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A review by jesshale
The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R. King
4.0
Hmm. I enjoyed this book more than I have the last few in the series, which dragged and left a lot to be desired in terms of Holmes-and-Russell interaction. I read it quickly, wanting to find out what happens next, but the denouement at the end came quickly and with rather a lack of Holmes-style deduction, and I found myself wishing there'd been the satisfaction of a few more scenes which were left to play out in the background.
The Mrs Hudson backstory was interesting, if a little uneven in places and possibly longer than it needed to be. It felt more like a short story that wasn't short any more.
At the end of it, I found myself quite sad at the idea of Mrs Hudson: that she had one short-lived unsatisfactory lover, gave up her child, and lived her life with no other romantic prospects at all. Not that I thought she had a dearth of meaningful relationships - Holmes, Russell, Dr Watson and Billy, at least. But, to be frank, WHERE were the poor woman's orgasms?!?
More seriously, she was obviously smart - for all that at the end she dismissed her skills as instinctive - and valued learning. There are references to doing some small jobs for Holmes - I want to know that she did manage to take time to further her education, and I want to know what things she was doing for him. Not to denigrate the skills of keeping a house, but we got all this background to show that Mrs Hudson isn't "just" a housekeeper - show, not tell!
The "mystery" of Mary Russell's murder (I don't think it's a spoiler to say that our ongoing series' protagonist doesn't wind up dead!) could have been a bit more developed. I wanted a bit more Russell in this book!
Overall, a fun addition to the Russell series, and it will be interesting to re-read previous books with this new viewpoint of Mrs Hudson.
The Mrs Hudson backstory was interesting, if a little uneven in places and possibly longer than it needed to be. It felt more like a short story that wasn't short any more.
Spoiler
The story of her as a con artist was quite fun, although I'm not quite sure how I'm reading her relationship with her father; it seemed to go quite quickly from desperate for his approval to washing her hands of him. Not that he didn't deserve it! I also thought we needed more explanation of her decision to leave Samuel with her sister and her relationship with her sister.At the end of it, I found myself quite sad at the idea of Mrs Hudson: that she had one short-lived unsatisfactory lover, gave up her child, and lived her life with no other romantic prospects at all. Not that I thought she had a dearth of meaningful relationships - Holmes, Russell, Dr Watson and Billy, at least. But, to be frank, WHERE were the poor woman's orgasms?!?
More seriously, she was obviously smart - for all that at the end she dismissed her skills as instinctive - and valued learning. There are references to doing some small jobs for Holmes - I want to know that she did manage to take time to further her education, and I want to know what things she was doing for him. Not to denigrate the skills of keeping a house, but we got all this background to show that Mrs Hudson isn't "just" a housekeeper - show, not tell!
The "mystery" of Mary Russell's murder (I don't think it's a spoiler to say that our ongoing series' protagonist doesn't wind up dead!) could have been a bit more developed. I wanted a bit more Russell in this book!
Spoiler
In particular, I really wanted the scene where she sees Mrs Hudson after the climax and talking to her about what she doesn't know; I want to see Russell surprised at Mrs Hudson's skills of acting and grifting; I wanted Mrs Hudson to have a far more satisfying confrontation with horrible men who came to mess up her life; I wanted MRS HUDSON to save Russell and Holmes instead of the other way around; and I wanted all this on screen instead of between chapters!Overall, a fun addition to the Russell series, and it will be interesting to re-read previous books with this new viewpoint of Mrs Hudson.