Book review
By Glory Reitz
Reporter
Sherlock Holmes spin-offs are abundant, but Laurie R. King’s The Beekeeper’s Apprentice: or, on the Segregation of the Queen is one of the few that not only does justice to the original, but improves upon it.
The novel begins in the year 1915, narrated autobiographically by the protagonist, 15-year-old Mary Russell. She is a newly-orphaned, highly intellectual and ill-tempered teenager, who has moved back to England from the U.S. after her family’s death in a car accident. She encounters a retired, beekeeping Holmes by accident, and they quickly become friends.
The book, originally published in 1994, follows Holmes and Russell as she hones her brilliant mind, and they tackle increasingly suspenseful cases. As the story progresses, the duo’s adventures evolve from a neighbor’s mysterious illness, to stolen hams and cash, to kidnapping and attempted murder.
As the scale of the plot grows, so does Mary Russell. By the end of the book, she has matured from a 5’11” gawky, stumbling, mouthy 15-year-old to a sharp-minded, strong-hearted young woman of 18 years. She has also gained a family, made up of a hodge-podge of characters.
The plot is firm and the story-telling arresting, but I would warn that Mary Russell makes a sometimes rather wordy narrator. Though words like “lugubrious” and “outré” may at first appear intimidating, there is hidden humor throughout the book. In addition, Russell tends to drop her wordy ways when she reaches the more intense portions of her story, and her speech becomes more polished as she matures.
Any book based upon so strong and well-loved a character as Sherlock Holmes demands that the author maintain the original standard of excellence. King masters this with a wave of her pen, starting with Holmes’ first line, in which he says nothing at all, “very sarcastically”, and carrying steadily to the end through strategically placed irritability, good humor, and perpetual wit. King takes a solid hold on Conan Doyle’s Holmes, and fleshes out his character in ways that Watson’s narratives were never able to.
Beekeeper is a captivating novel, with authentic characters who have real flaws and feelings. The plot effortlessly funnels the reader from point to point, without ever raising doubts that Mary Russell knew and adventured with the real Sherlock Holmes. Beekeeper combines a young woman’s coming-of-age story with the rounding of Sherlock Holmes’ character that readers may never have realized he needed.
This is a great review! Can’t wait to read more from you, Glory.