Susan Hated Literature

She'd much prefer to read a good book

Laurie R. King


14 September 2010
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The god of the hive by

I really wish that I had gone back and reread the previous book in this series before starting this. The language of bees is the ninth in the series, but it was the first that I read, I then went back and reread from the start, skipping this because it was checked out of the library and I haven’t gotten around to buying them all yet. But I should have waited, because this starts off right where language left off, so it took me a while to catch up on exactly what was going on. Continue reading →

28 March 2010
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The game by

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes have returned home to Sussex in order to enjoy the new year, but soon enough they travel to London to visit Holmes’ brother, Mycroft, whose health is not the best. While there he suggests that perhaps they might look into a case for him. A possibly-missing person. In India.

Of course they head off, and the person they are looking for, none other than Kimball O’Hara, known to many from Rudyard Kipling’s Kim.

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23 March 2010
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Justice Hall by

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.

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15 March 2010
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O Jerusalem by

I’m continuing to work my way through the Mary Russell novels; I slowed down a bit for two reasons. One, I don’t want to overload on the ‘verse. Two, the library ran out of the series. Well, it skipped the next so I took my time with O Jerusalem while I boughtJustice Hall for my own shelves. I will at some point go order all this series, I really do think that they are books you can very easily reread and enjoy time and again. Continue reading →

22 February 2010
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The moor by

Author: Mary Russell
If you’ve read my reviews of the other books in this series you’ll already know that I really love them. If you haven’t here’s a quick recap; Sherlock Holmes, a real historical figure retired to Sussex in order to tend to his bees. While there he met Mary Russell; a somewhat moody, if quite brilliant, teenager and took her under his wing. She became his apprentice and later his wife. Errr, spoiler alert! In this, the fourth in the series, Sherlock sends Russell a telegram summoning her to Dartmoor and the moor that was the setting for The Hound of the Baskervilles. There are reports of another ghostly beast roaming the countryside and an old friend of Holmes would like him to investigate. Especially when a man is found dead on the moor.
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15 February 2010
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A letter of Mary by

The more I read of this series the more I come to love the characters, and indeed the whole set-up. Mary Russell is such a believable character, and King’s Holmes is just perfect.

The mystery at the heart of this novel concerns the death of Dorothy Ruskin. An archaeologist working in Jerusalem, she met up with Russell and Holmes when they travelled the area back in book one. In this book she comes to visit them, bringing with her an exquisite wooden box which contains a parchment on which is written a letter, from Mary of Magdala to her sister. Was it really written by the infamous Mary Magdalen? And was the car accident that killed her really an accident?

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2 February 2010
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A monstrous regiment of women by

Author: Laurie R. King
A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mystery #2

I’ve enjoyed the other books in this series that I’ve read, but this one I loved. Totally loved it.

It is 1921 and our hero, Mary Russell, has finished her undergraduate course at Oxford. She is also about to come into her inheritance. Her life on the brink of being totally her own. No longer a ward of her aunt’s; she will be able to live as she chooses. But how will she choose, and what does she want to do with her life? Will she pursue an academic career with her interest in theology? Or does her future lie with Holmes and the life of a detective?

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18 January 2010
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The beekeeper’s apprentice by

Author: Laurie R. King
A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mystery #1
I read the most recent of this series recently, and really enjoyed it, so of course I had to pick up the first in the series and get introduced to the characters properly. I just couldn’t shake the impression that I was missing out on so much when I read The language of bees. And, of course, one should always begin at the beginning. It is a very good place to start, or so I’ve heard.

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13 December 2009
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The language of bees by

Author: Laurie R. King
A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mystery #9
It was only after I’d taken this book home that I realised it was one in a series, but I figured that it was more of a ‘verse type of series, so I read it anyway. According to wikipedia it is book 9 although only 2 others seem to have been published in Britain & Ireland. Or maybe it’s just that they switched publishers, I didn’t really look to closely into it to be honest. I’ll check at work tomorrow and see if we have any others but I won’t be hugely disappointed if we don’t.

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