A Monstrous Regiment of Women (Mary Russell Series #2)

The alarming dip of the cab caused the horse to snort and veer sharply, and a startled, moustachioed face appeared behind the cracked glass of the side window, scowling at me. Holmes redirected his tongue's wrath from the prostitute to the horse and, in the best tradition of London cabbies, cursed the animal soundly, imaginatively, and without a single manifest obscenity. He also more usefully snapped the horse's head back with one clean jerk on the reins, returning its attention to the job at hand, while continuing to pull me up and shooting a parting volley of affectionate and remarkably familiar remarks at the fading Annalisa. Holmes did so like to immerse himself fully in his roles, I reflected as I wedged myself into the one-person seat already occupied by the man and his garments.\ "Good evening, Holmes," I greeted him politely.\ "Good morning, Russell," he corrected me, and shook the horse back into a trot.\ "Are you on a job, Holmes?" I had known as soon as his arm reached down for me that if case it were, it did not involve the current passengers, or he should merely have waved me off.\ "My dear Russell, those Americanisms of yours," he tut-tutted. "How they do grate on the ear. 'On a job.' No, I am not occupied with a case, Russell, merely working at the maintenance of old skills."\ "And are you having fun?"\ "'Having fun'?" He pronounced the words with fastidious distaste and looked at me askance.\ "Very well; Are you enjoying yourself?"\ He raised one eyebrow at my clothes before turning back to the reins.\ "I might ask the same of you, Russell."\ "Yes," I replied. "As a matter of fact, I am enjoying myself, Holmes, very much, thank you." And I sat back as best I could to do so.\ Traffic even in the middle of London tends to die down considerably by the close of what Christians mistakenly call the Sabbath, and the streets were about as quiet now as they ever were. It was very pleasant being jolted about in a swaying seat eight feet above the insalubrious cobblestones, next to my one true friend, through the ill lit streets that echoed the horse's hoofs and the grind of the wheels, on a night cold enough to kill the smells and keep the fog at bay, but not cold enough to damage exposed flesh and fingertips. I glanced down at my companion's begrimed fingers where they were poised, testing the heavy leather for signs of misbehaviour from the still-fractious beast with the same sensitivity they exhibited in all their activities, from delicate chemical experiments to the tactile exploration of a clue. I was struck by a thought.\ "Holmes, do you find that the cold on a clear night exacerbates your rheumatism as much as the cold of a foggy night?"\ He fixed me with a dubious eye, then turned back to the job, lips no doubt pursed beneath the scarfs. It was, I realised belatedly, an unconventional opening for a conversation, but surely Holmes, of all people, could not object to the eccentric.\ "Russell," he said finally, "it is very good of you to have come up from Sussex and stood on cold street corners for half the night striking up inappropriate friendships and flirting with pneumonia in order to enquire after my health, but perhaps having found me, you might proceed with your intended purpose."\ "I had no purpose," I protested, stung. "I finished my paper more quickly than I'd thought, felt like spending the rest of the day with you rather than listening to my relations shrieking and moaning downstairs, and, when I found you missing, decided on a whim to follow you here and see if I might track you down. It was merely a whim," I repeated firmly. Perhaps too firmly. I hastened to change the subject. "What are you doing here, anyway?"\ "Driving a cab," he said in a voice that told me that he was neither distracted nor deceived. "Go on, Russell, you may as well ask your question; you've spent seven hours in getting here. Or perhaps I ought to say, six years?"\ "What on earth are you talking about?" I was very cross at the threat of having my nice evening spoilt by his sardonic, all-knowing air, though God knows, I should have been used to it by then. "I am having a holiday from the holidays. I am relaxing, following the enforced merriment of the last week. An amusing diversion, Holmes, nothing else. At least it was, until your suspicious mind let fly with its sneering intimations of omniscience. Really, Holmes, you can be very irritating at times. "\ He seemed not in the least put out by my ruffled feathers, and he arched his eyebrow and glanced sideways at me to let me know it. I put up my chin and looked in the other direction.\ "So you did not 'track me down,' as you put it, for any express purpose, other than as an exercise in tracking?"\ "And for the pleasurable exercise of freedom, yes."\ "You are lying, Russell."\ "Holmes, this is intolerable. If you wish to be rid of me, all you need do is slow down and let me jump off. You needn't be offensive to me. I'll go."\ "Russell, Russell," he chided, and shook his head.\ "Damn it, Holmes, what can you imagine was so urgent that I should come all the way here in order to confront you with it immediately? Which, you may have noticed, I have not done?"\ "A question you finally nerved yourself up to ask, and the momentum carried you along," he answered coolly.\ "And what question might that be?" I did leave myself right open for it, but once launched in a path, it is difficult to change direction.\ "I expect you came to ask me to marry you."\ I nearly fell off the back of the cab.

\ Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly\ King's second mystery tale of a young woman who's a protg of Sherlock Holmes. (Dec.)\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalKing "found" this sequel to The Beekeeper's Apprentice (St. Martin's, 1994) in a trunk, presumably the property of narrator Mary Russell. Mary once again tells of her partnership with Sherlock Holmes, a juxtaposition of her youth (age almost 21) and Holmes's advanced middle age (59). Using disguise, guile, and ruse, Mary investigates murders in the inner clique of feminist preacher Margery Childe. Holmes assists, but the focus here is on Mary. The semiconvoluted, finely crafted late-Victorian prose is buttressed with exacting mots justes and surrounded by a nicely re-created 1920s London. A unique look at Holmes; for all collections.\ \ \ School Library JournalYA-Mary Russell, the apprentice to Sherlock Holmes first encountered in The Beekeeper's Apprentice (St. Martins, 1994), has established her own regime in and around Oxford just after World War I. Still drawn to Holmes, but seeking her own identity and the furtherance of women's rights, she pursues her studies as well as a case concerning wealthy young women and their spiritual mentor, Margery Childe. While captivated and encouraged by Margery's sermons and good works, Mary can't help wondering why several of these women have recently passed away, leaving much of their estates to Margery's association. She alternately seeks out and rebuffs Holmes. Mary has lost none of the spark and intelligence as well as individualism that so intrigued her mentor in the first book. Readers learn much of the condition of women, especially as the few remaining men return home from the war, and become aware of the class system and unequal social conditions of early 20th-century England, while engaged in a thoroughly entertaining romp through the meaner streets of London. A delight, and a worthy sequel.-Susan H. Woodcock, King's Park Library, Burke, VA\ \ \ \ \ George NeedhamMary Russell, introduced as the worthy successor to Dr. Watson in "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" , makes a triumphant return here. Russell has reached her majority, completed her studies at Oxford, come into her inheritance, and uncovered a passel of trouble in Margery Childe, a charismatic mystic with political aspirations in 1921 London. Childe has organized a temple to proselytize her mixture of feminism and what would be called, in a later decade, "liberation theology." Unfortunately, wealthy members of her inner circle keep dying, shortly after rewriting their wills in her favor. Russell launches the investigation of the temple while her employer, Sherlock Holmes and his brother, Mycroft, pursue drug smugglers in France. King expertly captures the details of the period, although some of her characters, attitudes, and actions seem anachronistic. Most of the well-loved figures from the Doyle canon make appearances, including Mrs. Hudson, Dr. Watson, and even Inspector Lastrade's son. Though purists will be offended by Holmes' behavior at the tale's conclusion, less-finicky fans will find the book thoroughly enjoyable.\ \ \ \ \ From the Publisher\ "The great marvel of King's series is that she's managed to preserve the integrity of Holmes's character and yet somehow conjure up a woman astute, edgy, and compelling enough to be the partner of his mind and as well as his heart. . . . Superb."--The Washington Post Book World \ "As audacious as it is entertaining and moving . . . What gives Laurie R. King's books such a rich and original texture is the character of Mary--totally believable in her own right, a tall and gangling orphan with a restless intellect and a great store of moral and physical courage."--Chicago Tribune\ "Mary Russell makes a triumphant return. . . . Thoroughly enjoyable."--Booklist\ "Extraordinary . . . A delight."--The Washington Times\ \ \