The Beekeeper's Apprentice (2002) - Plot & Excerpts
Mary Russell, also known as The Beekeeper's Apprentice, proves to be a wonderful addition to the Sherlock Holmes mythos!When 15-year-old Mary Russell almost tripped over the peculiar man while he was obsessively studying his bees, she never imagined such an accidental (and clumsy) encounter would change her life forever! But as it turns out, that man was semi-retired detective Sherlock Holmes, and when the precocious Mary is able to match wits with him (both with her deductive reasoning and her acerbic wit), a friendship begins to bloom. After training with Holmes for the next few years, Mary proves to be a valuable enough student that Holmes lets her begin to work with him on cases. However, when Mary's contributions manage to thwart the machinations of a rising figure in the criminal underworld, Mary earns a new admirer! An admirer who understands exactly how much of a threat Mary can be. And now this unseen adversary wants to make sure that Mary's next case is also her last...I shan't tell a lie, I went into this book with some apprehension...it always makes me nervous when an author incorporates a classical character into their own books. As it turns out, my fears were for naught! Laurie King does such a masterful job writing about Sherlock Holmes and his new apprentice, that I often found myself checking the cover to make absolutely sure it wasn't really written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!The book begins with an editor's note from Laurie King, informing us that the following story was not written by her at all, but rather was pieced together from documents written by an "M.R.H.". Laurie claims to have stumbled upon these writings in a mysterious package and has no idea if the events are partially or even at all true! Some might see this is a cop-out, but upon reading the book, I felt that King's rather odd claim worked beautifully with the story. There are times that Mary seems just a little too good at everything...she can deduce, she can fight, she can drive, she can juggle...she can do just about anything that doesn't require her to have come from the planet Krypton! But by giving us this disclaimer, the reader can now choose to believe that if Mary seems just a little too perfect, it may be simply be because she's embellishing things slightly (not too hard to believe, considering that Mary often comes across as arrogant, even in her "own" writings). Perhaps this truly was a cop-out by Laurie King, but I still felt it managed to enhance the story rather than detract from it.While there are a few characters that come and go, the story is definitely all about Mary & Sherlock. One thing that really amazed me about Mary was how she managed to be both amazing and flawed! Yes, she's brilliant, she's courageous...but she's also snippy at times and snobby pretty much always! Mary is very effectively portrayed as some who's just a little too smart for her own good, someone who knows so much about the world but still manages to feel like an outsider in it. By developing such a multi-faceted character, the author successfully gives Holmes a perfect companion, someone who shares many of his own talents and quirks. Another thing I really enjoyed was how the relationship between Mary and Holmes progressed. Rather than just throw Mary immediately into the action, King chooses to have Mary work on a couple of much smaller cases first. Once Mary proves her mettle, Holmes allows her to join him in his investigation of the kidnapping of an American senator's daughter. Throughout that case, Mary again demonstrates what a valuable asset she is to Holmes. One of my biggest turn-offs in novels is when a relationship develops just a little too quickly (not a fan of the "insta-love" plot device, as many of my past reviews will collaborate). So imagine my delight when I found that Russell's partnership with Holmes was paced so effectively! It really did feel like I was watching a student grow as a detective throughout the novel, rather than watching a character get thrust into the spotlight just a little too quickly!As for the story itself, I felt Laurie King knocked it out of the park! The mysteries are enthralling, and the dialogue is full of wit. The set-ups of all the various cases are quite clever, and the way Holmes and Russell solve them, even more so. In addition, there is a lot in here that will please just about any Sherlock Holmes fan. The book almost plays like a "greatest hits" version of the original Holmes mysteries, with Holmes (and now Russell) often donning disguises, cracking codes and analyzing clues just like in Doyle's mysteries. Also, many significant characters in the Sherlock Holmes mythos are referenced. Some actually make an appearance, and others are merely mentioned, but it's more than enough to prove Laurie King didn't just slap Holmes in her book to make it sell better. King truly has an intimate knowledge of Doyle's work. And I must confess, all the nods to the earlier Holmes stories made this Baker Street Irregular smile on many an occasion.King even does a masterful job with her prose. When Holmes and Russell make an unexpected side-trip to Palestine late in the novel, I feared that King was about to make a huge misstep and was throwing this in merely to prolong the mystery. But as it turned out, this act contained one of the most poignant moments between Holmes and Russell, involving a revelation the two sleuths come to after a particularly aggressive game of chess. Also, King's descriptions of the surroundings are quite poetic at times and lends an additional layer of beauty to everything. Remarkably, King pulls this off while writing this all from the egotistical Mary's point-of-view! There are times when the narrator seems almost cruel to the people she interact with (particularly Dr. Watson, whom Mary seems to view as a rival who needs to be cut-down by her). But even in these moments, King pulls off a tremendous balancing act, where it comes off not as if King herself is disrespecting Watson, but rather Mary's own insecurities that are seeping through in her rather harsh observations. A magical continuation of the Sherlock Holmes legend! If you've ever read a Sherlock Holmes book...or have even considered reading a Holmes book, you owe it to yourself to investigate this delightful mystery!Mary Russell says, "I don't know why Mr. Green keeps saying I'm egotistical, that's simply not true! Now if you'll excuse me, I must continue reading my own book and admiring how awesome I am!!!"
4.0 stars. I went through a lot of turmoil both in deciding to read this book and then while I was reading it. The Pre-read turmoil stems from the fact that while I have always liked the “idea” of the character of Sherlock Holmes, I have not always enjoyed the Sherlock Holmes stories that I have read. They have been a bit dry for my taste. However, I LOVED The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which took the character of Sherlock Holmes and put him in bizarre and unique surroundings (i.e., fantasy, SF and horror genre settings). I thought this was a perfect marriage and still think that Neil Gaiman’s “A Study in Emerald” is one of the best “Sherlock Holmes” stories ever written.So when I started looking up the background for this book, I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a new, fresh take on Sherlock Holmes or simply another Holmes mystery with Mary Russell acting like a FEMALE Sherlock Holmes, which we have all seen before...case in point: JUST KIDDING, BUT IT WAS TOO GOOD TO PASS UP. Well I started the book and was instantly taken with both the character of Mary Russell and the prose and writing style of Laurie King. I also found that I really liked the character of Sherlock Holmes who was both instantly recognizable as the singularly brilliant master of deduction, but was also an older, mellower, more “human” individual that made relating to him much easier. Now during the course of actually reading the novel, which has the duo of Holmes and Russell investigating several mysteries, I did find parts of it that were dry and plodding and had me leaning towards giving the book a 3 star rating. However, the growing relationship between Russell and Holmes, together with the climax of the book and the scenes with the “mystery villain” were simply OUTSTANDING and worthy of 5 stars. Thus, all in all I thought that 4 stars was a pretty accurate representation of how I felt about the book. I think the rating of “true blue” mystery novel fans may be a bit higher and for those that don’t generally enjoy the genre, you might rate this a tad lower. However, I think most people will agree that the prose is excellent, the characters are very well drawn and the achievement of taking a character like Holmes who is so incredibly well known and show him in a new and fresh light while keeping him completely recognizable was superbly down. For that point alone, Ms King gets Recommended!!!
What do You think about The Beekeeper's Apprentice (2002)?
When faced with the unthinkable, one chooses the merely impossible.The Beekeeper's Apprentice follows Mary Rusell, who meets the great Sherlock Holmes when she trips over him. This book follows their blossoming relationship, starting with their very first cases, moving on to one of the most clever villains ever faced.Sometimes you have to sacrifice a queen in order to save the game.I should start this off by saying I have not read the original Sherlock Holmes books. With that said I found the relationship between the characters, interesting as it develops, although I did not really like her treatment of Watson.I can see why you kept him near you. He's so... good, somehow. Naive, yes, and he doesn't seem terribly bright, but when I think of all the ugliness and evil and pain he's known... It's polished him, hasn't it? Purified him.While not all people are as smart as Sherlock Holmes and apparently Mary Russell, I thought it very sad that she thought of him as stupid. A buffoon. Almost looking down on him.Other than that I found the mysteries intriguing, and I loved the way that they interacted to solve them, although I'm not sure if this kept my interest enough to continue with the series.
—Kaora
For a while now I've heard of this series, and I bookmarked the list of books on my computer along with a huge list of other series that I need to get to/finish. So, finally, I decided I would try this one. And, being me, I already knew what would happen in some fashion between Mary Russell and Holmes. I didn't go into this completely blind, but I went blind enough.The mystery in this book was, for me, secondhand. It was just another little storyline that I slightly followed. I was more interested in reading about Mary and Holmes. They were cute together. Never in my life would I think to say that a teenager -- nineteen is still a teenager -- and a fifty year old would be cute together. But, they freaking were. I didn't flail about with the cuteness, but I did grit my teeth and just told them to stop it every so often.Mary was a strong female character, which made moi very happy. She could shock Holmes while keeping with the times that were still rather Victorian in making, especially with Holmes. I think my favorite part was when Holmes literally forgot that she was a woman and Mycroft stood up when she walked into a room, then he realized that he needed to do the same thing. That and the cute holding thing I quoted in a status update.The characters, specifically Holmes, were very in character. Another thing that pleased me. She captured Holmes as who he was in ACD-canon, then she expanded on it to make him into his own person for her verse of fiction. Watson, I liked his inclusion. Uncle John is the cutest thing, honestly. My favorite line with him was: "It took me two hours to apply the make-up to convince him [that Holmes was dreadfully ill with pneumonia], and even then I had to refuse to let him examine me. If he had come bouncing out of my cottage like a cat hiding the feathers, can you imagine what that would have done with the trap? The man could never prevaricate." I'm pretty sure I giggled loudly at that bit.While the mystery didn't draw me in as I hoped it would -- mainly because this is a series and cultivating the dynamics between characters is very important, especially in the first book -- the villian was cray-cray. I can't give out who it is, but holy hell were they crazy.I don't have much else to say for this review. No witty comments or insights. Just that I really plan on looking into the next book. (AND MY LIBRARY DOES NOT HAVE IT SO I HAVE TO USE INTERLIBRARY LOAN. DAMMIT.)
—Caidyn
A nice twist on the original Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock befriends Mary, a young woman who is an equal to him in almost every way. I liked her strong character and determination to work just as hard as him while solving crimes. Their relationship is a close one at the end of the book, nothing really happens, but moments of tenderness that go beyond friendship. Possibly a future romance? Only reading the rest of the series will tell.A fun, light read with just enough mystery and British humor to keep it from being too serious. I highly recommend if your a fan of Sherlock Holmes.
—April Cote
