Wednesday, September 7, 2016

King, Laurie R. (The Murder of Mary Russell)

Well, that one was a doozy. What does one think one's getting into with a title like that?

The insinuation in the title is decidedly reflected in the writing, and don't worry, I won't give anything away. But the plot essentially shivers with confusion around not knowing what is true and what is not, especially as it flips the dialogue and action between three of our tried-n-true characters.

Surprisingly, for the first time, King makes Holmes look the ittiest bittiest bit of a dolt. It's minimal, but it stretches the credulity of her series to suggest that Holmes did not "figure out" a huge turning point in the plot. Not that the readers necessarily did either, but she makes it go on far too long, and we get tired of what Holmes is clearing not perceiving and definitely should be. Is she trying to actually age Holmes? If she's heralding an end to her writing of the series, I will start hyperventilating.

This volume contains a lot of Mrs. Hudson. I've barely thought twice about that character, which is probably why King chose her, as someone whose backstory she can easily mess with. Boy howdy, does she give her a whopper of one. Gotta love King's panache here.

The book also has one of the best endings I've ever seen King write, and that's saying a lot. Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater! Did I just see an entire legion of Sherlock scholars gasp in horror and permanently avert their eyes? I await the next book in the series with great anticipation.

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