Review: Fun and Breezy Notes and Asides on King's Holmes
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 2, 2014
Laurie King offers a collection of notes and asides on Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle in this collection of essays and speeches. Whatever readers might think of King’s series featuring Holmes and Mary Russell (for the record, I find them wildly inconsistent with some excellent outings like “Beekeeper’s Apprentice,” “The Moor,” and “Justice Hall,”  and some poor ones like “Letter of Mary” and “Locked Rooms”), she is always an excellent researcher and it shows in this collection. There is a fine look at Sabine Baring-Gould and Holmes which is excellent background to “The Moor,” a look at Dr. Watson’s wound from Afghanistan, a few solid looks at Doyle and “Hound of the Baskervilles,” and King offering her spin on why she can offer a younger version of Holmes for her novels. There’s also a look at “The Game” as some writers, fans and scholars insist Holmes was a real individual. It’s a fun and breezy, if not great, collection which fans of King’s books should enjoy.