Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, travel to San Francisco to unravel a mystery involving Mary and her late parents. Mary's detective ability is impaired when amnesia blocks her memories. Dreams of locked rooms and a faceless man haunt her as she tries to recover her memory of the San Francisco earthquake, which altered her life forever. Holmes prods and needles Mary, trying to discover what is tormenting his wife.
The past nearly overwhelms Mary as memories begin to return. Slices of her life with her parents emerge, as well as the guilt she carries that she alone survived the accident that killed her family. Visiting with old friends uncovers past unsolved murders that hint of ties to her family. When an attempt is made on Mary's life, she and Holmes delve into the complex puzzle of her parent's lives. As the veil of darkness lifts on her life, Mary encounters truths and the need for vengeance.
Ms. King interjects the fascinating San Francisco history and complex life of the Chinese within the city into this story. Coupling the history with the stress between Mary and Holmes as Mary struggles to come to terms with the past makes LOCKED ROOMS an emotional read. The character of Mr. Hammett, a private investigator and mystery writer, gives the tale additional flair.
After departing Bombay by ship, Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock Holmes are en route to the bustling modern city of San Francisco. There, Mary will settle some legal affairs surrounding the inheritance of her family’s old estate. But the closer they get to port, the more Mary finds herself prey to troubling dreams and irrational behavior–a point not lost on Holmes, much to Russell’s annoyance. In 1906, when Mary was six, San Francisco was devastated by an earthquake and a raging fire that reduced the city to rubble. For years, Mary has denied any memory of the catastrophe that for days turned the fabled streets into hell on earth. But Holmes suspects that some hidden trauma connected with the “unforgettable” catastrophe may be the real culprit responsible for Mary’s memory lapse. And no sooner do they begin to familiarize themselves with the particulars of the Russell estate than it becomes apparent that whatever unpleasantness Mary has forgotten, it hasn’t forgotten her. Why does her father’s will forbid access to the house except in the presence of immediate family? Why did someone break in, then take nothing of any value? And why is Russell herself targeted for assassination? The more questions they ask of Mary’s past, the more people from that past turn out to have died violent, unexplained deaths. Now, with the aid of a hard-boiled young detective and crime writer named Hammett, Russell and Holmes find themselves embroiled in a mystery that leads them through the winding streets of Chinatown to the unspoken secrets of a parent’s marriage and the tragic car “accident” that a fourteen-year-old Mary alone survived–an accident that may not have been an accident at all. What Russell is about to discover is that even a forgotten past never dies…and it can kill again.
No excerpt available.
© 2003-2026