Locked Rooms

Locked Rooms By Laurie R. King -- a lot of authors have tried over the years to continue the most famous detective series of them all -- Sherlock Holmes. I've tried a number of them and have to say that King's "Mary Russell" series is probably the best of them. King's twist is that, late in life, Holmes forms first a partnership and then a marriage with Mary Russell, a woman much younger than him but, in many ways, his intellectual equal. King writes in a style very much like Arthur Conan Doyle and constructs storylines that are nearly as clever as the originals. (Interestly, Conan Doyle rates a couple of mentions in this latest book -- Sherlock doesn't much like him!)

Locked Rooms is the 8th book in this series. Each book stands reasonably well on its on, but significant portions of each book's plotline does depend on prior books. While you can pick this one up, its better to start the series at the beginning.

In the prior 8 books, we've been given only a few glimpses of Mary Russell's past. We know that she's an orphan -- her parents and brother were killed in a car accident years before we first meet her. Mary was a passenger in the car, but was thrown clear and was the only survivor. This book concentrates on filling in this story and the history of her family becomes the crux of the mystery in this latest book. Mary and Sherlock have undertaken a trip to San Francisco to take care of family business issues. Mary learns that in a late codicil to his will, her father has stipulated that no one can enter the family home unless accompanied by a family member and, of course, Russell, close to 20 years later is the only one left. As Holmes would say, with that "the game's afoot"!

Its unlikely that these books will appeal to Holmes purist. The thought of Holmes married would mortify them. But if you want a good fun read, this is a great series.