The Beekeeper's Apprentice (Mary Russell Mystery 01)
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'Wonderfully original and entertaining - absorbing from beginning to end' Booklist
Product Description
1915. The great detective Sherlock Holmes is retired and quietly engaged in the study of honey bees when a young woman literally stumbles into 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 - and match him wit for wit. Under his reluctant tutelage, this very modern twentieth-century woman proves a deft protegee and a fitting partner for the Victorian detective. In their first case together, they must track down a kidnapped American senator's daughter and confront a truly cunning adversary - a bomber who has set trip-wires for the sleuths and who will stop at nothing to end their partnership.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Being an avid follower of Conan Doyle's stories, I was I confess quite excited on seeing this book - I still remember the gloomy feeling brought on when I finished all of Sherlock Holmes and realised that I would not be able to read any for the first time again - the possibility that a modern author could write 'new' Sherlock Holmes stories is always a captivating one.
The reality here of course is that this is not a Sherlock Holmes story, but rather one about a young lady who happens upon him. Aside from her inexplicably vehement distaste for Watson and her at times rather tiring overemotive nature, she's quite an engaging character, ready to have a knock about and get her hands dirty. The adventures in Wales that they have, culminating in a very exciting conclusion which I won't spoil here, are very readable. There is some mystery solving and decoding, but it's pretty tame compared to Conan Doyle's stuff and doesn't bear well in comparison.
This is really the problem here - the book is set up to be a different take on Holmes, from the point of view of a fresh protagonist, but the quality of the story just isn't there when compared to the original. It would have been much better to create Mary Russell as a new and independent character without the Holmes link and just write stories about her,rather than shoe horn her into a pre-existing character's world. This particularly seems odd when Mary Russell spends paragraphs emoting about Jerusalem and the Holy Land - it's all very interesting but it just seems to be a bit of an irrelevant tangent on the author's part and nothing to do with developing the story or characters in any meaningful way.
The links to Sherlock Homes, and in particular to the notion that he would have married some decades beneath his age, are pretty weak and unconvincing alas, which did make me wonder if using Holmes was a device to access a large and pre-existing fan base. Sorry if that's a bit overcynical, but the style of writing and the characterisation jars to that extent with Conan Doyle's graceful and fluid prose that the whole idea is rather undermined.
The reality here of course is that this is not a Sherlock Holmes story, but rather one about a young lady who happens upon him. Aside from her inexplicably vehement distaste for Watson and her at times rather tiring overemotive nature, she's quite an engaging character, ready to have a knock about and get her hands dirty. The adventures in Wales that they have, culminating in a very exciting conclusion which I won't spoil here, are very readable. There is some mystery solving and decoding, but it's pretty tame compared to Conan Doyle's stuff and doesn't bear well in comparison.
This is really the problem here - the book is set up to be a different take on Holmes, from the point of view of a fresh protagonist, but the quality of the story just isn't there when compared to the original. It would have been much better to create Mary Russell as a new and independent character without the Holmes link and just write stories about her,rather than shoe horn her into a pre-existing character's world. This particularly seems odd when Mary Russell spends paragraphs emoting about Jerusalem and the Holy Land - it's all very interesting but it just seems to be a bit of an irrelevant tangent on the author's part and nothing to do with developing the story or characters in any meaningful way.
The links to Sherlock Homes, and in particular to the notion that he would have married some decades beneath his age, are pretty weak and unconvincing alas, which did make me wonder if using Holmes was a device to access a large and pre-existing fan base. Sorry if that's a bit overcynical, but the style of writing and the characterisation jars to that extent with Conan Doyle's graceful and fluid prose that the whole idea is rather undermined.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Meet Mary Russell--young, witty, and with an intellect to rival that of the famous, yet aging, Sherlock Holmes. From the first time they meet, they are intrically linked together. Under Holmes's tutelage, Russell embarks on a case involving a landowner's mysterious fever and the kidnapping of an American senator's daughter. Unlike Watson, Russell is on equal footing with Holmes and she even makes deductions that he fails to see. One case leads into another and Holmes’ life soon becomes endangered by an enigmatic and clever opponent. Holmes hasn’t met such a match since Moriarty, but this time around the aging detective has Russell by his side. This is, by far, the most authentic portrayal of Holmes since Arthur Conan Doyle. The repartee between Holmes and Russell is deliciously witty and perfectly written. This was the most pleasurable reading experience in a very long time.
31 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
After the death of her family, Mary Russell, a fifteen year-old, moves to a farm with her "evil" aunt. In one of her walks around the area she meets the famous Sherlock Holmes, who is retired and dedicates his hours to the study of bees. Right from the start the two main characters in the book match their wits and Holmes is surprised by the potential he sees in this young woman. He then decides to tutor her and introduce her to the art of investigative work. In the next few years, they go through a few cases and Mary goes away to Oxford to continue her studies; but at one point they are faced with a more dangerous opponent, who wants to kill not only Holmes, but also Mary; even Dr. Watson and Mycroft are in danger. If you want to know the rest, you better read the book!
In my opinion the author does a very good job in maintaining the particular characteristics that define the characters in Arthur Conan Doyle's books, especially in the case of Sherlock Holmes. It is amazing how you feel that the deductive work is done by exactly the same detective you knew from the past, and with the added benefit of a fresh mind assisting him!
I was very pleased to see the ingenious way in which Laurie King connected this new series with the Conan Doyle's work. She concocted a story about her receiving the manuscripts of the different stories in the series some time ago, and that she is merely the editor. The manuscripts were of course written by the enchanting Mary Russell.
Finally, let me tell you that, since I am an avid chess player, I thoroughly enjoyed the way in which Holmes uses a chess game with Mary to explain the strategy he was planning to utilize in one of their cases.
I will definitely continue reading the books in this series, and if you haven't started yet, I recommend you do it now!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Cumbrian Lad
I came to this through a recommendation, and as a "traditional" SH fan, I was initially a bit sceptical in what it would do with the character we have come to know and love in his... Read more
Published 24 days ago by Cumbrian Lad
Fantastic twist on a well known character.
I've never personally been that intrested in Sherlock Holmes, but i picked this up as i was desperate for a new novel to read. I was very surpinglsy pleased straight away. Read more
Published 27 days ago by gwenalop
The Beekeeper's Apprentice
Mary Russell is studying for her Oxford entrance exam when she meets a retired gentleman beekeeper on the Sussex Downs. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Clare O'Beara
THE RESURRECTION OF SHERLOCK HOLMES...
I very much enjoyed this book. It successfully resurrects Sherlock Holmes, as the author is able to keep his voice true throughout the book. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Lawyeraau
Mostly enjoyable, yet ultimately disappointing
There are good and bad things about this book. I found all the found-footage bit of the foreword unnecessary and a bit tiresome. Read more
Published 3 months ago by E. L. Woodcock
Wonderful continuation!
The Beekeeper's Apprentice is the first book in Laurie King's Mary Russell series which reimagines Sherlock Holmes in his retirement years. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jack CH
Not Sherlock Holmes
As a fan of the original Sherlock Holmes stories and the Solar Pons pastiches by August Derleth, I was intrigued by this book, after seeing it described in a book catalogue as the... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Andrew Norris
Ripping good yarns
My husband introduced me to Mary Russell at Christmastime. To be honest, when I read the precis on the back I thought that these books were going to be completely naff. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Zoe R-S
what a surprise
This is my first read of a book by this author. I must say that I throughly enjoyed it. It put a completely different picture in my mind of Sherlock Holmes, and the shock of him... Read more
Published 18 months ago by skinny
Sherlock lives again.
Fast paced, a great read. I never thought to read Sherlock beyond the originals but a comment on a thread somewhere about the BBC's recent reworking led me to try this. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Paul C
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