A Letter of Mary

A Letter of Mary

by Laurie R. King
315 pages

*** The Plot ***

Several years have passed since the events in A MONSTROUS REGIMENT OF WOMEN and Holmes and Russell have settled in to their new, quiet life. Their peace and order is suddenly disrupted by an unexpected visit from amateur archaeologist Dorothy Ruskin, a woman they met in Palestine several years before (I think it was in THE BEEKEEPER’S APPRENTICE). She has come to London in an attempt to secure money for a new dig in Palestine, visit her family, and bring a gift to Russell.

Unfortunately, within hours of leaving Holmes and Russell, Ruskin is hit by a car and killed. Scotland Yard is up to its ears in important cases but Lestrade (the son of Holmes’s Lestrade) trusts that Holmes is correct in his opinion that Ruskin’s death was not accidental so he gives what help he can. The problem is that there are too many leads and not enough clues …


*** My Thoughts ***

What I enjoyed about this particular book was the abundance of red herrings. Holmes and Russell have at least three distinctly different suspects for the murder of Ms. Ruskin and they can’t seem to figure out which is the real murderer. Whenever one suspect becomes a more likely candidate, something happens to change things yet again. And what I originally thought would be the focus of the story in the end turned out to be more of a side note. I love being surprised like that.

This was another great stop in my Month of Joyful Reading!

*** Other posts so far in my Month of Joyful Reading ***

• what it is
• author interview: Laurie R. King
• Book 1: The Beekeeper's Apprentice
• Book 2: A Monstrous Regiment of Women
  
• and there are more reviews to come!