I’ve read these a little haphazardly over the years, I found a couple of the early ones a bit tedious but then got back into the series and have really enjoyed the last few installments. This was no different. Solid plot and lot of interesting characters. I had to take to Wikipedia to figure out which of the supporting cast were real characters which was interesting in itself. Russell’s a delight as always. After some initial misgivings about the relationship between her & Holmes I’ve mostly been happy to go along with it as a meeting of minds and disregarded the age difference. Something in the way Holmes behaves in this one made me find the relationship a little creepy for the first time in a long time. I’m not really sure exactly what made me feel that way since Mary obviously knows what she is doing, but I wanted to write my uneasiness down anyway. I think it might be more to do with Holmes’ history with Mrs Hudson that’s revealed in this and an earlier book, than his relationship with Mary herself. I’m looking forward to the next one all the same.