This book confirmed my love of Sherlock Holmes while introducing me to Mary Russell, a young, terribly precocious girl who becomes his kindred spirit and eventual partner in crime-solving. It is so intelligently written - both the intricate plot and the depth of character development are wonderful. A highly enjoyable book that I would recommend to anyone!

This is a really good mystery. Kind of a feminized Sherlock Holmes type thing going on. The whole series is good.

This book does not work as a novel, because it is fan fiction, more concerned with dwelling upon the titillating minutiae of the interactions between the author’s self-insert OC and Sherlock Holmes (they have to change their clothes in front of each other! They dress up nicely and go on a date! They share a room!) than with constructing a cohesive narrative.

Generally speaking, this would be fine. I have no issue with fanfiction. Unfortunately, this is not good fanfiction.

My main issue with the story, all things considered, is the incredibile level of immaturity that permeates it. “What would happen if a famously aloof adult man I have a crush on was so impressed by me that he became immediately obsessed with me and wanted to marry me” is a teenage girl fantasy that does not make for a very compelling plot outside of bedtime fantasizing, and most grown people have enough sense to recognize that a man in his fifties falling for a teenager means, at best, that the man in question is enormously emotionally stunted, and at worse (and much more probably) that he is a predator intent on grooming her.

The fact that then 40-ish year old King felt no need to explore the implications of this scenario she’d clearly dreamt up a few decades before is honestly baffling.

At the very minimum, since the plot does not start in earnest until Mary is a college student, it would have been extremely easy to set up the initial meeting between the characters during one of her breaks, thus giving her the chance to develop a little more of her adult personality before falling into the orbit of Holmes; I get the feeling, though, that the extreme youth of Mary is a big part of the fantasy for the author, who often has the character remark on much of a paternal role her eventual husband plays in her life (so much so that I suggest King explores this in therapy, if she hasn’t already).

I don’t have much to say about the Holmes character, except that he has pretty much nothing in common with the original Sherlock Holmes from the Doyle stories (which are extremely inaccurate, Mary points out: everything from canon that King wouldn’t enjoy in a fictional boyfriend is revealed as an invention of Watson, down to Holmes waving his fingers in time with the music — apparently a sign of gross musical ignorance that is attributed instead to Watson himself).

The character of Mary is realistic enough, in that most teenagers are annoying and self-centered. She thinks herself extremely clever, even when doing patently stupid things like speding a day shopping after being instructed to hide in a safe location, but luckily for her the same goes for this version of Holmes, who also abandons the safety of his hiding spot in favour of an evening at the theater and likes to set up completely unecessary scenarios that force Mary to climb buildings in the rain or make a spectacle (and an easy target) of herself by awkwardly refusing three porter-called cabs in a row.

Both characters enjoy nothing more than patting themselves on the back about their supposed superiority to Watson, who Mary openly despises and clearly feels painfully jealous of, again in a way that would have warranted some reflection from an adult point of view about the pitfalls of dating someone who has already lived a full lifetime before your birth.

Lastly, I found it hilarious that Mary — haunted by her family’s death in a car crash and tormented by a nightmare about said accident — casually buys herself a car and is described as a very bad and reckless driver, prone to speeding, and at no point is this fact remarked upon in any way, except as a fodder for some light comedy.

All in all, a really bad book. Save your time.

Great start to the series. Always loved the Holmes world starting from the TV shows. Already got the next one in the series. I also accidentally started this series with I believe the 14th book (murder of Mary Russell) but that didn’t spoil much of anything.

Interesting and quite fitting the Holmes canon. I liked the interplay between Mary and Holmes, but I wasn't blown away by the book. I'll give the series another try though

LOVED IT! The pages flew and I finished it in under 24 hours. Recommend to EVERYONE!

Ahh! I love a good Sherlock Holmes mystery! And Mary Russell? How could you not love her? She’s brilliant and witty - a perfect partner for the great detective. I can’t wait to read more!

Very likable, an easy and pleasant read. I've always enjoyed Holmes, and the Mary Russell books are a believable interpretation of an older but still frenetic Holmes passing on his legacy to a new generation.

OK--this did me months to finish, but despite my waning initial interest, I did enjoy the book. It is very much in keeping with the style of Doyle, and it was nice to see Holmes back in action.