i read the first in this series a couple of years ago, and i’m only just getting around to trying the second. i remember being not entirely convinced by the concept of sherlock holmes taking up with a young female oxford student. though in this book, so far, i’m finding the relationship between mary russell and her tutor in detective work fairly credible. i do however find laurie king’s obsession with theology in the plots of both this series, her modern day kate martinelli series, and her standalones to be getting a bit much. i don’t mind a theological background to one book, or even one series, but across all her work i’m beginning to find it irritating, which is a pity, because on most other levels i like her writing.

at the end of this book i’m pleasantly surprised. i wasn’t expecting to hate the book, but i was expecting to find the development that i knew was coming to be a little far fetched. neither mary nor sherlock seems the marrying kind and i couldn’t see how king was going to pull that trick off. but it works precisely because neither of them is the marrying kind. there are no echoes of anna nicole smith here, only a meeting of minds that transcends the generation gap. the relationship works very well on the page and, putting theological irritations aside, i’ll be continuing on to read the third volume in the series.