Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Review: The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King

(This review will be a bit briefer than usual, I am away in London and computer time is limited! Can't wait to blog about my trip when I get home!!)

The latest (ninth) adventure for Sherlock Holmes and his wife, Mary Russell, begins as they arrive at their home in Sussex after an absence of almost a year. The immediate problem of the missing bees from their farthest beehive means that they don't even get into the house before going to check on the hive.

When they get back to the house and even bigger surprise awaits. Sherlock's son Damian (his mother is Irene Adler!) is waiting on the doorstep with a problem. A big one. It seems his Chinese wife, Yolanda, and four year old daughter have gone missing from their London home.

Now, Holmes never knew he had a son until the boy was grown and his mother had died. And the one and only time that they met, Damian was hateful toward his father. They haven't spoken since. Of course, what can his father do but go and help? He is his father and the famous detective Sherlock Holmes, after all.

Mary is left home and tries to busy herself investigating the bee mystery. Eventually she is sucked into Damian's case and doing sleuthing on her own. With a mind nearly as fine as her husband's, Mary is the perfect partner for the logical Holmes.

I can't recommend this series highly enough, it has been a favorite of mine for many years. Writing does not get any better than the smart, snappy prose of Laurie R. King.

Please visit the author's excellent website where you will find all kinds of information about the books and the author's blog, too. And please visit the other stops on the Fifteen Weeks of Bees tour:

Bookish Ruth
Reading Group Guides
A Striped Armchair
Jen Robinson’s Book Page
Age 30+… A Lifetime of Books
A Work in Progress
Presenting Lenore
Jungle Red
Bitten by Books
Book Bitch
International Thriller Writers
Mystery Fanfare (May 7)
Angieville (May 13)

The Language of Bees will be released on Tuesday, April 28.

8 comments:

Molly said...

Ok - first of all, can I say how jealous I am that you are in London right now? I can hardly wait to read your posts of this most excellent adventure!

Secondly, I just recently obtained the first book in this series and plan to start it this weekend. Of course, having read this review, I may have to start it sooner than that :)

Have a wonderful trip!

bermudaonion said...

I hope you're in London for fun and not for work. I grabbed the .pdf version of this book when it was available but haven't read it yet.

Beth F said...

I've been wanting to read this one for a while.

And I know you're trip is going to be fun!

S. Krishna said...

I've heard great things about this series - I need to start with the first one!

Anonymous said...

I've read so much about this series, particularly since this most recent one came out. I went hunting for the first book in the series at my local library, and they don't have it! I guess I'll have to wait to start it until I move; I've already checked, my future library does have the first book of this series on its shelves. :)

Becca said...

I had seen Laurie King’s name around and heard of these books but I never really knew what they were about. Now I do and they sound great. I’ll have to get started on them. This being the ninth book I have a lot of catching up to do.

barbara said...

Well, I'm totally floored. Isn't this the one they made a movie out of? I had no idea what it was about! And if you had given me multiple choice, I would NEVER have guessed it was about Sherlock Holmes! I may actually have to read this series now!

The Tome Traveller said...

The movie you are thinking of must be The Secret Life of Bees, also from a book but not this one. :)

This is an excellent series, one of my favorites. I can't recommend it highly enough!


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New Hampshire, United States
Bibliophile, Anglophile, Traveller... I have been an avid reader all of my life, since I took the Dr. Seuss Dictionary away from my Mom when I was less than a year old because I wanted to read it myself. In college, where I earned my degree in English Literature, I was often asked "What are you going to do with it?" Now I finally have the answer to that question!!! Being employed as a Flight Attendant for twenty years has given me a lot of life experience and, better still, a lot of time to read. I love to travel for fun, too.