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.

A very enjoyable book-will look for the prequel! Obviously I know about Sherlock and Watson but had never read one of the books. I like the way mysteries are unraveled and appreciate the due that Holmes gives to a female apprentice (most likely not real in the time period but appreciated nonetheless!) Kudos to the author!!!

Delightful! And fun to read Sherlock's improved "tolerance" for a woman (other than Irene Adler, of course). Great twists and turns in the story. Can't wait for the next one in the series!

The reason why I gave this book a "good" rating is the obviously great amount of work and research that the author has done. There is a clear attempt to re-create a true "Sherlock Holmes" atmosphere and the addition of a woman sleuth is certainly welcome - at least for me. I have always thought that Conan Doyle's story - although intriguing and captivating - were a bit, well, patriarchal. There didn't seem to be much room for intelligent women in Baker Street, but this is just my opinion. "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" introduces a pleasant, funny character in Mary Russell and the bantering between her and Holmes is certainly entertaining. All this said, however, I found some parts of the story a bit strained. First of all, that fact that Mary is only 15. She is an independent minded young woman, true, but I really doubt that a Victorian teenager would have been able to spend all that time alone with an older man without any scandal or at least concern. However, we are required to suspend our disbelief, right? Then, overall, I didn't really have the impression that Mary (or Holmes, for that matter) were the great brilliant minds that we (or at least I) expected them to be. Sometimes, they both sounded rather obvious. However, the book was entertaining, well-structured, well-researched and I like the idea of a feminine perspective, so I certainly recommend it.