Garment of Shadows: A novel of suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Laurie R. King (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 4, 2012

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Laurie R. King’s New York Times bestselling novels of suspense featuring Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, comprise one of today’s most acclaimed mystery series. Now, in their newest and most thrilling adventure, the couple is separated by a shocking circumstance in a perilous part of the world, each racing against time to prevent an explosive catastrophe that could clothe them both in shrouds.
 
In a strange room in Morocco, Mary Russell is trying to solve a pressing mystery: Who am I? She has awakened with shadows in her mind, blood on her hands, and soldiers pounding on the door. Out in the hivelike streets, she discovers herself strangely adept in the skills of the underworld, escaping through alleys and rooftops, picking pockets and locks. She is clothed like a man, and armed only with her wits and a scrap of paper containing a mysterious Arabic phrase. Overhead, warplanes pass ominously north.
 
Meanwhile, Holmes is pulled by two old friends and a distant relation into the growing war between France, Spain, and the Rif Revolt led by Emir Abd el-Krim—who may be a Robin Hood or a power mad tribesman. The shadows of war are drawing over the ancient city of Fez, and Holmes badly wants the wisdom and courage of his wife, whom he’s learned, to his horror, has gone missing. As Holmes searches for her, and Russell searches for herself, each tries to crack deadly parallel puzzles before it’s too late for them, for Africa, and for the peace of Europe.
 
With the dazzling mix of period detail and contemporary pace that is her hallmark, Laurie R. King continues the stunningly suspenseful series that Lee Child called “the most sustained feat of imagination in mystery fiction today.”

Praise for Garment of Shadows
 
“As always, the relationship between Holmes and Russell is utterly understated yet traced with heat and light.”—Booklist (starred review)
 
“[A] taut tale . . . original and intriguing . . . This tantalizing glimpse into the life and times of a rapidly evolving Arabic society has remarkable resonance for our own uncertain times.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“Those new to the series are in for a treat.”—Bookreporter

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Q&A: Louise Penny interviewing Author Laurie R. King

Louise Penny Biography: Louise Penny is the New York Times bestselling author of eight Chief Inspector Gamache novels, which have won the New Blood Dagger, Macavity, Nero, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Agatha, Dilys, and Anthony Awards. She lives with her husband in Québec, where she is at work on her next novel.

Q: Garment of Shadows is the twelfth book in the Mary Russell series (along with the e-short story, Beekeeping for Beginners). How has Mary evolved for you from your first novels? Has she surprised you in any ways?

A: The Beekeeper's Apprentice was intended as a coming-of-age novel, in which a brilliant young mind grows into its own under the guidance of an equally brilliant, if unlikely, tutor: one Sherlock Holmes. That book set the stage for a life (and a relationship) that has circled the globe both physically and metaphorically, and over the decade of their adventures, she has definitely evolved.

As for surprising me, I'm the kind of writer who researches closely, plots vaguely, and then dives in and follows the characters as they meet the challenges of the time and place. I positively depend on my characters surprising me.

Q: A big part of your mysteries is the globetrotting element. What has led you to set your mysteries in so many places?

A: It isn’t just that it gives me an excuse to travel. Honestly.

Sherlock Holmes is English: specifically, a Londoner. Sherlock Holmes is also solitary, accompanied only by Dr. Watson. When I started writing Holmes, I envisioned him as a supporting actor, but soon found myself exploring his character, forcing him outside his stereotypes and making demands on him that Conan Doyle never did: a Victorian in a post-WWI world; a solitary man in a serious relationship; an Englishman in foreign lands.

And I was fascinated to find how he both developed and remained true to himself. Sherlock Holmes as a travelling magician in rural India, or a Bedouin in Palestine, is both the same man and intriguingly different.

Their travel also puts Russell on a more level plane with him, since even if he’s familiar with the country, she has the advantage of youth’s natural flexibility to adapt.

Q: How do you approach the historical relevancy of the time period and place? How much of the Arab Spring has influenced Garment of Shadows?

A: Historical fiction is both a window and a mirror. My readers are people who love to learn about other times and places (and yes, I am a compulsive researcher!). Yet without the reflection of our own concerns and experiences, a historical novel has as much appeal as a stack of 3”x5” cards.

As a writer, my primary task is to entertain. But we writers are sly, and we have deeper goals. We aim to leave the reader thinking, just a little, about these different yet oddly familiar people.

While I was writing Garment of Shadows, which draws in part on the 1920s Moroccan independence movement, the crowds gathered in Tahrir Square: no doubt that awareness wove its way into the story, just as the story now will weave its way into the minds of its readers. A novel is an entertainment, but it is also a mirror giving a new perspective on the world.

Q: If you could grant Russell and Holmes one modern convenience in solving their mysteries, what would it be?

A: Holmes would leap at the Internet, gloating over all the world's information at his fingertips. Russell, on the other hand, would love cell phones—she's forever wondering what on earth Holmes is up to.

Would it be cheating to give them both smart phones?

Review

“The great marvel of King’s series is that she’s managed to preserve the integrity of Holmes’s character and yet somehow conjure up a woman astute, edgy, and compelling enough to be the partner of his mind as well as his heart.”—The Washington Post Book World
 
Praise for Garment of Shadows
 
“As always, the relationship between Holmes and Russell is utterly understated yet traced with heat and light.”—Booklist (starred review)
 
“[A] taut tale . . . original and intriguing . . . This tantalizing glimpse into the life and times of a rapidly evolving Arabic society has remarkable resonance for our own uncertain times.”—Publishers Weekly
 
“Those new to the series are in for a treat.”—Bookreporter

The award-winning novels of Laurie R. King are . . .
 
“A lively adventure in the very best of intellectual company.”—The New York Times
 
“Erudite, fascinating . . . by all odds the most successful re-creation of the famous inhabitant of 221B Baker Street ever attempted.”—Houston Chronicle
 
“Intricate clockworks, wheels within wheels.”—Booklist (starred review)
 
“Imaginative and subtle.”—The Seattle Times
 
“Impossible to put down.”—Romantic Times
 
“Remarkably beguiling.”—The Boston Globe

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; First Edition edition (September 4, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780553807998
• ISBN-13: 978-0553807998
• ASIN: 0553807994
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.1 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (201 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,619 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times bestselling crime writer Laurie R. King writes both series and standalone novels.

In the Mary Russell series (first entry: The Beekeeper's Apprentice), fifteen-year-old Russell meets Sherlock Holmes on the Sussex Downs in 1915, becoming his apprentice, then his partner. The series follows their amiably contentious partnership into the 1920s as they challenge each other to ever greater feats of detection.

The Kate Martinelli series, starting with A Grave Talent, concerns a San Francisco homicide inspector, her SFPD partner, and her life partner. In the course of the series, Kate encounters a female Rembrandt, a modern-day Holy Fool, two difficult teenagers, a manifestation of the goddess Kali and an eighty-year-old manuscript concerning'Sherlock Holmes.

King also has written stand-alone novels--the historical thriller Touchstone, A Darker Place, two loosely linked novels'Folly and Keeping Watch--and a science fiction novel, Califia's Daughters, under the pseudonym Leigh Richards.

King grew up reading her way through libraries like a termite through balsa before going on to become a mother, builder, world traveler, and theologian.

She has now settled into a genteel life of crime, back in her native northern California. She has a secondary residence in cyberspace, where she enjoys meeting readers in her Virtual Book Club and on her blog.

King has won the Edgar and Creasey awards (for A Grave Talent), the Nero (for A Monstrous Regiment of Women) and the MacCavity (for Folly); her nominations include the Agatha, the Orange, the Barry, and two more Edgars. She was also given an honorary doctorate from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific.

Check out King's website, http://laurierking.com/, and follow the links to her blog and Virtual Book Club, featuring monthly discussions of her work, with regular visits from the author herself. And for regular LRK updates, follow the link to sign up for her email newsletter.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#93 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#93 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 67 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A welcome return to classic King style: More Sherlock, more suspense, no padding. 4.5 stars July 6, 2012

By Sharon Isch TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

A few things longtime fans of the series should know straight off: 1. This novel has a confusing start and a complex, convoluted ending, but I think, by the time it's all over, most readers will have agreed that that turned out to be a GOOD thing. 2. Our heroine's husband, Sherlock Holmes, is back as a full-fledged co-star in this one, something many King fans have been begging for for a long time. 3. The high page-count padding that others of us have groused about is gone. 4. This 13th in the series starts out looking like it's a going to be a sequel to the last one, "Pirate King," but it really isn't, except as a way of explaining how the couple happened to be in Morocco (to the relief of this reader, who didn't much like that book).

Other things you may find worth knowing from the get-go: 1. The story opens with heroine/narrator Mary Russell waking up with a head injury, not knowing where she is or even WHO she is. Readers will spend much of those early pages sharing her amnesic confusions over what's going on and where this story is headed. 2. Unless you know the basics of Moroccan colonial and tribal history circa 1924, you may find it useful to consult an encyclopedia or Wikipedia for a quick primer before digging in. 3. The Hazr brothers, who play key roles in this novel, have appeared previously in the series-in O Jerusalem (Mary Russell Novels)(1999) and Justice Hall (Mary Russell Novels)(2002). 4. Arabic words crop up frequently, but only a few are defined in the glossary at the back. 5. Sherlock's "cousin," Morocco's Resident General Lyautey, better known as the Marachal, was a real person.

Plenty of high drama, as France, Spain, Germany and England try to assert their colonial dominance and tribal leaders plot against them and each other to claim their country as their own. Lots of interesting characters and nail-biting suspense here. Probably will appeal more to longtime fans of the series. But also to fans of history mysteries, like Barry Unsworth's Land of Marvels: A Novel

Has anyone else noticed that it's been a long while since King gave us a non-series, stand-alone thriller? Would love to see another one of those sometime soon.

112 of 124 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars sex, drugs, & the active/passive voice July 8, 2012

By Julia Walker VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I took a look at some other reviews just now, and I've got to say, I'm a bit shocked. I had expected all 5-stars and tearful rejoicing at the return of Laurie R King to the land of OMG-I-can't-wait-a-whole-year-for-the-next-book authors.

And, indeed, there are some reviews which say almost exactly that -- with an extra layer of "and thank heavens King is back on form."

Amen.

But what shocked me were the 3 reviews making, roughly, this argument:

~there's too much Mary Russell in this Russell/Holmes book
~there's too much history and politics to learn
~there's not enough action [in a book where no one sits down for 5 minutes altogether unless concussed or chained]
~there's not enough Sherlock Holmes.

According to this trio, King should return to "the premise that Sherlock Holmes had lived into an amazingly hearty old age, adopted an apprentice and then fallen in love with -- and married her.

Holmes, you'll note, operates in the active voice, while Russell is his to adopt, to love, and to marry. Wait!?!! Did I miss our mass relocation to the 1950s? (1850s, 1750s, 16 . . ???)

Now I'm not saying that King hasn't deserved some chiding in the last few years -- 2 half-books passing as wholes and pirates-light (or even lite.) But, viewed from a distance, we might see a larger pattern here.

The trip to India gives us an adventure with Russell and Holmes separated for considerable chunks of action, and -- more symbolically -- the threshold-crossing act of Mary cutting her iconic hair. The San Francisco book (one of my favorites) is a foray into Mary's childhood as well as a long-delayed space for her to consider herself as a woman, not as a mind in a woman's body. The Russell we meet in The Bee-Keeper's Apprentice is a product of circumstances, as much as of courage and intellect. She has spent her adolescence reacting from and against things beyond her control; learning has been her North star and she had let that guide her to the exclusion of nearly everything else. The next novels follow rapidly, giving Mary little time to develop an introspective analysis of herself as a human female. She doesn't give herself a 10th the time and attention that she lavishes on her scholarship, nor is she aware that she needs to.

But in Locked Rooms, she gets a space and time for that sort of personal contemplation.

I wish I could say something positive about the next two books, but I'm still furious with King about that "to be continued" followed by Puck of Pook's Whatever. But, in the context of this review, I can make a case for the books as coming-of-age novels for Russell, who plays the steady anchor to an atypically emotional Holmes. And then there's the pirate book, which is way better (sorry for the technical reviewer language) than the two half-books, but which seems largely contrived to give Russell a sort of Spring Break with detective interludes.

In this book, Garment of Shadows, Russell and Holmes weigh in as equals. Yes, yes, Holmes has that reputation, which casts its shadow even as he travels under the name Vernet, but by giving Russell the lion's share of the action, King evens that up nicely. And when there's saving to be done, Russell does it.

And then there's the drawing-room scene (actually, it is a library) much complained about by one reviewer. What? The library scene is the money shot, the pay-off, the natural progression, as Russell out-deduces not only a very very clever shadow figure, but Holmes himself.

Now I have absolutely no idea if King was trying for this sort of progression -- I just read books, I don't write them, well, I don't write mysteries -- but it seems, at the very least, a possible parsing of the series. Read this volume and see~

oh yes, sorry, TEARFUL REJOICING at King's return to the land of the 5-star review . . .

pps And I second Sharon Isch's plea for another stand-alone of the caliber of Touchstone and Folly.

ppps Ms King? Oxford? branchy between towers? are we really to believe that Russell, however in need of some interior development, can stay away from lark-charmèd Oxford -- her natural environment -- for this long? can go without her work for over a year? can read so very little????

50 of 55 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Together Again June 28, 2012

By Jeanne Tassotto VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This is the 12th novel in the MARY RUSSELL series and picks up only a few weeks after the events of PIRATE KING.

Once again Holmes and his wife, Mary, find themselves caught up in the 'Great Game' this time in war torn Morocco. The pair had been looking forward to being reunited now that dreadful assignment Mycroft had given Mary was ending but when Holmes arrived to meet with her Mary was missing, and had left behind very few clues for him to follow. Mary meanwhile had woken up in a strange place, with a throbbing headache and no idea of who she was or how she had gotten there. The only thought that was clear to her was that she was in danger and needed to flee. Eventually the pair reunite but only to discover that all is not as it seems, and that once again their lives are moved by unseen forces.

This, like the rest of this series, is a light hearted adventure story, this time set in exotic Morocco. The colorful location and confused political situation of North Africa provide an intriguing setting for a plot that is full of twists and turns. King once again brings life to her characters, especially Mary and Sherlock as she tells this tale. Fans of the series will be happy to meet some old friends from earlier novels (O JERUSALEM and JUSTICE HALL) in this adventure, as well as to meet a new one who will hopefully return in later ones.

The overall story arc of this series is quite pronounced and so to fully appreciate this one I would recommend reading at least of some the earlier novels. An even better idea would be to begin at the beginning (THE BEEKEEPER'S APPRENTICE) and proceed in order.