The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R. King - 5 star - Reveals the past life of Mrs. Hudson

The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R. King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publishing April 5, 2016

Having read Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories as a kid, I have always loved everything Holmes. Laurie R. King especially writes a fascinating series about Holmes after retirement to the country to raise bees when he meets and marries Mary Russell, a young woman with gifts similar to his. Mary keeps Holmes sharp and the two work together on cases and share adventures.

In The Murder of Mary Russell, we see King at her finest in her ability to imagine the past lives of those surrounding Holmes. When Mary Russell goes missing, it appears to be related to the past life of Mrs. Hudson, the current housekeeper, and prior landlady at 221B Baker St.

This is a Mrs. Hudson as we have never seen her portrayed. We find that in reality, Mrs. Clara Hudson is actually Miss Clarissa Hudson, as she has never married.

As a child, Clarissa and her mother are transported to Australia after her mother commits a crime, intentionally, hoping to be transported so she can meet her husband who is currently in Australia. James is in Australia as he left England owing a substantial sum to a London super criminal called The Bishop.

When her mother passes away, James and his two daughters, Alicia and Clarissa, are in desperate straights. James is surprised to identify an amazing acting ability in his eldest, Clarissa, and sets out to use this talent to commit "Cheats" as Clarissa thinks of them. These are little cons committed by James and Clarissa in which Clarissa either distracts the victim while James picks their pockets or appeals to their sympathy with a false claim of distress and obtains little monetary gifts.

As Clarissa gets older, the "Cheats" become harder and harder to perpetrate in Australia. Knowing Alicia has no abilities to participate in their cons, they leave her in the safe hands of her teacher and head to London. Alicia then leads a very normal life growing up in Australia and marrying.

In the meantime, the now young woman Clarissa is pulling her biggest con - have a season in the ton and find a wealthy husband. But, this is where she makes her mistake - she falls in love with a wrong man.

Mrs. Hudson's story takes several twists and turns that tie her to the young man, Sherlock Holmes, for the rest of her life. Included in this relationship are a baby and a young man boy named Billy. What do they have in common? Why has this resulted in a danger for Mary Russell? Where is Mary - is she dead or in danger? All is revealed.

I loved the background story of Mrs. Hudson. This is so far from what you would expect of the ever present, proper landlady from the Holmes stories. But, this is definitely her story, and Sherlock Holmes takes a back seat here. As usual, the writing is superb and King keeps us riveted with her unusual tale.

I highly recommend this for lovers of Conan Doyle and the Mary Russell series.

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The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce - Read Harold Fry first!

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My book club chose the Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy for our February meeting title. This title is a companion book to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. We have a rule in our club that we will only read books that no one in the group has read. Since someone had read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry that book could not be selected for the club. But, we read somewhere that Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy could stand alone and did not require having read the first title. Our book club determined this was not a true statement. The only person who truly enjoyed this second title was the person who read the first title.

Miss Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is dying. She has written a letter to Harold Fry letting him know she is dying and, apparently, that she has been in love with him since they worked together many years ago. She is aware that Harold has now undertaken a 600 mile walk to come to her and hopes his long walk will give her something to look forward to and she will stay alive until he arrives.

However, since there are no guarantees she will be alive to see him, Miss Queenie determines, with the help of a new volunteer nun, that she will write a second letter to Harold, telling him all he needs to know about her life during the time they worked together, why she left, and why she lives alone in a seaside cottage and has never married.

Basically, I found the story very sad and depressing. Queenie is an interesting character, but I just found I had a hard time getting into the story and interested in her past. The story is quirky and full of interesting little stories and quirky characters. But, there were just too many questions left unanswered. Based on the reaction of the one person who read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, it was important to have read that story first to understand why Harold was coming to see Queenie, why he was walking all the way, and what his feelings and thoughts were about her. Apparently, understanding Harold gives us more insight into Queenie and her experiences.

I strongly suggest this book NOT be read as a stand alone, but only after having read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.


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