Customer Reviews

The Art of Detection (Kate Martinelli Mysteries)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

If you have scanned the reviews for this book, you'll note a wide range of stars among the reviews. It seems to be a love-it or hate-it book, but I found it an engrossing and highly entertaining read.

For the uninitiated, Laurie R. King has several series of mysteries. The two best known are a Sherlock Holmes series, written from the first-person perspective of Holmes' wife (yeah, it takes an initial suspension of disbelief, but once there, you are believer) and one featuring Kate Martinelli, a modern day San Francisco homicide detective. I love both series and read them avidly as they appear. This book entwines the two series, with Kate Martinelli taking on a murder investigation that involves local "Sherlockians".

A couple of things made this book not for everyone. The author has a descriptive narrative style and describes the physical environment in some detail. If someone is not familiar with San Francisco, the descriptions of the various neighborhoods and the directions of where the detectives where heading might get tedious. However, if you know San Francisco, even a little, they paint evocative pictures of the where and when and the people of the place.

On a similar note, if you have never been to the Marin Headlands on the "other side" of the Golden Gate Bridge, it might be be difficult to picture the juxtaposition of the raw physical beauty of the area and these old military relics/gun placements, etc.

Finally, the fact that the Kate Martinelli character is an unapologetic lesbian and that one of the subplots of the story revolved around a WWI soldier and his transvestite or transgendered partner may not have been to the taste of some readers. Pity them.

The pacing may have been slower than some of King's previous books, but I had trouble putting this down once I got into it.

Laurie R. King skillfully blends two of her mystery series in this book. The outer plot is a possible murder being investigated by series detective Kate Martinelli of the SFPD. The dead man is a Sherlock Holmes collector and dealer, organizer of a Holmes themed dinner club, and Kate finds a manuscript he had recently acquired, which seems to have been written by Conan Doyle during his brief stay in San Francisco in the 1920's. It is, of course, "actually" (at least to those of us familiar with King's Mary Russell / Sherlock Holmes series) a manuscript written by Holmes during their stay in San Francisco detailed in "Locked Rooms", a sidestory of an investigation he undertook while Russell was away on business. King has some fun playing with us, as to whether we are supposed to believe it is a scandalous and suppressed Conan Doyle fiction, or a historical account by Holmes.

Now this kind of thing can easily blow up or become tedious, but after some initial awkwardness King pulls it off and I found myself reading each story with equal interest yet without any real frustration at having to switch off one to the other. When the Holmes story finished (it occupies most of the third quarter of the book, as Kate is reading it for clues to her own case), I'm satisfied and ready to get back to modern days. Also great fun is the balancing of Kate's skeptical introduction to the world of the Sherlockians (she had little if any acquaintance with the Conan Doyle stories, much less the mystique they have gathered) against the interior Holmes story ... for instance, the narrator of the story refers to himself as Sigerson, which Kate doesn't realize is one of Holmes's aliases (and the one under which he and Russell were travelling in "Locked Rooms").

I'd almost give this one five stars, but a few problems tilt me to four:
-- as other reviewers have pointed out, the book does drag a bit in the early middle, and when we're first plopped into the Holmesian sub-story about halfway through. But eventually, when we get used to the change, it picks up to become quite a good read and I didn't find the minor switching back and forth and eventually entirely back to the Martinelli story distracting; it even seemed to have a good logical flow.
-- another reason for the .. ahem .. drag is the occasional lengthy digressions into Kate's personal and community life, lengthy, dewey-eyed PC treatises that is. I have nothing against gay/lesbian fiction per se, and enjoy, for instance, Jane Rule's novels and Joseph Hansen's Dave Brandstetter mysteries. But these interludes seem forced, tacked on as if they, and not the story, are the real purpose of the book (which they likely are); and too picture perfect, Diversity Potemkin Villages as it were. (By contrast, the gay theme in the Holmes substory is integral to the plot and seems quite natural.)
-- although the plot builds nicely to a point near the end, where two convincing suspects are identified, the very end is unsatisfying in that Kate seems to decide, and take precipitate and drastic action, on the basis of weak evidence, and the final scenes (before another PC interlude) are less than convincing. (It doesn't help that the villain, if not the motive, was pretty obvious pretty early on.)

This is the latest in King's Kate Martinelli mysteries. Is it the best of the series? No. It does progress the S.F. cop in her professional and personal life - She is living with her partner, Lee, and their daughter and show that relationship is just like any other 'marriage'. The plot of Detection holds much promise - an aficianado of Arthur Conan Doyle and his masterful Sherlock Holmes - is murdered, and Kate and her cop partner try to sort it out. Ms. King knows her Sherlock Holmes- writing the masterful Mary Russell series-where her husband/partner is none other than Sherlock Holmes himself. But this Martinelli book doesn't have the elegance of the Russell series, and it seems to plod along - I know true investigation is a lot of grunt work, but so many steps of it does not add to the integrity of the plot. Martinelli is a solid character and the premise of the series is a good one. But this book needed to move along at a tighter pace.
This is not the best of the Martinelli series, but any King work is great to read - it's just that with the subject matter of a character who was all consumed by one of the most wonderful fictional characters could have been so much more of a read.

Philip Gilbert, a trader in Sherlock Holmes collectibles, turns up dead in a gun emplacement in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. There is enough crime to go around, so it comes as no surprise when the Park police turn jurisdiction over to SFPD without so much as a peep. After all, the victim's home --- and possibly crime scene --- is in the City. So Detectives Kate Martinelli and Al Hawkin head over to Gilbert's house with crime scene investigators. Stepping inside, they feel like they are being transported to another time: The entire first floor is patterned after 221B Baker Street, authentic right down to the kitchen fittings and gas sconces. Is this a case of an anachronistic victim fallen prey to a modern Moriarty, or a Holmes fanatic murdered for a valuable relic?

Bemused by the evidence, Kate employs her own kind of detecting, relying on modern techniques, forensics, intuition and, yes, a little deductive reasoning. She finds no shortage of suspects. There's an attorney, suspicious because he's simply too helpful; a voyeuristic neighbor; an apathetic ex-wife; and possibly a gay lover, which might account for the ex-wife's apathy. But best of all, there's the entire membership of The Strand Diners, a group drawn together by one, and only one, thing in common: Sherlock Holmes. And Philip Gilbert was the self-appointed head of this odd assortment of devotees. Says one of the current Diners: "Philip ... was one of the founding members, fifteen, twenty years ago. I doubt he missed more than one or two meetings in all the years I've known him."

As a one-time member of a Holmes fan club, I know just how avid (or should I say obsessed) the members can be. One of the founders of my club had missed only one meeting in the 10 years of its existence, and that was because her father died that day. She would have come anyway, she said, but feared it might make the others uncomfortable. So, you see, anything's possible when it comes to the devoted Sherlockians.

While busily checking motives and alibis among the club, neighbors, and various and sundry others, Kate gets wind of an old manuscript. Written during a time it is believed that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle visited the Bay Area, speculation circulates that Doyle himself may have been the author. But it needs authentication, which Gilbert seemed to be working on at the time of his death. With the story set in San Francisco and recounting a tale about a body that turns up in the same Park gun emplacement, the direction of the investigation takes a bit of a curve. In the middle of the case, Kate takes time out to read the manuscript --- and we read right along with her. It's like getting two mysteries in one!

Meanwhile, Kate juggles her domestic life with her professional one, as difficult for this fictional detective as it is for real-life ones. Her lover, Lee, and daughter Nora compete with SFPD for Kate's time. Lee takes a change of family plans very poorly. In fact, she jealously guards scheduled vacations and days off. Plus, no one wants to disappoint little Nora. Despite all the demands on her time, Kate handily wraps up the case, with all the drama and happy endings you would expect of Laurie R. King.

Chockfull of red herrings, Holmes trivia and alternative family scenarios, THE ART OF DETECTION is good old-fashioned fun meets modern San Francisco bizarre.

--- Reviewed by Kate Ayers

In Laurie R. King's "The Art of Detection," Inspectors Kate Martinelli and Al Hawkin of the San Francisco Police Department investigate the death of a man who was dumped, barefoot and in his pajamas, in a park near the Golden Gate Bridge. The victim, Philip Gilbert, was a well-known expert on Sherlock Holmes and his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Besides having an impressive private collection of Holmesiana, Gilbert lived in a house that looks like a Masterpiece Theatre set, complete with Victorian furnishings and objects that Holmes himself might have used. Gilbert periodically met for dinner with like-minded Sherlockians dressed in period costumes. Although he was in regular communication with fellow collectors, antiquarian book dealers, and auction houses, Gilbert was a very private person with few friends.

Kate and Al interview neighbors and acquaintances of the deceased and examine the physical evidence both in Gilbert's home and at the place where his body was found. When a manuscript turns up that may be an undiscovered work by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the stakes are raised. Could this typescript, which, if authenticated, may prove to be extremely valuable, be a motive for murder?

Kate, who is gay, lives contentedly with her partner, Lee, and their daughter, Nora. They are a warm and loving family, and although Lee is sometimes irked by Kate's dedication to her job, she reluctantly accepts the fact that Kate's work will always be a priority for her. The Gilbert homicide proves to be one of those difficult-to-solve cases that will consume a great deal of time before it is finally resolved.

Alas, "The Art of Detection" is a tepid mystery that consists, for the most part, of long-winded conversations between the detectives and various witnesses and suspects, and it is a slow slog indeed. The one portion of the book that comes alive is the story within a story, consisting of the entire text of a hitherto lost manuscript that may have been written by Doyle after he visited San Francisco in the twenties. The plot features a man who bears a strong resemblance to Sherlock Holmes. Assisted by an erstwhile pickpocket, he investigates the death of a soldier who had been having a homosexual affair. Kate is struck by the uncanny resemblances between the events in the Doyle typescript and the real-life murder of Philip Gilbert.

The overriding theme of the book is that intolerance and prejudice can destroy those whose love is outside of the mainstream. Unfortunately, King's heavy-handed prose detracts from the work's impact; a more subtle approach would have been welcome. The conclusion is anticlimactic and weighed down with excessive exposition. Even readers who adore Sherlock Holmes may quickly become impatient with the talkiness and sluggish pacing of "The Art of Detection."

I love Laurie King's Mary Russell novels, and I really like her Kate Martinelli mysteries, so I was very much looking forward to this meshing of those two worlds. But after reading it, I was left thinking, "Why bother?" Going back over it, I really can't find any one part of the book that was particularly bad, but it just didn't draw me in. The descriptions of the landscape in and around San Francisco are vivid; the details of the lives of the Sherlockian characters are fascinating (and it was amusing to see Kate wrestling with the concept of their dedication to their hobby); and the Holmes story-within-a-story was quite entertaining. But there seemed to be a lack of excitement throughout--a sense of apathy about the case and it's connections to the mysterious rediscovered manuscript which made the sudden violence of the ending seem completely out of place and the sudden happiness following that even more disconcerting. And I have to admit, that as a fan of both series, I was really hoping for at least some reaction from any of the characters when they discovered what the manuscript could really be. A quick reference in the last sentence frankly was not enough for me. I'm glad I waited until it was in paperback to buy it.

Okay, I'll admit this is the first Laurie R. King book I've read and that every friend to whom I've mentioned it has been astonished at that fact. That said, this is an enjoyable suspense novel in which San Francisco detective Kate Martinelli--I KNOW you've heard of her before; shush--investigates the death of Sherlock Holmes expert/memorabilia dealer Philip Gilbert. How does an old manuscript--which may or may not have been written by Arthur Conan Doyle--relate to his murder? (I won't tell you. Otherwise, why would you read the book?)

I will admit that the story-within-the-novel, the "don't ask, don't tell" mystery that involves a soldier and his transvestite lover seemed a cut above the novel-surrounding-the-story. I found myself wishing that the book had been about THAT and, of course, when I expressed this to my all-knowing friends, they told me that the author does write Sherlock Holmes fiction. Still, the present-day mystery is involving and tightly plotted, even if the domestic details of Kate's life seemed less relevant than... well, less relevant than the mystery.

I recommend this novel. You can skip the slow parts.

Love the Mary Russell stories. Really like the Martinelli character. This book was an ill concieved blend of sorts, with Martinelli seeking resolution of the death of a Holmes' collector. Both the modern day mystery and the pastiche were slow and thin. The book itself is preachy, where it had no need to try so hard. The vignettes of Kate and Nora and Lee spoke more eloquently about acceptance than the rest of the tepid storylines. The mystery itself was no mystery. The pastiche was merely annoying. I just can't find a reason to recommend this book. A disappointment.

I can not believe that this is the first Laurie R. King novel that I've read. I wouldn't have known King had a dyke detective series if I hadn't been on a queer girl book bender, which makes me wonder - how on earth do you market to queer girls like me? How could King have written five books in the Kate Martinelli series before I came across it? I love classic police procedurals, and I love dyke detectives (who doesn't!), so I really should have been reading this series from the beginning. But what a pleasure it will be to catch up now that I've discovered it.

The Art of Detection is an intelligent crime novel. King keeps the pace up while she flips the narrative between the modern day crime and the story-within-a-story, which is a previously undiscovered Sherlock Holmes story. The Sherlock Holmes story is beautifully written, and surprisingly moving.

King layers meaning into the modern day crime, the Sherlock Holmes story, and Kate's home life. King plays with theme and subplot easily - this obviously isn't a debut novel. The final scene is a lovely gay-affirming twist.

Girlfriend enjoyed this book too. She said that King "dealt with difficult issues with grace and ease and humanity". And she told me to order up on King's backlist.

Ms. King's writing is excellent as always. Personally I would have loved the book to be 10 times as long and focus exclusively on Kate and Lee's personal life. But just because that's a personal fantasy of mine it would be unfair to judge the book negatively because the author followed her usual modus operandi and actually included a mystery and focused on the plot. Anyone who has been following the series knows Ms. King titillates her readers with poignant but alas brief glimpses into the characters private lives and she focuses on the plot. I can't wait for the next entry in the Martinelli saga. Kudos and my heartfelt thanks to the author.