain’s motivations- his actions seemed extreme and odd to me.
But overall, this was a favorite in the series. I enjoyed the setting, the case, the characters, and the writing style.
I loved the alternating POVs- getting inside Holmes’ mind was fascinating. I really liked the supporting characters in this one, and I appreciated the way Holmes and Mary’s relationship was depicted. It was realistic and sweet, and I was glad this one didn’t follow the typical scenario where Holmes leaves Mary on her own for a significant period of time just to reappear at an opportune moment.
I wish the resolution was a little longer- there was a lot of buildup and the epilogue could have covered quite a bit more than it did. And I never fully understood the villain’s motivations- his actions seemed extreme and odd to me.
But overall, this was a favorite in the series. I enjoyed the setting, the case, the characters, and the writing style.
As Laurie goes on, her books get more and more literary; the world her characters inhabit becomes increasingly lush and well-appointed. In Locked Rooms, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, with whom I fell in love back in [book:The Beekeeper's Apprentice] travel to San Francisco to solve a mystery out of Russell's past, but at times that seems almost beside the point.
Russell and Holmes dance through the landscape of a city still on some levels reeling from the great earthquake twenty-odd years previously, meeting an array of flappers, Chinese immigrants, and mysterious baddies; at one point, Holmes teams up with Dashiell Hammett to track down the crook.
This book marks a departure from previous books in the series by following Holmes (third person limited narration). King seems somewhat at a loss to explain how these sections fit into the Game*, suggesting that perhaps Ms. Russell needed to disassociate herself from the events of the book. This explanation is the only place where the book stumbles, as the Holmes sections seem to chronical events outside Russell's scope of knowledge and bring up feelings/thoughts on Holmes's part that she couldn't have been aware of, and one can hardly imagine Holmes writing about himself in the third person. The sections are fascinating for the glimpse they give of the way the rest of the world views Mary Russell (and for their take on the Russell/Holmes relationship) and as long as King's explanation is disregarded, they enhance rather than confuse the narrative.
All in all, a well written and interesting novel, good for someone who is looking for a little more in a mystery than "somebody got dead".
*The Game: a term Holmes fans use to refer to the idea that Holmes was real, Watson was his biographer, and Conan Doyle was merely his well-intentioned literary agent; similarly, under the rules of the Game, King is merely Ms. Russell's editor/literary executrix.
Russell and Holmes dance through the landscape of a city still on some levels reeling from the great earthquake twenty-odd years previously, meeting an array of flappers, Chinese immigrants, and mysterious baddies; at one point, Holmes teams up with Dashiell Hammett to track down the crook.
This book marks a departure from previous books in the series by following Holmes (third person limited narration). King seems somewhat at a loss to explain how these sections fit into the Game*, suggesting that perhaps Ms. Russell needed to disassociate herself from the events of the book. This explanation is the only place where the book stumbles, as the Holmes sections seem to chronical events outside Russell's scope of knowledge and bring up feelings/thoughts on Holmes's part that she couldn't have been aware of, and one can hardly imagine Holmes writing about himself in the third person. The sections are fascinating for the glimpse they give of the way the rest of the world views Mary Russell (and for their take on the Russell/Holmes relationship) and as long as King's explanation is disregarded, they enhance rather than confuse the narrative.
All in all, a well written and interesting novel, good for someone who is looking for a little more in a mystery than "somebody got dead".
*The Game: a term Holmes fans use to refer to the idea that Holmes was real, Watson was his biographer, and Conan Doyle was merely his well-intentioned literary agent; similarly, under the rules of the Game, King is merely Ms. Russell's editor/literary executrix.
Although I enjoyed this book while I was reading it, and I would give Laurie King three stars just for keeping the series going, this was the least memorable book of the series. So much is going on, trying to sort through Mary Russell's past, that it is all a jumble when I think about the plot now. If Laurie King wrote the copy on the Quaker Oats box, I would read it every morning. Although she that fine of a writer, this book just missed the mark for me.
Hahaha, wow, where to start.
I've been a big fan of the Mary Russell series for a while now, and by 'a big fan of the Mary Russell series' I mean 'sometimes I re-read the first two books back to back several times in the space of a month'. I'd been warned that this one was... not exactly good.
And it's just sort of. Not good? I mean, nothing here is TRULY REPREHENSIBLE or anything, but the dialogue is weird and Mary is vastly out of character and there are awkward, awkward historical references and it's paced terribly and some of the stuff about the Chinese characters is, er, a bit dodgy to be honest. And it's just not... very good?
The only reason it gets two stars is that King writes a damn fine Holmes in the third person chapters by pastiche standards. Seriously. Write a pre-Mary pastiche if you're running out of steam, King! (I WILL PAY YOU) (no I won't I'm broke) (but still)
I've been a big fan of the Mary Russell series for a while now, and by 'a big fan of the Mary Russell series' I mean 'sometimes I re-read the first two books back to back several times in the space of a month'. I'd been warned that this one was... not exactly good.
And it's just sort of. Not good? I mean, nothing here is TRULY REPREHENSIBLE or anything, but the dialogue is weird and Mary is vastly out of character and there are awkward, awkward historical references and it's paced terribly and some of the stuff about the Chinese characters is, er, a bit dodgy to be honest. And it's just not... very good?
The only reason it gets two stars is that King writes a damn fine Holmes in the third person chapters by pastiche standards. Seriously. Write a pre-Mary pastiche if you're running out of steam, King! (I WILL PAY YOU) (no I won't I'm broke) (but still)
In The Beekeeper's Apprentice (1994) Mary Russell is introduced as an orphan, fleeing America for Britain to get away from the unpleasant memories of the deaths of her parents and brother. Now in Locked Rooms, having matured by ten years and presented with the opportunity, Russell decides to confront her past head on.
Mary's past is rooted in the San Francisco in the time of the 1906 quake and the months and years following. The clues are still there, buried away in the family home, left untouched for years. The clues are there among the dust and among Mary's own nightmares.
Of the three Mary Russell books I've read this year, Locked Rooms is by far my favorite. King's depiction of San Francisco and the peninsula both during the earthquake and in the 1920s, brought the mystery to life for me.
Mary's past is rooted in the San Francisco in the time of the 1906 quake and the months and years following. The clues are still there, buried away in the family home, left untouched for years. The clues are there among the dust and among Mary's own nightmares.
Of the three Mary Russell books I've read this year, Locked Rooms is by far my favorite. King's depiction of San Francisco and the peninsula both during the earthquake and in the 1920s, brought the mystery to life for me.
I liked this one for the experimentation with narrative perspective (shift from first to third person and back), even though I wasn't always entirely convinced by it. The murder mystery at the heart of it was a bit contrived, but I liked Holmes trying to make sense of Russell, who was spiralling out of control, I liked the psychological overtones, and I loved all the interaction between Dashiell Hammett and Sherlock Holmes. The two of them going after Russell with the big revelatory moment towards the end was just priceless.
Holmes was more present in this book than in others from the same series, and he's written very convincingly, which is a big plus. The telegrams from Mycroft, Watson and Mrs Hudson were a nice touch too. All in all, to me this was more good fun than a gripping mystery, but a good read nonetheless. Less of a Russell and more of a Holmes story as well, which makes for a change. I think "try something different" was the motto here, and in such a long-standing series, that's certainly refreshing—the fact that I'm hooked enough to buy #9 and #10 in the series now should speak for itself.
Holmes was more present in this book than in others from the same series, and he's written very convincingly, which is a big plus. The telegrams from Mycroft, Watson and Mrs Hudson were a nice touch too. All in all, to me this was more good fun than a gripping mystery, but a good read nonetheless. Less of a Russell and more of a Holmes story as well, which makes for a change. I think "try something different" was the motto here, and in such a long-standing series, that's certainly refreshing—the fact that I'm hooked enough to buy #9 and #10 in the series now should speak for itself.
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
The Mary Russell books continue to impress. This one sets us in San Francisco, revisiting Mary's childhood. Mary and Holmes are investigating troubling dreams Mary's having after revisiting the 1906 earthquake and then in a car accident her family was in. I felt it was nice to really get to know Mary better. I also enjoyed the subtle touches of feng shui in the book, bits of SF's Chinatown and that Hammett was a real detective novelist (eesh should I have known this?). King always spins historical nuggets into her books which is just one of the many reasons I love them.
I feel that The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Justice Hall, and Locked Rooms are my favorites in the series so far.
I feel that The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Justice Hall, and Locked Rooms are my favorites in the series so far.
