The Murder of Mary Russell – Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway

Laurie R. King’s bestselling Mary Russell–Sherlock Holmes series weaves rich historical detail and provocative themes with intriguing characters and enthralling suspense. Russell and Holmes have become one of modern literature’s most beloved teams. But does this adventure end it all?

Mary Russell is used to dark secrets—her own, and those of her famous partner and husband, Sherlock Holmes. Trust is a thing slowly given, but over the course of a decade together, the two have forged an indissoluble bond.

And what of the other person to whom Mary Russell has opened her heart: the couple’s longtime housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson? Russell’s faith and affection are suddenly shattered when a man arrives on the doorstep claiming to be Mrs. Hudson’s son.

What Samuel Hudson tells Russell cannot possibly be true, yet she believes him—as surely as she believes the threat of the gun in his hand. In a devastating instant, everything changes. And when the scene is discovered—a pool of blood on the floor, the smell of gunpowder in the air—the most shocking revelation of all is that the grim clues point directly to Clara Hudson.

Or rather to Clarissa, the woman she was before Baker Street.

The key to Russell’s sacrifice lies in Mrs. Hudson’s past. To uncover the truth, a frantic Sherlock Holmes must put aside his anguish and push deep into his housekeeper’s secrets—to a time before her disguise was assumed, before her crimes were buried away.

There is death here, and murder, and trust betrayed.

And nothing will ever be the same.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

Excerpt

Hover over the bottom of the PDF for next-page button.

Review

Oh. My. Gosh.

Wow.

I’m sitting here gobsmacked, having just finished The Murder of Mary Russell, trying to figure out how on earth to review its awesomeness without giving anything away.

Because this book would be so incredibly easy to spoil. And I so, so don’t want to do that. I want you to experience all the trepidation, suspense, and surprise, all the love and delight and grief that I felt for these characters while reading it.

But I can’t tell you why without ruining the book for you. So what can I tell you?

OK, let me start with a warning. Don’t read The Murder of Mary Russell  until you’ve read at least The Beekeeper’s Apprentice and A Monstrous Regiment of Women — and that’s at a bare minimum. Not that you wouldn’t be able to follow the story if you came into the series now, but The Murder of Mary Russell will matter so much more to you if you already know and love the characters. I also recommend (re)reading Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story, “The Adventure of the Gloria Scott,” because certain events will make much more sense if you have.

And here’s another warning: when you sit down to read The Murder of Mary Russell, be prepared to spend a lot of the book in the past. We finally get a look at Mrs. Hudson’s backstory — a really good, long, in-depth look. Structurally, the novel goes back and forth between chapters in the present and large chunks set in the past, until well past the half-way mark. As you can imagine, that means we also see something of Holmes as a young man just starting out in detection, and even quite a bit of Billy, his former Irregular. Ms. King is nothing short of brilliant in fleshing out these earlier, younger versions of characters we know so well, making their individual pasts consistent with what we learned of them from her other books while still introducing plenty of surprises.

Be prepared for suspense, too. The title alone tells you that: Is the titular murder of Mary, or by Mary, or merely solved by Mary? You won’t know for a very long time… so I hope you’re either a fast reader or you’re able to live with uncertainty. (You could peek, of course. I’m totally not admitting whether I did. But I recommend against it.)

Finally, be prepared. This isn’t a mystery, exactly. Or rather, it is a mystery, and it’s more than a mystery. Yes, of course there’s the whole question of whose blood is on the floor, and who, if anyone, is dead, but that’s only part of what makes The Murder of Mary Russell impossible to put down. In significant ways, it is as much a fictional biography or a character study as a mystery novel. It will make you uncomfortable at times; it will make you sad; it will even make you laugh. Above all, it will shake up your whole mental picture of these characters and lay it down in a slightly different configuration.

And truly? Nothing will ever be the same.

Giveaway

Bantam (Random House) has generously offered me one copy of The Murder of Mary Russell to give away! You can enter using the Giveaway Tool below. The giveaway ends Monday, April 18, at 11:59 EDT. Good luck!

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• Cruisin' Thru the Cozies 2016

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