Justice Hall by Laurie R. King

ISBN: 9780007111381
LibraryThing ; Author’s site
A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novel ; #6

Justice Hall by Laurie R. King

Home, my soul sighed. I stood on the worn flagstones and breathed in the many and varied fragrances of the old flint-walled cottage.

I do love these books.

This the sixth in the series returns our heroes to their present after the flashback that was O Jerusalem. That sentence doesn’t really make much sense, but figure it out, think of it as a challenge :) Holmes & Russell have just returned from The Moor and are settling back in at home when their comes a disturbance at their door. Ali Hazr has shown up, with a head wound and wanting their assistance. He needs their help with Mahmoud, his “brother”. Of course Holmes had already pointed out that neither of the two arabs they were travelling with were actually from that region, but it is, nevertheless, a surprise to learn where they come from and just what an aristocratic name both bear.

I think what I enjoy most about this series, apart from the wonderful Russell & Holmes, and their interactions, is the way King brings in so many different aspects of society back in the 1920s. In this novel we have the decline of the “big house”, the duties of nobility, the growth of Hitler in Germany, the development of the merchant nobility, and, then there is the issue of those soldiers during World War I who, suffering greatly from “shell-shock” and PTSD, were found guilty of desertion and cowardice and shot at dawn as an example to the others.

And, importantly, she never comes across as forcing the issues in. They arise because they are the issues facing society at the time. And so of course our characters should discuss them, should think about them.

Great book. If you haven’t started this series, well, I just don’t know what to say to you!

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