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Summary: Love the Mary Russell series
Review: I am never disappointed by Ms. King's Mary Russell series. It is a wonderful ride through early 20th Century history. And the mystery is always fun.
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Summary: Read the Real thing,He's so much better than this tripe.
Review: Just discovered this over the christmas holidays whilst looking for something to read. (small resort town with not much to choose from and I'd finished all I'd bought with me).
If you haven't read any Sherlock Holmes then please (I implore you) charge into his adventures. This politically correct and frankly tedious book is not a patch on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's wonderful adventurer's (Holmes and Watson). First off,nothing happens. A good portion of the book wandering about the desert in a woman's head with the odd description of Sherlock Holmes does not a great mystery make. If anything good has come out of this it's that I'm off to reread the originals.
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Summary: King makes magic
Review: There are only three authors who write historical mysteries that are so good I insist on buying all their books in hardback: Anne Perry, Elizabeth Peters, and Laurie King. I have never been all that keen on Sherlock Holmes (ok, ok, so shoot me!); however I was encouraged to read the first book in King's series about Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, and I was startled at the intricate plots, outstanding characterization, attention to detail, and quality of writing. From then on I was hooked. Frankly, I firmly believe Laurie King's books rank as literature. This series does not offer up to the reader the all too common pop-novelty-sassy heroine with her handsome, dense almost-but-not-quite boyfriend with more dead bodies scattered around than there are ... ads on TV. Buy Laurie King's books in hardback now, before any hardback reprints come out. Make money for your old age. These books will be appreciated and reprinted over and over as the decades pass.
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Summary: The worst mystery I've ever read
Review: Call me old fashioned but I'd like to see some explanation at the end of a story about why the evil-doer did it. While the descriptions of the situation in Palestine right after the transition from Turkish to British rule were interesting, and the characters were fairly well drawn, it was NOT a mystery as that term is traditionally used. Apparently Ms. King's newest Mary Russell novel answers a few of the questions left hanging in this one, but that is only a device to sell books and not appropriate for a mystery.
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Summary: A "Just-One-More-Chapter-Before-I-Turn-The-Light-Out" Novel
Review: Extremely well-written prose by Laurie King, full of sumptuous descriptions and sparkling characters. The author has made a sincere effort to weave together the action in "O Jerusalem" with many authentic cultural details and relevant sprinklings of arabic/Koranic sayings. These small details add polish, like tinsel on an already carefully decorated Christmas tree. Fiction that is truly hard to put down, I look forward to the other Mary Russell novels.
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Summary: A Boring Mishmash
Review: I ordinarilly admire Laurie R. King's books. I have read all of them to date and just don't understand this one. I admit that I prefer her Kate Martinelli series to her Mary Russell series but this book just defeated me. There is much to be admired in the Mary Russell series but not this book. Forget it!
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Summary: The best Russell-Holmes adventure to date
Review: This series, about the partnership of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, just gets better and better with each book published. I do think that this latest work is the best of the group. For one thing, it takes place in the Holy Land just after World War I, so we have an exotic setting. In addition, the author has definitely done her research, for everything appears to be authentic, down to the underground passages in the city. Also, there isn't a lot of deduction by Holmes in this one, rather there is just good, old fashioned investigating. The characters are all quite believeable, and the author takes no side in the incipient animosity between Arab and Jew. It's a good, rousing adventure book, and I look forward to the next in this series.
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Summary: If you're looking for Holmes....
Review: You won't find him here. I enjoyed the other Holmes novels by King but felt that they missed the mark when attempting to capture the essence of the man. This book went even farther afield and, while well written to be sure, was nevertheless a persistent disappointment to the end. My advice to Ms. King would be to either concentrate on the historical Holmes or to change the name of her series to 'The continuing travels and exploits of Mary Russell.' She might attract fewer readers but it would be more honest.
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Summary: Historical travel book or mystery?
Review: Although the 5th book in the series, O Jerusalem takes place during the Russell and Holmes' forced departure from England during the adventure of The Beekeeper's Apprentice. King's research and attention to detail is on full display here, perhaps too much detail. An assassination plot in Palestine is the central mystery here, but the story takes too long to unfold. While making for an interesting history lesson and a welcome view of the developing relationship between Holmes and Russell, the book could easily have been shorter by removing some of extraneous details that sometimes make the book more like a travelogue than a mystery.
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Summary: Good, but not Doyle
Review: Ms. King writes very well, and I especially like Mahmoud (pronounced "Mok-mude") and Ali. I was recently in Israel and she describes it very well, especially the part about Masada. Still, I think one major thing is missing: Sherlock Holmes. For some reason, I don't get the same picture of the mastermind in this story as I do from Doyle. I know they are told from the point of view of two different people, but no one, real or ficticous, can be as intelligant as Holmes. I was disturbed how Ms. King has Holmes and Russell getting married in the earlier books. Holmes would never, EVER, get married! Doyle doesn't come right out and say it, but he gives the impression. Still, it is a good book and I recommend it.
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