I have posted several times on Sherlock Holmes and the various pastiche stories and series using him. An interesting one is the Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell series by Laurie King. Because they feature Holmes after he has retired. And Mary Russell is his wife!
At present, the series consists of the following, though I am a little behind in my reading. The gap after Locked Rooms and the fact the series returned as more expensive trade paperbacks caused this:
- The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (1994)
- A Monstrous Regiment of Women (1995)
- A Letter of Mary (1997)
- The Moor (1998)
- O Jerusalem (1999) [set during the later part of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice]
- Justice Hall (2002)
- The Game (2004)
- Locked Rooms (2005)
- The Language of Bees (2009)
- The God of the Hive (2010)
- Pirate King (2011)
- Garment of Shadows (2012) [includes short story “Beekeeping for Beginners,” which tells the early events of Apprentice from Holmes’ viewpoint]
- Dreaming Spies (2015) [set between The Game and Locked Rooms]
Similar to the original Holmes stories, with them being “written” by Watson and just edited by Conan Doyle, these works are based on memoirs written by an elderly Russell and edited by Laurie King. They are set from 1915 to the late 1920s, and start with Mary Russell at the age of 15 (she was born in 1900). Orphaned at a young age, she meets the now-retired Sherlock Holmes in Sussex and he becomes a mentor to her. They will marry in 1921.
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice introduces us to Mary, a Jewish-American living with her aunt in England after an automobile accident kills the rest of her family. We see her learning the art of detection from Holmes, and solving a few cases. But when it seems an enemy is after Holmes, they flee to Palestine to handle a mission for Mycroft (this mission will be detailed in the later O, Jerusalem). They later learn their enemy is someone from Holmes’ past out for revenge.
A Monstrous Regiment of Women has Mary, now nearing graduating from Oxford in theology, getting involved with early Christian feminism. And murder. In pursing the case with Holmes, they become closer and at the end of the novel they marry.
A Letter of Mary is set two years later. It involved a possible letter from Mary Magdalene, which leads to murder.
The Moor has the pair in Dartmoor in a somewhat sequel to the classic Hound of the Baskervilles.
As I noted, O, Jerusalem has the pair in Palestine for six weeks working with two of Mycroft’s agents.
Justice Hall, which follows The Moor chronologically, actually has a re-appearance of the two agents from O, Jerusalem. Here Mary and Holmes must look for the heirs of a duke that has passed away.
Again, Mary and Holmes embark on a mission for Mycroft, this time to India to find one of his missing agents. A man who as a boy was known as Kim! This is recorded in The Game.
Instead of returning to England, they sail to Japan and then San Francisco, which was where Mary is from. In The Locked Room, they deal with some matters regarding the death of Mary’s family.
The recent Dreaming Spies is set on the ship they take to Japan, and in Japan.
The Language of Bees and The God of the Hive are set after they return to Sussex and must confront a mystery and conspiracy that deals with another character with a connection with Holmes.
In The Pirate King, Mary is convinced by Mycroft to get involved with the film production of Pirates of Penzance.
Overall I found the series interesting. Mary Russell is a unique character. Clearly a more modern woman, both a scholar and a detective. A bit of a contrast with Holmes. As I noted, I haven’t read the more recent volumes and hope they are as good as the earlier ones. (I sometimes find this isn’t always the cases when there is a gap of several years in a series.)
These are a unique kind of Holmes pastiche, though the author feels she is writing Mary Russell stories rather than Sherlock Holmes stories. Having Holmes marry is unusual. I think most fans would figure he would have remanded a bachelor. Many would think he had feelings only for “The Woman.”
King has written some other works, including a couple of other series. I had read the fifth (and so far last) work in the Kate Martinelli series, The Art of Detection, because of its Sherlock Holmes ties. I have not read any of her other works, so can’t speak to them.
