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A review by alldaffer
A Letter of Mary by Laurie R. King
3.0
The third novel in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes Mystery series, this is the first novel where the couple is married throughout the book.
I just don't approve of the marriage. I do not believe that Sherlock Holmes, at the age of 60, would marry a 22 year old woman, regardless of how logical it would be. Laurie King also has never really provided any setup or background that would make it work for me.
Now I can imagine the two of them as partners, solving mysteries, and possibly even having illicit thoughts, but I just don't buy the romantic interest. Also, I believe that Holmes would have understood that he was taking advantage of Mary Russell's youthful feelings, and would not have allowed this to happen, regardless of his or her desire.
So that being said, as long as I ignore the marriage problems that arose at the end of A Monstrous Regiment of Women, I do like reading these mysteries, and found this one just as good as the first two. In fact, I believed Mary's feelings towards Colonel Edwards was much more realistic and believable than her supposed feelings towards Holmes.
One problem with this book is that it never really made sense to believe that the Colonel had anything to do with Dorothy Ruskin's death. The only theory about this had him upset about Dorothy's liberation, but he only found out that she was a woman the night of her death, and it would not have been possible to plan the killing that followed that quickly. So it didn't make sense for Mary to investigate him to any extent. Both her and Holmes should have focused their energy on the Sister and her family from the beginning, and that could have made a much more entertaining book, and may have helped the relationship along.
I do intend on reading the fourth book, have it already reserved at the library, and I am hoping that the marriage will grow on me, because I really like the rest of the book. Fortunately, the marriage scenes are few and brief.
I just don't approve of the marriage. I do not believe that Sherlock Holmes, at the age of 60, would marry a 22 year old woman, regardless of how logical it would be. Laurie King also has never really provided any setup or background that would make it work for me.
Now I can imagine the two of them as partners, solving mysteries, and possibly even having illicit thoughts, but I just don't buy the romantic interest. Also, I believe that Holmes would have understood that he was taking advantage of Mary Russell's youthful feelings, and would not have allowed this to happen, regardless of his or her desire.
So that being said, as long as I ignore the marriage problems that arose at the end of A Monstrous Regiment of Women, I do like reading these mysteries, and found this one just as good as the first two. In fact, I believed Mary's feelings towards Colonel Edwards was much more realistic and believable than her supposed feelings towards Holmes.
One problem with this book is that it never really made sense to believe that the Colonel had anything to do with Dorothy Ruskin's death. The only theory about this had him upset about Dorothy's liberation, but he only found out that she was a woman the night of her death, and it would not have been possible to plan the killing that followed that quickly. So it didn't make sense for Mary to investigate him to any extent. Both her and Holmes should have focused their energy on the Sister and her family from the beginning, and that could have made a much more entertaining book, and may have helped the relationship along.
I do intend on reading the fourth book, have it already reserved at the library, and I am hoping that the marriage will grow on me, because I really like the rest of the book. Fortunately, the marriage scenes are few and brief.