Review of Laurie King's The Beekeeper's Apprentice

As someone who doesn’t usually enjoy mystery books, I found this novel to be interesting and exciting. Sherlock Holmes is back again in this modern take on his adventures by Laurie R. King.

In The Beekeeper’s Apprentice readers are introduced to a spunky 15-year-old named Mary Russell who will keep Holmes on his toes as she follows in his footsteps. The writing is wonderful and detailed drawing readers into the early twentieth century and all of the excitement found there. Holmes is an old known character, even to those who (like myself) have not read any of the original works by Arthur Conan Doyle. Seeing this character navigate the new world he finds himself in, the world of being teacher/mentor, is interesting and provides a depth to the story by King. Along with Holmes other familiar characters populate the world of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice such as Dr. Watson, Mrs. Hudson, and even mention of Moriarty.

King artfully creates a novel full of different incidents in Mary’s life, told from her perspective, as she gets acquainted with Holmes at 15, through the war and into her first years at Oxford. Mary goes from a gangly girl, wearing boys trousers, into a young woman comfortable in dresses and gowns. King details the shift in Holmes’ mind of a confident teacher to uncertain how to perceive Mary when she shows up one day dressed as she ought to in a nice dress. Each interaction and shift in their relationship brings them further from mentor and student to equal partners on their adventures. King’s development of story and character is great and well-done drawing readers into a believable world where wit and cunning reign.

This book kept my attention and I was able to complete the tale of the Beekeeper and his Apprentice, instead of putting it aside as I typically do with mysteries. While the book does fit the mystery genre (because of Holmes and his work) it does not feel like a standard mystery with cases to be solved but provides character development and a story of friendship between Holmes and Russel.

References

King, L. (1994). The beekeeper’s apprentice: Or on the segregation of the queen: A Mary Russell novel. New York: Picador.

Goodreads.com. (2018). The beekeeper’s apprentice [Cover image]. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1024275.The_Beekeeper_s_Apprentice