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Summary: Dude it's my favorite book!
Review: This book is awesome. If you haven't read it, you're missing out. It has all, or most of the best things: mystery, humor, and even a little romance. I'm not very experienced in writing reveiws, but let me just tell you, you will love this book.
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Summary: A worthwhile read
Review: This is definitely one of the best Holmes pastiches that I've ever read, and that is saying something, because I've read a lot of those. I have to say, that when I read the summary on the back of the book, I was skeptical, but picked it up any way. I soon found myself unable to tear myself from it.
Even when Holmes and Russel aren't running about using their deductive gifts to solve crimes, the story is immensly entertaining. The chemistry between a young, inexperienced, teenage girl, and the wise, somewhat older, seasoned detective is almost funny at times.
The main mystery plot of the book was wonderful. There were small clues everywhere, and plenty of suspense. The villan in this book surpasses Moriarty (for good reason too, but I won't give that away). The Beekeepers Apprentice has become one of my favorite books. I highly reccomend it.
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Summary: But Our Hero Was Not Dead...
Review: Sherlock Holmes is certainly not dead, nor inactive in any way. Quite on the contrary, he's busy with hives of bees, a nagging Mrs. Hudson (for his own good, mind), and did I happen to mention a young feminist protogee and a stalker out to torture the mind before killing?Anyone who loves Holmes but not particularly the rather more stale and oh-so stuffly worded Victorian works of Doyle, this is a refreshing and relieving story of mystery, suspense, and the human mind. I read this book when I was 13 years old and fell in love with the series. I've passed the book on to over twenty people, including two English professors and a multitude of my friends' parents. You have to love the sparkle of Russell's sharp and pointed personality, a good and sound board for Holmes' own edgy self. If that can't convince you to read the book, I don't know any other way! Enjoy, and remember to start it over the weekend; I stayed up until 4 in the morning on a Wednesday night to finish it in one night!
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Summary: The Worst Writer to Write Holmes
Review: I spent more than a month (maybe two, I don't remember now) reading this novel, and to me that means it was dead boring. King introduces Mary Russell, a young Jewish (claims to be secular) girl who used to reside in the US before her family had a devastating car accident, and now she is under the custody of her scrooge female relative, who is obviously stealing her money and depriving her of food. Holmes, a nice hearted man!, feeds her, and upon finding out that she was good in deduction, he decides to be her mentor. She is not your usual sweet Englishwoman, however, for she scolds him most of the time, and Holmes appears not to be offended by this treatment! Religion is incorporated in this novel extensively, and this is really a draw back. Religion introduced in a Sherlock Holmes's Novel would not strike me as the best idea. There are some small mysteries scatterd throughout the story, but they are utterly simple, even old Watson could have solved them without sweating. And always Moriarty was mentioned. At the end some letter was solved using some mathematics on base 8 (2 thumps up) and it turned out to be the hardest thing in the story, which resulted in a not so interesting conclusion. I do not recommend it for any fan of Sherlock Holmes. But if you are more into romance, you might as well like it!
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Summary: Not fond of Superwomen, but the originality won me over
Review: Being a writer myself, I wasn't too keen on the idea of reading a book where the narrator is a superwoman. But I did like the idea of inserting a female main character into what has traditionally been a man's world (that of detectives and Sherlock Holmes). I tried something similar with my adventure/humor novel "Bounties" where I made the main character a female bounty hunter in the Old West. I try to make my characters a little more human, much less godly than King made Mary Russell. Superwomen are hard to identify with. On top of that, I try to punctuate my tense scenes with humor, rather than the melodrama King employs. But I do admire the author's creativity and ingenuity in replacing Watson with a young woman and giving a woman's view of Sherlock Holmes's world, and allowing us to further explore that interesting realm he inhabited.
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Summary: My all time favorite Mystery Novel
Review: Laurie King is not your average mystery author. Not only does she spin a carefully-crafted plot, she develops delicious characters and relationships, and does it all with a delightful sense of humor, page-turning momentum, and literary grace. In short: a rare combination of real writing talent, and great fun! This book is the perfect kick-off. Once you read it, you're hooked! Her other books in the series are just as good; although there's something about the 15 year-old Mary Russel that has drawn me back to this particular book more than once. I especially love her first encounter with Holmes! WARNING: I've seen NUMEROUS reviews, and even comments on the back cover of her books, that spoil a major plot point in the second book of the series! I recommend not indulging in any more reviews, or even reading small quotes about the series, if you can help it...just buy it, and read it. Trust me, the payoff is worth it! You'll thank me when you relish the last few pages of her second book--which may very well be the most satisfying ending of any book I've read, and one of the best surprises. Enjoy!
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Summary: A GREAT book, but I'm not gonna read the sequels
Review: My school librarian handed me this upon learning I was a fan of Sherlock Holmes. Ordinarily I would look down on books about Holmes NOT written by Doyle, but this was different. Really remarkable. The stories narrated by Watson portrayed holmes as a cold, detached thinking machine, but through Russell's eyes we see Holmes the human being.
Ms. King manages to make a rather absurd idea--that an aging, semi-retired Holmes would take on a young feminist as a sidekick--seem not only believable, but inevitable.
On finishing this book I would have given it five stars. However, I did a little research on this site and found out that in future books Holmes and Russel (SPOILER) fall in love and get married. That sort of ruined it for me. It's really not believable... why must writers take wonderful characters like Russel and this new Holmes and ruin them by superimposing a romance over things?
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Summary: A female Sherlock Holmes
Review: This is one of the best of the new genre of books to chronicle a woman as being on a par with Sherlock Holmes as a detective. This one does not make Holmes into an inferior curmudgeon as some of the others do. The young woman is rather shown to be of the same level of intellect and observation powers as Holmes. While walking along in the countryside, reading a book, 15 year old Mary Russell almost steps on Sherlock Holmes, who has retired to the country and become a bee keeper. Holmes is impressed by her intellect, wit and powers of observation. He invites her for tea and from there they progress to the status of teacher and pupil. Holmes tutors her in all his detective skills and she learns very well. They collaborate in solving several crimes and eventually come to grips with a master criminal. The way they combine to solve and fight crimes is entertaining. The character of Mary Russell is well done and Holmes is reasonably like the "real" Holmes. This book is well written and has a nice narrative and plot. I look forward to reading others of the series.
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Summary: An interesting new spin on the world's most famous detective
Review: Of all the creations of all fiction writers, Sherlock Holmes holds a special place in the hearts of any fans of the whodunit. His sharp mind and ability to deduce the seemingly impossible from such mundane things as the sound of a guest's footsteps have earned him this honoured position. As such, any author or filmmaker who attempts to update or parody him is in a difficult situation (and such updates and parodies have frequently been done). Laurie King's "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" has fulfilled the expectations both of the whodunit reader and the Holmes fan. The title refers to Holmes' leisure pursuit of beekeeping and the "apprentice" is the 15-year-old half-American girl Mary Russell. Much of the novel features the deductive duels between Holmes and Russell, duels in which the apprentice acquits herself admirably. King's setting of "Apprentice" as being considerably after Arthur Conan Doyle's stories (roughly the early 20th century) enables her to make some attempts at social commentary. Russell (as Holmes constantly refers to her) is a feminist and demonstrably equal to many of Holmes' tasks, Holmes of course has some trouble in accepting this. Furthermore, the Russell character is given an interesting background progressively during the novel - without giving the plot away, I'll simply say that it explains much about her family arrangement. The temptation with resurrecting classic literary characters is always that the new author will simply feature the same sort of adventures over again. Rest assured, however, this is far from a rehash of "Hound Of The Baskervilles", "The Blue Carbuncle" or any of Conan Doyle's originals. In fact, Holmes' comments about the inaccuracy of Doyle's work are an unexpected bonus to this novel. That said, the old favourites do put in appearances. Mrs Hudson is still Holmes' housekeeper, Dr Watson still can't quite grasp what Holmes is up to and Mycroft still works at his vaguely-defined government job. There's even an Inspector Lestrade, admittedly the son of the famous one. Even Holmes' most famous nemesis, Professor Moriarty, makes a posthumous appearance - the author of some mathematical problems which Russell encounters. Overall, "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" is a worthy inclusion to the Holmes canon. Nothing of Holmes' acerbic wit has been lost in the transition, and in Russell he has gained a partner considerably more his equal than Watson ever could have been. After the necessary introductions, the novel picks up pace and becomes a veritable page-turner. The downside is that there is a slight over-reliance on Holmes' earlier work. While it is possible to work out whodunit before the climactic ending, doing so requires both the customary Holmesian thought processes and making the odd educated guess about one or two events. That said, "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" is only the first in a series which currently runs to some 5 or 6 novels. As such, it is a highly recommended read, as it sets up much of the events of the sequel ("A Monstrous Regiment Of Women"). While King's constant "literary conceit" throughout the series of having received these novels in manuscript form from an anonymous donor does get a bit pointless at times, the quality of work in these "anonymous manuscripts" is high enough to forgive her that much. A highly recommended novel.
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Summary: Better than the rest
Review: Having read Doyle's rendition of the famous Holmes before this one, I must say Laurie R. King does a magnificent job of describing a new and exciting Sherlock Holmes. Unlike Doyle's books, the narrative is about a young and sophisticated Mary Russell. Throughout the book we see the growth of a fun and adventurous relationship between Russell and Holmes. There are a total of 3 different cases in the book but the most intriguing is the last one. (I will leave it at that to avoid ruining the story) I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good old fashion mystery.
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