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Product Description
Review
‘Crime fiction’s most unlikely but utterly credible romance… Laurie King is the most interesting writer to emerge on the American crime fiction front in recent years’
Val McDermid (of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice)
‘An inventive variation on the Sherlock Holmes myth’
Time Out
Product Description
Third in Laurie King’s popular Mary Russell crime series: ‘Beguiling variation on Sherlock Holmes sequels…civilised, ingenious and engrossing’ – Literary Review
August, 1923. The quiet in the Holmes household in Sussex is shaken when Dorothy Ruskin, an amateur archaeologist from the Holy Land, appears with an exquisite inlaid box containing a scrap of ancient writing. Miss Ruskin soon dies in a traffic accident that Holmes and Mary prove was murder. But what was the motivation? Was it the little inlaid box holding the manuscript? Or the woman’s involvement in the volatile politics of the Holy Land? Or could it have been the manuscript itself – a letter seemingly written by Mary Magdalene that contains a biblical bombshell.
Beautifully written and steeped in authentic period detail, A Letter of Mary is a fascinating and intelligent read.
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If like me you can't bring yourself to believe that the restless mind of the great detective Sherlock Holmes could ever be content with the study of beekeeping you won't be surprised by the discovery of yet more lost manuscripts detailing his post retirement adventures. The Beekeeper's Apprentice introduced the character of Mary Russell; A Letter of Mary takes place years later and Mary has now married Sherlock - shocked gasp. King's books are meticulously researched and are fascinating studies of the era even without all the Holmsian trapping that she has so effortlessly reinvented and made her own without ever coming close to pastiche. I don't think there can be many fans of Holmes who would be disappointed with her treatment of the character.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was relieved when I found this series; an intelligent and well-written continuation to the career of Sherlock Holmes that never slips into pastiche.
This is the third of the Mary Russell books, although it could be read on its own. Mary and Sherlock Homes are now married, and although it isn't the most convincing marriage in the world, it is quite a convincing partnership. Mary is approached by an old acquaintance, a feminist archaeologist, who brings her a papyrus which is supposedly a letter written by Mary Magdalene. On the night following this meeting the archaeologist becomes the victim of a hit and run accident and Mary and Sherlock investigate.
Again, this is an interesting and atmospheric book and takes an interesting approach to the Sherlock Holmes way of investigating (especially as investigating techniques have changed and improved since he first started out.) My only disappointment was that the ending was something of an anti-climax. It wouldn't stop me reading others in the series though
This is the third of the Mary Russell books, although it could be read on its own. Mary and Sherlock Homes are now married, and although it isn't the most convincing marriage in the world, it is quite a convincing partnership. Mary is approached by an old acquaintance, a feminist archaeologist, who brings her a papyrus which is supposedly a letter written by Mary Magdalene. On the night following this meeting the archaeologist becomes the victim of a hit and run accident and Mary and Sherlock investigate.
Again, this is an interesting and atmospheric book and takes an interesting approach to the Sherlock Holmes way of investigating (especially as investigating techniques have changed and improved since he first started out.) My only disappointment was that the ending was something of an anti-climax. It wouldn't stop me reading others in the series though
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I noticed it occasionally in the first 2 books, but in this one it seems that Laurie R King has given up her attempts to use realistically English dialogue. Mary can of course justifiably speak American English, but Mycroft, Lestrade and Holmes should not. It is really really starting to grate, as are the anachronisms and occasional lapses in sense. This lack of attention to detail makes for a read on a level with some not very good web fanfiction. This is a shame as despite my initial reservations I find Mary Russell and her relationship quite convincing.
There is a definite anti-climax to this book, even if this is sort of an in-joke.
There is a definite anti-climax to this book, even if this is sort of an in-joke.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Letter of Mary
Provided you don't mind pastiche and a considrable degree of implausibility, King's series of Holmes and Russell novels are entertaining, well crafted and worthwhile. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Molesare
Excellent
I love all these books, and this is no exception. Brilliant. What a pity it is so difficult to get hold of them in the UK.
Published 11 months ago by Cat person
Another Laurie R King success
A Letter of Mary is Laurie R King's third book, and they just get better and better as the Russell and Holmes partnership deepens. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Gran Jan
Letter-perfect
This is the third novel in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series of detective novels written by Laurie R. King. Read more
Published on 15 April 2010 by Jack
A Letter of Mary? Not so much.
Although enjoyable, this novel wasn't quite what I was expecting. I was hoping that the novel would delve into the discovery of a 1st century papyrus scroll in much more detail... Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2010 by hornist
Entertaining, fast paced crime novel
One of my favourite Laurie R. King books, this novel has a hugely entertaining and fast paced plot.
Mary Russell meets an old friend who has a rather controversial theory... Read more
Published on 14 May 2004 by "great-read"
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