The Twentieth-Anniversary Edition of the First Novel of the Acclaimed Mary Russell Series by Edgar Award–Winning Author Laurie R. King. An Agatha Award Best Novel Nominee • Named One of the Century’s Best 100 Mysteries by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association In 1915, Sherlock Holmes is retired and quietly engaged in the study of honeybees in Sussex when a young woman literally stumbles … in Sussex when a young woman literally stumbles onto him on the Sussex Downs. Fifteen years old, gawky, egotistical, and recently orphaned, the young Mary Russell displays an intellect to impress even Sherlock Holmes. Under his reluctant tutelage, this very modern, twentieth-century woman proves a deft protégée and a fitting partner for the Victorian detective. They are soon called to Wales to help Scotland Yard find the kidnapped daughter of an American senator, a case of international significance with clues that dip deep into Holmes’s past. Full of brilliant deduction, disguises, and danger, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, the first book of the Mary Russell–Sherlock Holmes mysteries, is “remarkably beguiling” (The Boston Globe).
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The fabulous start to a fabulous series…I can’t recommend this book enough!
Reading about the budding relationship between Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes is sure to please Holmes fans. This novel is very, very good!
I can’t remember how long ago I first read this, but I come back and re-read it about once a year. Truly a wonderful book
Good but pacing is very like the original Conan Doyle books
Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell novels, starting with this one, are a new genre in themselves, and beyond wonderful.
She is a terrific writ
Love anything she writes, Especially this series.
Amusing feminist reworking of the Sherlock Holmes canon.
If you like Sherlock Holmes, you will like this book. Sherlock Holmes has an eighteen year old female appprentice; Mary Russell who he trains on a few cases. Mary Russell is very good helping Sherlock solve crimes.
Start this series at your peril because you cannot read just one. The books are satisfyingly dense with interesting characters–especially Sherlock Holmes as we know him, but also as we don’t–and intriguing, twisty plots. The introduction of Mary Russell, a unique and interesting young heroine, makes this series unlike any about the famous detective, especially since the stories are primarily in her point of view.
The setting is often bleak, especially in the beginning with a background of (and aftermath) of WWI. But throughout the series, Laurie King takes the main characters through various parts of the UK, the continent, India and Japan, and the US.
The relationship between Mary and Sherlock continues to change and grow as she moves beyond apprenticeship and into partnership.
A delightful and compelling read.
Who wouldn’t like a book in which the young woman protaganist is a bit smarter than Sherlock Holmes and completely aware of that fact? They solve crimes together, but she isn’t his make-nice Watson. Fun and easy writing.
If you enjoy reading Sherlock Holmes and keep an open mind with the possibility of him getting married than this is the book for you. Captivating and entertaining
One of my favorite books/writer. A must read.
This book is one in a series written by Laurie R. King. She has created a wife for Sherlock Holmes and set the couple off solving crimes together. The wife is a wonderful character, full of intelligence and spunk. She is a great foil for Holmes. I recommend the series to anyone looking for original, well-written stories.
Read this one years ago. Very well written.
Have been a fan of Sherlock Holmes since a boy and have read all the original stories by Conan Doyle many times and many of the derivatives by other authors.
Laurie King has made a fresh and wonderful new world with the retired consulting detective and the teenage girl recently moved to his neighborhood. This involving and clever take on the Holmes mythos has extended through many sequels in this new universe and shows, thankfully, no sign of stopping.
Thank you Laurie King!
I love Sherlock Holmes and this take on Holmes is smart and entertaining.
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice is one of my all time favorite books. The author did a marvelous job…
The first of many well-written fiction novels by this author.
Imaginative plot with great characters. I never miss a new Laurie King release.