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Friday, March 6, 2009

A Monstrous Regiment of Women

A Monstrous Regiment of Women
by Laurie R. King
326 pages

This is the 2nd installment in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series (see below for related links). For simplicity's sake, I'm going to call them the MR/SH books, ok?

It is late 1920 and Russell has now known Holmes for about six years. She is approaching her 21st birthday and hence emancipation from her hated aunt. She is also preparing to present a paper at Oxford prior to the end of her studies there. Through her friendship and apprenticeship with Holmes, Russell has become quite adept at detective work and is coming in to her own in that arena.

Due to the variety of changes coming in her life Russell is in a bit of an upheaval and is often seeking solitude (in part to avoid some awkward feelings she has developed). On one of her walks she runs into an old friend, Veronica, who she hasn't seen in years. [Veronica's character was introduced in book 1.] It is apparent that Veronica is having difficulties of her own so Russell agrees to do what she can to help. The two begin spending time together and Veronica gets Russell involved with an organization known as "The Temple". And here is where things get interesting ...

One of the things I enjoy about the MR/SH books is the way King brings so much of "current events" into the stories. In this particular book, World War I has been over for a few years and there are changes in society as a result: women in the workforce (or who had been during the war), women wanting to do more meaningful work than staying at home, fewer men in general, shell-shocked soldiers, drug abuse, etc. All of these elements make their way into this book at various points.

This particular book is less about "cracking the case" and more about Russell's development and her partnership with Holmes. Although their relationship is central to all the books, it seemed more important than anything else in this one (in my opinion).

I quite enjoyed this book, getting back into MR/SH's world, experiencing the post-Great-War years, and seeing the changes in Russell since the first book. All in all, a great stop in my Month of Joyful Reading.

Thoughts anyone? Have you read it? Have I convinced you to? Speak up out there!


Other posts so far in my Month of Joyful Reading

8 comments:

bermudaonion said...

I've been reading a lot about Laurie King's work and have added her to my must read list.

Anonymous said...

Man I've been seeing reviews for these books everywhere lately! A month ago, I didn't know anything about them. And Mary Russell is following me on Twitter. I wish I knew more about her.

Robin M said...

I think you may have convinced me.

I have a blog award for you.
here

Jenny Girl said...

I have had my eye on Laurie King for a while now. You havconvinced me to giver her a try.

LoopdiLou said...

I absolutely devoured this entire series. My Dad lent me the first two (she's a local author) and then I went out and bought all the rest! Now my sister is reading them and I'm sure they'll have a long life beyond her. They were worth every penny. Plus, it was great fun when she had Mary visit San Francisco (in Locked Rooms) and points south (which is where we live). I was particularly fond of O, Jerusalem. It's such a refreshing take on the Sherlock Holmes tales!

Anonymous said...

I am loving this series! I just read O Jerusalem a few weeks ago, and am ready for my next MR/SH fix. Great review!

Girl Detective said...

I read the Mary Russell series a while ago, but really enjoyed the first three, especially. I just finished Home by Marilynne Robinson, the sequel to Gilead, and the original "Monstrous Regiment of Women" was a Scottish book in the home library of the character Rev. Boughton.

Heather J. @ TLC Book Tours said...

bermudaonion & Natasha & JennyGirl - I'm glad you've got the bug! I know you'll enjoy these.

Robin - Thank you so much!

LoopdiLou & Carrie K. - Glad to find other fans!

Girl Detective - I love it when one book is mentioned in another. I have to say though that I was not a big fan of Gilead ... Ah well.

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