THE MURDER OF MARY RUSSELL is book 14 in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series by the redoubtable Laurie R. King. I absolutely adore this series! Sherlock Holmes has been one of my most cherished literary characters since grade school, and I love it when a contemporary author does their own fabulous interpretation of the Sherlockian cannon. In King's series, Sherlock meets Mary, an orphaned bluestocking from America, after he has retired from his consulting practice to Sussex to raise bees. With his massive intellect and ability to notice minute details just as he can, Sherlock recognizes a kindred spirit in the young Mary. He trains her to become his partner in sleuthing, and they eventually fall in love. Such a seemingly unlikely pairing, at the start of the series, has settled into a comfortable mix of domesticity and odd intrigue, as Mary and Holmes continue to pursue unusual cases that take them around the globe.

I'm not going to say much at all about the plot here, because this is a book that the reader should go into blindly. The slow unveiling of clues is utterly consuming and suspenseful, alternating current events with flashbacks of Clara Hudson's (Holmes' housekeeper's) past. At one point I had to shut the book and walk away because I was so tense, but 10 minutes later I couldn't stand it any more and cracked it open to continue devouring the story.

THE MURDER OF MARY RUSSELL feels very different from the previous books in the series. Most of the book is about Mrs. Hudson and her previous life. I have to admit as I read about her now in King's books, I picture Una Stubbs, the Mrs. Hudson from BBC's hit show Sherlock, and hear her voice speaking Mrs. Hudson's dialogue in the books! And wow, what a backstory Mrs. Hudson has been hiding behind her respectable housekeeper's appearance. We learn about what Clara Hudson's life entailed before she took on Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson as tenants in their 221 B Baker Street flat.

Sherlock Holmes does not really show up in the story until about halfway through the book, which feels odd for a Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell book, but fits the event of this book perfectly. The glimpses of early Holmes are endearing, and I love the skillful entwining of an early Conan Doyle story, "The Adventure of the Gloria Scott," into the current tale. I think The Murder of Mary Russell is one of King's finest in the whole amazing series. King is a fantastically gifted historical mystery author who keeps this series fresh and inventive.