Review: Fun Story
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 21, 2011
I've always loved Doyle's Holmes stories so I was excited to read King's "Beekeeping for Beginners".  However, I was bored with this story.  The young girl, Mary Russell, seemed insipid and Holmes was too all knowing though I admit he was portrayed that way by Doyle too.  The aunt and cousin came across as stock figures of evil.  It was obvious from the beginning where the story was heading.Maybe my problem was that I haven't read anything else from King's series.  I'm sure having some background would probably enhance the reading of this story.  I can't help comparing King's story to Julian Barnes's novel "Arthur and George" based on Doyle's real life interaction with George Edalgi's and the false accusations Edalgi suffered from local law enforcement.  Both Mary Russell and Edalgi are mostly victims of their differentness and other's willingness to exploit them but other than that the two stories are worlds and words apart.  King and Barnes both used Doyle as a back drop.  One was successful.  The other wasn't.