I don't remember exactly when I first read this book, but I've read it at least three times, and it was the first in the Mary Russell series that I read (although I subsequently read them out of order). This is one of my favorite books, written by one of my favorite authors.

This is the first novel from Laurie King I have read. It was very engrossing and the time period/mysteries really grabbed me. I enjoyed both main characters (as well as the rest of the cast) and their repartee.

It got a tad slow when the pair went to Israel (a side story there with too much happening that wasn't delved into much) but it picked up again once they returned to England.

I say this is a good, easy read. I will probably read more of her work in the future, but I'm not dying to get the next one just yet. This series will probably act as a "filler" set, books I read when I'm waiting for the next book I really want to be available from the library.

Fulfilled my need for more Sherlock Holmes but also a great new heroine

Overall it was a speedy and enjoyable read. Two things (perhaps 2 1/2) kept this from 4 star territory. First, Mary's voice is dispassionate, cold, ridiculously logical. The same could be said of Holmes' voice, and that is why Watson is so important. It is Watson who humanizes Holmes. Here though we have two leads with flat affects. The humorlessness makes parts of this a real plod. The author also does a disservice to Watson, who is portrayed as a sweet fool, a portrayal at odds with Conan Doyle's writing. Second, the first 50 pages or so simply go on for too long to no purpose. I had a very hard time engaging with the book as a result, but it did eventually pull me in. I guess the final endorsement is that I will likely seek out Book 2 in the series.

It might have been because I read it on vacation, but I found this to be a fun read. A nice extension to the Sherlock Holmes canon.

would have been cute but the narration was so boring I couldn't finish.

I think this is the best of her series. I like the premise of the books.. that Sherlock Holmes unofficially took on a young female apprentice and trained her to see as well as he did. But often as in THE MOOR and THE GAME I feel the author falls in love with her research and the story takes second place to the setting and the atmosphere. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy the research she's done and I'm impressed with it, but as a writer of historical fiction myself, I feel that story should always come first.

I really enjoyed. It is beautifully written and an interesting concept.

Loved this!!

Flipping through below reviews, sure, it's not for everybody, but nor is any book! My opinions: the prose was descriptive in a lovely old-timey way without being hard to read. I thought the writing of WWI was especially evocative. There are a few parts that made me literally laugh out loud: the dogs reacting to a stern woman, when Holmes was like "probably worse for my reputation if folks think you're my boy-toy," a few other things. I personally didn't get the "Mary Sue" vibe from Mary at all, although in consideration now I can see how one might feel that way. I didn't see any of her abilities as being unreasonable for a lone, brainy woman, raised for some years by liberal parents in the US, at the beginning of dramatic social upheaval in the UK brought on by WWI. As to Holmes' character, I haven't read the Conan Doyle books so I can't speak to that preservation. It seems probable to me that the original Sherlock very well could have mellowed somewhat in partial retirement and would have allowed his barriers to be broken by a young girl who is essentially his intellectual equal. Conversely, it's possible that his asexuality and gynophobia were quite real & internal and never would have relaxed. Some willing suspension of disbelief required, I suppose.

To the plot, there are a few minor mysteries presented in the first half, interspersed with Mary growing up a few years. I'm actually surprised I wasn't bored by this - it speaks, I think, to the quality of the writing that I read the first half with as much commitment as the fourth sixth! Then the big bad appears and there's a considerable amount of time spent figuring out how to defeat them. Add in a pretty impressive (or unlikely) leap of thought by Mary and the story travels to its conclusion.