The God of the Hive (Mary Russell Mystery 10)
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'The Mary Russell series is the most sustained feat of imagination in mystery fiction today, and this is the best instalment yet' Lee Child
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It began as a problem in one of Holmes' beloved beehives, led to a murderous cult, and ended - or so they'd hoped - with a daring escape from a sacrificial altar. Instead, Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, have stirred the wrath of those they've thwarted. Now they are separated and on the run, and pursued across the Continent by a ruthless enemy with powerful connections. Unstoppable together, Russell and Holmes will have to survive this time apart, and with Holmes' young granddaughter in her safekeeping, Russell will have to call on instincts she didn't know she had. From secret rooms in London to rickety planes over Scotland, Russell and Holmes work their way back to each other in the most complex, shocking, and deeply personal case of their career.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The God of the Hive follows on directly from events in The Language of Bees and is the 10th book to feature Mary Russell. Mary and Sherlock are separated again and on the run. At first assessment you think of Reichenbach, and there are certainly deliberate similarities but the suspense gets left behind too often. Laurie R. King chooses instead to tell a more character driven story, examining Russell's new relationship with the recently discovered granddaughter of Sherlock Holmes. It's easy to forget that the whole business began as a search for the girl's missing mother. King has covered similar ground to this in her Kate Martinelli detective series.
The die hard Sherlockian in me can't read the start of a chapter beginning with the words 'Chief Inspector Lestrade' without at least a slight twitch of my arm muscles (perhaps to punch the air) even if this Lestrade is a younger chip off the original block. A lengthy interlude in the wild woods of northern England takes up a large section of the book, including the introduction of a new character called Goodman. A man with a tortured history of war damaged psychosis, King fancies as an embodiment of the English folklore legend of The Green Man and a similar revisit to another of King's character experiments - see the Martinelli book To Play the Fool. It's this particular Holy Fool who is partly responsible for a funeral so bizarre it might not have looked out of place on an episode of The Prisoner.
The writing is as good as ever but with the plot, thin though it is, sidelined so often the experience isn't quite as compelling as usual. When the plot does finally emerge from the London fog with so few pages remaining I was beginning to think we were going to end as the last book ended with another 'TO BE CONTINUED'. Thankfully that doesn't happen and we are treated belatedly to a proper Reichenbach style finale in the shadow of Big Ben.
The die hard Sherlockian in me can't read the start of a chapter beginning with the words 'Chief Inspector Lestrade' without at least a slight twitch of my arm muscles (perhaps to punch the air) even if this Lestrade is a younger chip off the original block. A lengthy interlude in the wild woods of northern England takes up a large section of the book, including the introduction of a new character called Goodman. A man with a tortured history of war damaged psychosis, King fancies as an embodiment of the English folklore legend of The Green Man and a similar revisit to another of King's character experiments - see the Martinelli book To Play the Fool. It's this particular Holy Fool who is partly responsible for a funeral so bizarre it might not have looked out of place on an episode of The Prisoner.
The writing is as good as ever but with the plot, thin though it is, sidelined so often the experience isn't quite as compelling as usual. When the plot does finally emerge from the London fog with so few pages remaining I was beginning to think we were going to end as the last book ended with another 'TO BE CONTINUED'. Thankfully that doesn't happen and we are treated belatedly to a proper Reichenbach style finale in the shadow of Big Ben.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book rounds off the story started in "The Language of Bees". I was glad I'd bought them both together, since I suspect I would have been very frustrated had I bought just the first, since it is very much a two-part story.
This book shows Russell and Holmes coming back together after being separated at the end of "The Language of Bees". There are, of course, airplane crashes, murder attempts, disguises, hidden messages and chases through the back streets of London first! I enjoyed spending more time with characters introduced in the first book - the pilot Javitz, Damien, and the charmingly precocious (maybe too much so?) Estrella. A new character is Robert Goodman - I found parts of his story a little thin, like he could have had his own book, but he was an enjoyable character to spend time with.
The one part of this book I didn't enjoy so much was the ending - it felt a little rushed, and since the Baddie from the first book is dispatched without much fanfare without another confrontation with our heroes, I would have liked a more well-rounded, satisfying, ending to this book. However, I can't say that it didn't tidy up most of the loose ends and laid a few tantalising clues for future plots without making me feel it was just setting up for another sequel. That is to say, this book concludes the story from "The Language of Bees", and sits well as a book in a series without feeling that the story is being left abruptly.
That being said, I do hope that the next book in the series allows us to spend some more time with Holmes and Russell together - I don't always feel that they're working in tandem in their partnership, let alone as a married couple. I want domesticity. Just a little bit, before the next mystery comes along!
A must-buy for any fans of the Mary Russell series, although I couldn't recommend this novel as a starting point for a new reader.
This book shows Russell and Holmes coming back together after being separated at the end of "The Language of Bees". There are, of course, airplane crashes, murder attempts, disguises, hidden messages and chases through the back streets of London first! I enjoyed spending more time with characters introduced in the first book - the pilot Javitz, Damien, and the charmingly precocious (maybe too much so?) Estrella. A new character is Robert Goodman - I found parts of his story a little thin, like he could have had his own book, but he was an enjoyable character to spend time with.
The one part of this book I didn't enjoy so much was the ending - it felt a little rushed, and since the Baddie from the first book is dispatched without much fanfare without another confrontation with our heroes, I would have liked a more well-rounded, satisfying, ending to this book. However, I can't say that it didn't tidy up most of the loose ends and laid a few tantalising clues for future plots without making me feel it was just setting up for another sequel. That is to say, this book concludes the story from "The Language of Bees", and sits well as a book in a series without feeling that the story is being left abruptly.
That being said, I do hope that the next book in the series allows us to spend some more time with Holmes and Russell together - I don't always feel that they're working in tandem in their partnership, let alone as a married couple. I want domesticity. Just a little bit, before the next mystery comes along!
A must-buy for any fans of the Mary Russell series, although I couldn't recommend this novel as a starting point for a new reader.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Good fast moving escapist adventure which keeps you turning the pages.
I would recommend reading "the language of bees" first otherwise you will be joining the story part way through.
I would recommend reading "the language of bees" first otherwise you will be joining the story part way through.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Distinctly Better than The Language of Bees
This book picks up exactly where 'The Language of Bees' left off - somewhere in Orkney, with a villain who might not be quite as finished as had been assumed. Read more
Published 3 months ago by wolf
Lacking in buzz
I waited for ten months for this to become available in paperback - to match nicely with my edition of "The Language of Bees", the first Mary Russell I read. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mrs. S. Thorne
God of the hive
An absolutely amazing book by an amazing author. Riveting from cover to cover! I can't wait for her next book.
Published 8 months ago by junkhed
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