The book was published in 1994. Odd that the library has it published in 2014!

Checked out 4-19 / due back 5-10. The first Mary Russell novel (#1 of 16 in the Mary Russell series) recommended by Ann, Inverness librarian.

1st book in the Russell/Holmes series. King did a wonderful job of bringing Mary Russell to life as the main character, and a retired Holmes as the secondary character. I loved their interactions and growth as the plot intensified. I can't wait to see how their relationship changes and deepens as I read more of this intriguing series, which is set in early 1900's England.

This novella describes the initial meeting of the 15 year-old Mary with Sherlock Holmes. He sees her potential as a detective and protects her from an attempt on her life. The only puzzling aspect of this story is the mention of suicide for Mary and / or Holmes... Fun to learn the history of their relationship leading to the series. Kristi & Abby Tabby

S.H. :Beekeeper's Apprentice and the rest of the series, by Laurie King (Sherlock Holmes fans, you will love this! This is the continuing story of when Sherlock retires to the English countryside and meets a teenage girl who is a child prodigy, and he becomes her mentor. This is a mystery series for people who like to think; King's attention to detail and knowledge of history, geography, and world politics is incredible, and you will probably wish you could be a prodigy, too, after meeting Mary Russell, the main character.)

While I am not a big Sherlock Holmes fan, I enjoyed this book (and subsequently the rest of the series) very much. The character of Mary Russell is delightful, giving as good as she gets and not taking anything from anybody, not even the great Sherlock Holmes. Great fun!

Very slow beginning, and I nearly gave up on completing it. I've read a later one in the series which was more satisfying.

Having read most of the books in this series, but not in order, I've decided to go back to the beginning. It's a treat. Even within this book, it's fun to watch the development in the relationship between the retired detective and the intellectual teenager. She begins by solving a puzzle involving painted dots on bees. By the end of the book, Holmes has taken Mary Russell on as his student and is teaching her the art of detection. Their first case seems simple and straightforward. By the end of the book they find themselves in enough of a pickle that leaving England for a while seems wise. As with their previous case, they go in disguise, something Holmes is very good at, and mentors Russell in that as well. A very satisfying beginning to the series. I confess I've never read the original Sherlock Holmes. Sometime I really should! I've read several other authors' attempts to carry on with the life of Holmes, and none seem as real as this one.

Worth rereading! As a Sherlock Holmes fan, I hesitated to go into this, but I think it stays relatively true to the spirit of the character.

Enjoyed the combination of short story mysteries within the framework of a developing relationship between an older, more mature, Sherlock Holmes with a young woman finding herself and her voice during the World War I years.