Books : A Letter of Mary: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes (Mary Russell Novels)

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Author name: Laurie R. King

: A Letter of Mary: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes (Mary Russell Novels)
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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823
EAN num: 9780312427382
ISBN number: 0312427387
Label: Picador
Manufacturer: Picador
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 304
Printing Date: October 30, 2007
Publishing house: Picador
Release Date: October 30, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 36215
Studio: Picador



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Editor's Notes and Comments:

Amazon.com:
Sherlock Holmes and his scholarly companion Mary Russell are caught up in an exciting mystery when an archaeologist leaves them with a treasured find, a papyrus supposedly written by Mary Magdalene. When the archaeoligist winds up dead and someone attempts to make off with the artifact, Holmes and Russel become embroiled in a rollicking story filled with political intrigue and highbrow sleuthing. The level of writing hasn't been higher in this Laurie King series.

Product Description:
The third book in the Mary Russell–Sherlock Holmes series.

It is 1923. Mary Russell Holmes and her husband, the retired Sherlock Holmes, are enjoying the summer together on their Sussex estate when they are visited by an old friend, Miss Dorothy Ruskin, an archeologist just returned from Palestine. She leaves in their protection an ancient manuscript which seems to hint at the possibility that Mary Magdalene was an apostle--an artifact certain to stir up a storm of biblical proportions in the Christian establishment. When Ruskin is suddenly killed in a tragic accident, Russell and Holmes find themselves on the trail of a fiendishly clever murderer. Brimming with political intrigue, theological arcana, and brilliant Holmesian deductions.




Customer Reviews
User popularity level: out of 5 stars

Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - Terrific Series!
This whole series about Mary Russell and Shelock Holmes is fantastic! Start with The Beekeepers Apprentice and follow the series in the author's order and you will not be disappointed! She and the series are GREAT!


Rated by buyers 3 out of 5 stars - Entertaining
A Letter to Mary the third of the Russell/Holmes series is in a nutshell, entertaining. You can read it before falling asleep, on the bus, or beach and enjoy the plot which in this case is not overly complex but is not dull either. I enjoyed this book as much as I did because of the subject matter, the banter between Holmes and Russell and the interesting secondary characters. The case begins with a mysterious letter dated 70 A.D. from the "apostle Mary", Russell is just a little skeptical when she states, "This couldn't be Mary Magdelene?" Dorothy Ruskin the archeologist introduced in O Jerusalem, has given this manuscript along with an interesting box for Russell to translate and interpret. After an enjoyable day in Sussex, Holmes and Russell are horrified to learn that Dorothy has been killed by an automobile in London. The case begins and through the various twists and turns we enjoy the ride as Holmes and Russell go undercover and discover the secrets of the manuscript, the mysterious box and the murderer of their friend Dorothy Ruskin. King has created a realistic and endearing relationship between Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes and it is a pleasure to read.


Rated by buyers 4 out of 5 stars - A Model of Healthy Male-Female Relationships
Laurie King's A Letter of Mary is the third volume in a series of mystery novels that portray an older Sherlock Holmes who is still solving mysteries with his young bride Mary Russell Holmes. The time is 1923, and the couple lives in their country home in Sussex Downs. Mary is studying Theology at Oxford and busily involved in her research.

The couple is visited by Miss Dorothy Ruskin, an amateur archaeologist from Palestine, who has returned to England to seek funding for her work. During the visit she leaves with Russell an antique papyrus letter that appears to be written by Mary Magdalene, an apostle of Jesus. It was given to Ruskin by a Palestinian who claims the document has been in his family for ages. Soon after she leaves, she is hit by a car in London and dies. Holmes and Russell are drawn into what appears to be a murder, but have a devil of a time figuring out who did it.

What I like about this novel is the way that King creates the atmosphere of 1920's England. The old cars and trains, the buildings, the pace of life, and the people are all described in great detail. There is a lovely scene at a party on an old estate where Mary meets and gets help from Lord Peter Whimsey, another fictional detective, that is just filled with details about dress and manners. Another wonderful description is of a woman witness's hair style as Mary interviews her.

However, it is a difficult stretch for me to envision Holmes falling in love with any woman, never mind a young orphan whose parents were killed in an auto accident. And although I feel that King develops and portrays a good partnership between Russell and Holmes (they call each other by their last names!), with each bringing their own strengths to their work together, I find it not believable when they close the door and are intimate together.

Also, the plot is a murder mystery but the book resembles real life more than fiction. There are lots of suspects, and trails that go cold or lead nowhere. I can't fault the author for this bit of realism, but it is an interesting approach to the mystery novel.

Overall, I liked the novel and plan to read the rest of the series. The friendship, based on mutual respect between Russell and Holmes, makes this a wonderful book, not so much as a mystery, but as a model of healthy male-female relationships.


Rated by buyers 4 out of 5 stars - Beach Reading without shame!
The third in the Mary Russell series. It's a great series - the books are a quick read, and generally touch on some topic in enough detail that your interest is sparked into finding a little more about what you're reading about.


Rated by buyers 2 out of 5 stars - Diminishing returns
The very first two books detailing the further imaginary adventures of Sherlock Holmes and his wife, Mary Russell, were entertaining - sadly the same cannot be said of the third, A Letter To Mary. The irritating elements of the very first novels - an over-precious writing style and a marked inability to convincingly recreate the aura of Sherlock Holmes' society in England in the early 20th century - become far more pronounced here and a relatively weak and unexciting plot compounds the dissatisfaction. The writing slips into occasional preachiness and the characters are becoming less, rather than more, believeable. Disappointing to be sure - I hope the author regains the form of the earlier novels in her subsequent effort.

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