A LETTER OF MARY - Softcover

King, Laurie R.

4

20,189 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 000651085X ISBN 13: 9780006510857

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2001

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Third in Laurie King’s popular Mary Russell crime series: ‘Beguiling variation on Sherlock Holmes sequels...civilised, ingenious and engrossing’ – Literary Review

August, 1923. The quiet in the Holmes household in Sussex is shaken when Dorothy Ruskin, an amateur archaeologist from the Holy Land, appears with an exquisite inlaid box containing a scrap of ancient writing. Miss Ruskin soon dies in a traffic accident that Holmes and Mary prove was murder. But what was the motivation? Was it the little inlaid box holding the manuscript? Or the woman’s involvement in the volatile politics of the Holy Land? Or could it have been the manuscript itself – a letter seemingly written by Mary Magdalene that contains a biblical bombshell.

Beautifully written and steeped in authentic period detail, A Letter of Mary is a fascinating and intelligent read.

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Review:

‘Crime fiction’s most unlikely but utterly credible romance... Laurie King is the most interesting writer to emerge on the American crime fiction front in recent years’
Val McDermid (of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice)

‘An inventive variation on the Sherlock Holmes myth’
Time Out

From the Back Cover:

The third novel in Laurie King's riveting and intelligent series featuring Sherlock Holmes and his partner in sleuthing, Mary Russell.

It is August 1923 and all is quiet in the Holmes household in Sussex. Mary Russell works on academic research while Sherlock Holmes conducts malodorous chemistry experiments. Butthe peace comes crashing down when a figure from Mary's past enters their lives: Dorothy Ruskin, an amateur archaeologist recently returned from the Holy Land, pays the couple a visit, bringing with her a gift – a charming inlaid box containing a tattered roll of stained papyrus.

The evening following their meeting, Miss Ruskin dies in a traffic accident that Holmes and Mary soon prove was murder. But what was the motivation? Was it the inlaid box holding the manuscript? Or the woman's involvement in the volatile politics of the Holy Land? Or could it have been the scroll itself, a deeply troubling letter apparently written by Mary Magdalene that contains a biblical bombshell ...

"A beguilding variation on Sherlock Holmes sequels."
LITERARY REVIEW

"Mary Russell combines the quirky intellect of her mentor with a modern modus operandi... A heroine to contend with."
TIME OUT

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