The Moor: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes: Mary Russell, Book 4

Mary Russell is reluctantly dragged away from her studies after receiving a telegram from Holmes requesting her presence in Dartmoor. Holmes had been in Dartmoor visiting an old friend, but got drawn into an investigation after a local is killed. The case in question involves a ghostly carriage made of bones and a spectral hound haunting the Moor. Rather begrudgingly, Mary helps to scout for clues in the foggy, cold, and damp Moor. What both her and Holmes find are a handful of supernatural sightings that draw suspicious parallels between this case and one of Holmes' most famous investigations, The Hound of the Baskervilles.Like a lot of Sherlock Holmes fans, The Hound of the Baskervilles holds a special place in my heart. So revisiting the setting of that mystery with Mary and Holmes had my geeky heart all a titter.The pacing here was a lot faster than in some of the other Mary Russell books, which was a relief after slogging through the slow moving A Letter of Mary. My only complaint is pretty mild, Mary was going through a bit of a mid-life crisis that involved a hesitance to fully join Holmes in the case until near the end. So she sort of emotionally checked out during the first half of the investigation. While she was still physically involved, there was a lot of background noise involving her reluctance to be there at all. King did a good job of attributing this to a psychological backlash due to the events of the previous three books but, with such an awesome mystery going on, I got frustrated that Mary wasn't getting into it. However, Holmes more than made up for Mary's standoffish attitude. He was, luckily, more present here than he had been in the previous books and seemed really in his element. It was great seeing Holmes get to dash about and really get into the mystery, which is something we hadn't fully gotten to see in the first three novels.Most of the action takes place in a huge echoing mansion and the chilly moor, which seems so far removed from the London/Sussex settings of the previous novels that it was a refreshing change. I also really adored the moor atmosphere because I'm a huge fan of Gothic mysteries. The moor offered a great eerie and isolated feeling typically found in that genre and it really upped the suspense.This is, by far, my favorite out of the series so far. I highly recommend it.

Mary is called from her studies in Oxford to join her husband Sherlock Holmes on Dartmoor. At first resentful, Mary soon becomes interested in investigating the death of an itinerant tin miner and rumors of a ghostly carriage and a hound with a single glowing eye. They are staying at the home of the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould who is a long-time friend of Sherlock's. Baring-Gould is nearly ninety and dying but he is still a force to be reckoned with on the moor. He is the author of more than 150 books on a wide variety of topics (and Mary reads quite a number of them while in his home). He's most famous for collecting the traditional songs of Dartmoor and trying to preserve the culture that he fears will be lost when communication gets easier.Dartmoor is the scene of one of Sherlock's most famous cases - The Hound of the Baskervilles -- and Baskerville Hall and its new owner American Richard Ketteridge play an important part in this story. I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the land and the people of Dartmoor as Mary came to appreciate the stark beauty of the land. Even without the supernatural creatures who are supposed to inhabit the land, the fogs and marshes provide enough danger for any traveler. Add in the British military using part of the moor to test artillery and test out a new sort of tank and you have a dangerous place to spend time.This was an excellent episode in this series. I liked seeing how Mary and Holmes are getting along after two years of marriage.

This book is a paean to a unique geographical zone in England. It's not really a detective or adventure novel. Author Laurie R. King obviously is fond of the Dartmoor area, in the southwest corner adjacent to the port town of Plymouth, and the people who inhabit it. While Dartmoor is the name of the prison located there, the title of King's book is how the overall area may be better known. The moor is a center of: exploration for relics of the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, whitewater kayaking and canoeing, mining for various clays and metals such as tin, farming and raising of animals, and the study of local myths and legends. Geographically, the moor is an elevated region at about 2,000 ft of about 350 square miles, circularly-shaped, isolated from normal commerce, and a massive target for rainfall and ocean-based storms. As a bowl-shaped area it holds water, and spawns rivers. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops (known as tors). Conan Doyle cited his earlier novel about Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, in the moor. He also introduced the character of a church rector named Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould (SBG). Actually SBG was a real person (28 January 1834 - 2 January 1924) who is remembered particularly as a writer of hymns, the best-known being "Onward, Christian Soldiers," and is a primary character at age 90 in "The Moor." Author King's novel is set in 1924. It's basically a set of short adventures, mostly by Sherlock's wife Mary Russell. All are aimed at exploration of some area or facet of the moor or the people who live within it, and originate from SBG's home. By this device, King shows us what she likes about the moor. And she does that with her skill in setting scenes and creating dialogue with lavish use of the full power of the English language. That's the redeeming characteristic of this novel. "The Moor" is not, IMHO, as described on the cover "a novel of suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes." Russell is the featured character in the little adventures of discovery about the moor. Author King really doesn't get serious about plot until the last 50 or so pages, and Holmes doesn't really do any deduction. The only suspense is to learn if King will bring the book to some definitive ending, or run out of paper. I would rate this book at 3 stars because I love to read someone's writing using the full strength of the English language. By another author, it's 1 star, and a pass.

Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell, his protege, and eventual wife! So cleverly written, I am mightily impressed!A recent “discovery” my finding these stories! I am well and truly hooked. I am amused by some of the “tongue in cheek” clever efforts by the writer, and her knowledge, evident research, and her characterisations. Being very much British, I am so relieved and refreshed by the “Englishness “, and at the same time the cosmopolitan approach and inclusiveness. Even the spelling is British! Probably intentional, of course. Why did I not know about Laurie King sooner?! But....hey....so much to enjoy and look forward to. Very evocative for all Sherlock Holmes fans.....and women who are characters in their own right!

Laurie King is a writer of worthy reputation, and she constructs gripping mysteries time and again. My only reservation - but it is one that I simply cannot overcome - is that this is her Sherlock Holmes, and it only bears a superficial resemblance to Conan Doyle’s inimitable original, so that I read with interest but never conviction.

Laurie R. King has founded a whole genre writing new Sherlock Holmes mysteries with a female protagonist in the lead. To contrive fictions on fiction, renew and maintain the original fictional style, and invent cracking new stories, is no mean feat, and the Mary Russell series is to be highly commended as entertaining novels with clever nuances which always stay just the right side of parody or pastiche.The Moor is no exception to the rather brilliant inventions Laurie King brings to each of Mary Russell's escapades with her hero husband, Sherlock Holmes. Detective stories with a difference, each book sparkles with wit, perception, expertise in story, style, and sensibility, acute eye for detail, and an electric personal touch in the relationship between Holmes and his wife, 30 years his junior, the intelligent, intellectual, dynamic, eclectic, fascinating Mary Russell.I recommend The Moor as I recommend all the Mary Russell books. Anyone who has ever enjoyed a detective novel, and/or who has a secret penchant for Sherlock Holmes, will love them all.

Is she becoming a dusty old academic at the tender age of 23 or 24? It seems possible, but with Holmes tearing her away from the Bodleian and ancient theologies to assist in investigating mysteries, perhaps she may yet become more "normal". This mystery revolves around a well known (real) figure and Dartmoor...the moors and its peculiarities. Despite dauntingly dismal weather the mystery unravels and is eventually solved...the solution is far less exciting and interesting than the scene and the characters, however. The descriptions of the moors and the legends are enjoyable, bringing an unusual depth to the narrative.

Another engaging book in this series, which is a well-written and cleverly-imagined continuation of the Sherlock Holmes stories. HOWEVER, there was what I felt to be one jarring note which brought me up sharply - at one point, slipping into a dangerous bog is described as being covered by a DUVET! I know the character Mary Russell is meant to be a thoroughly modern and well-travelled young lady but this set in is the early 1900s. I was brought up in the UK in the 1950s and 60s and I had never even heard of a duvet until probably the late 60s/early 70s - and even then I would probably have called it a Continental quilt. I think the term "eiderdown" would have been much more appropriate and certainly less jarring - but overall this small point didn't detract from my enjoyment of another interesting "Holmes and Russell" mystery. I will continue to work my way through the series..