Mary Russell stumbles upon the great Sherlock Holmes while rambling in the countryside. He’s retired – supposedly – to take up beekeeping, but her young mind is agile and ready to be challenged. After she proves herself, he takes her on as an apprentice, and the two begin to solve crimes together.
The central premise of this book is the idea that Sherlock Holmes was a real person, and the books and stories featuring him were elaborate fictionalizations of his real-life crime-solving. In his older years, Holmes still solves crimes, but does his best to stay out of the public eye. Still, Mary knows who he is, and as the central narrator, is determined to keep him within her sites. Soon we discover that her intellect is quite up to his as her own skills develop over the course of the novel.
Roughly the first half of this book is set out in episodes. Mary and Holmes set out to solve a couple of crimes together as he begins to train her. After she’s accepted as a fully fledged apprentice, the book gains more speed as the crimes get somewhat more desperate. Naturally, our two central characters also begin to develop a relationship with one another, both a respect for each other’s minds and a whole-hearted affection for each other’s character.
I was surprised by how much I genuinely enjoyed this book. Mysteries in the style of Sherlock Holmes frustrate me more often than not; because so much of the conclusions are derived from information that is never presented to the reader, it can be easy to get annoyed that it’s impossible to guess the conclusion. With this, though, I seem to have developed the ability to ignore that and simply follow the two characters along their journey. I suspect this is because the mysteries, while important to the plot, are not all that holds the book together. The narrative is very well done and the relationships between the characters develop naturally and realistically. About halfway through, I realized I just didn’t want to put the book down; I wanted to continue and find out what happened next.
I’m a bit late to this series, and now there are a number of installments that I’ll need to catch up on. I’ve known of it for quite some time, but never really had the impulse to begin until I was offered the latest book for review. So I’ll be skipping ahead to the last book, but believe me when I say I’ll also catch up on the ones I’ve missed. The Beekeeper’s Apprentice is a great start to a series I’m very happy to have finally discovered.
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I want to read this but I have read only one Sherlock Holmes book and I don’t really know if this will interest me. I will give it a try though. May an audiobook would be better?
I have had this one in audio for a couple of years now. Why oh why haven’t I started it?? I love that you simply got lost in the book and the characters rather than were focused solely on the mystery.
Beth F´s last post …Wordless Wednesday 144
I have heard so many great things about this series, and it sounds so promising! I do have the first book, and have heard from other readers that the series doesn’t go downhill a few books in, which is wonderful to me. I am so glad that this book was such a good read for you! One of these days I am going to have to get this book off my shelf and give it a whirl. It sounds like I won’t be disappointed!
zibilee´s last post …Wildflower Hill by Kimberly Freeman — 544 pgs
I must ditto Heather’s remarks. I really want to read this series, and I have the feeling I will feel the same pleasant surprise you did!
rhapsodyinbooks´s last post …Review of “The Language of Flowers” by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
I read the first book in this series last year and then stalled… One of these days I am going to read on!
Kailana´s last post …Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman
I cannot say enough good things about this author in general or this series in particular.
There is skill & subtlety in writing which makes the reading a joy until you finish the book & are left hungering for more.
Long may they both continue to,to quote Spock, Live Long & prosper
I have intended to read this series for years. I loved King’s other series, set in modern day San Francisco. I hope you enjoy the rest of this series too! I plan to start this one as soon as I finish the last two Maisie Dobbs books. Also, that cover is the most gorgeous one I’ve seen of it. It’s simply breathtaking.
nomadreader (Carrie)´s last post …Waiting on Wednesday: Wild Thing by Josh Bazell
I am glad to see your review of this one because I wanted to read it but then I kind of just forgot about it!
Stephanie´s last post …Book Review: The Autobiography of Mrs Tom Thumb
Oh what a fun concept. I love Holmes so this might be totally my thing. Very neat!
Pam´s last post …Adapt or Adios
I got this book when I was in New York for BEA and you’ve made me want to read it right now!
bermudaonion (Kathy)´s last post …Wondrous Words Wednesday
Skipping ahead to the last book? O.o That’s a terrible idea. Seriously, I think you really should read the series in order.
I enjoyed this book, but it was a little too episodic for me. I haven’t read the whole series yet, but the book just keep getting better and better with every installment!
This sounds like a series I might like. I am intrigued by Sherlock Holmes and haven’t heard of this one before. Sometimes these trends just pass me bye. Whoops!
Amused´s last post …Books Made Into Movies: The Help
I too seem to miss all the trends, and can honestly say I’ve not heard of this series. However I’m a big fan of crime mysteries and Sherlock Holmes, so will definitely be adding this to my tbr list.
Jessicabookworm´s last post …The Demon Assassin – Alan Gibbons
I am a HUGE fan of the Russell-Holmes books. Every one of them. Beekeeper’s Apprentice is a perfect introduction, but I can’t recommend reading out of order. I did want to pop in to say that thanks to Laurie’s guest blog, I found yours and am noting many of your reviews because we seem to have similar taste in literature. I look forward to reading many of your top picks and have bookmarked you for future reference!
Punkinsmom´s last post …Friday Book Blogging
The book is so worthy to read. I’m a fan Sherlock Holmes so far, and after reading The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, I love him more, Russel as well.