My sister has been reading, loving, and recommending the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes novels by Laurie R. King for years, but, somehow, I never managed to get around to them. My focus on literary novels and literary criticism precluded a great deal of genre delving. Until now, of course, when reading voraciously, across genres and time periods, has become half research, half addiction.

I read the first novel of the aforementioned series in a haze of admiration over the weekend, and now I'm hooked. The Beekeeper's Apprentice was not only good storytelling, it seemed to me (albeit an amateur in the world of Holmes admiration) to only improve on the tone and character of the original Holmes/Watson detective stories.

If you are not acquainted with the series (the first novel came out in 1994), they centre on the relationship and adventures of one Mary Russell (young polymath with a penchant for dressing and thinking outside her constructed gender norms) and the legendary Sherlock Holmes, now retired (ostensibly), older, but retaining a mind like a steel trap. How they meet, how they manage to work together despite age/cultural/gender differences is part of the fascination of this story. But there are mysteries to solve and adventures to experience as well. While a war is waged in Europe, the young Oxford student and the retired sleuth engage in a richly described list of dangerous activities. A kidnapping, a strange series of bombings and attempted bombings, all involving an elusive villain. What fun! King manages to bring the early years of the 20th century alive in ways I did not expect. I revelled in the sound of bees, the smell of hay, or the crowded London streets.

And perhaps I should point out that I particularly appreciated the uncompromising intelligence of the female protagonist. Of course Holmes would accept nothing less than genius from a partner, male or female, but that his partner should be a young female is particularly interesting.