Friday 12 November 2010

A Worth Successor to Sir Arthur

The Game (Mary Russell, #7)The Game by Laurie R. King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a wonderful book! I tore through it in about three days, which is lightning speed for me now that I'm a fairly slow reader.

Of all the Mary Russell books I've read so far, I think that it's my second favorite after The Moor, which I love because I love The Hound of the Baskervilles.

The descriptions of the sea voyage and India are breathtakingly vivid and real seeming. You really feel as if you're there! The central relationship between Holmes and Russell is as believable and enchanting as ever, but the new characters all live and breathe too. I especially liked the wily Indian boy Bindra, even though I'm not usually a fan of children in books.

Laurie King's writing is fast moving and dynamic, but never at the expense of richness and moments of telling detail. And after just finishing reading Sir Arthur's entire Sherlock Holmes canon, the transition to Holmes and Russell was smooth as silk. Holmes is still the same person who shared adventures with Watson, and the Holmes/Russell stories are a worthy and satisfying account of The Great Detective's further exploits.

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