Justice Hall [Paperback]

Laurie R King (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2003

The latest in Laurie R King's hugely popular Mary Russell mystery series: 'Beguiling variation on Sherlock Holmes sequels! civilized, ingenious and engrossing' -- Literary Review Hours after Holmes and Russell return from solving the murky riddle of The Moor, a bloodied but oddly familiar stranger pounds desperately on their front door, pleading for their help. When he recovers, he lays before them the story of the enigmatic Marsh Hughenfort, younger brother of the Duke of Beauville, returned to England upon his brother's death, determined to learn the truth about the untimely death of the hall's expected heir! a puzzle he is convinced only Holmes and Russell can solve. It's a mystery that begins during the Great War of 1918, when young Gabriel Hughenfort, the late Duke's only son, died amidst scandalous rumors that have haunted the family ever since. While Holmes heads to London to uncover the truth of Gabriel's war record, Russell joins an ill-fated shooting party. A missing diary, a purloined bundle of letters, and a trail of ominous clues comprise a mystery that will call for Holmes's cleverest disguises and Russell's most daring journeys into the unknown! from an English hamlet to the city of Paris to the wild prairie of the New World. The trap is set, the game is afoot, but can they catch an elusive villain in the act of murder before they become his next victims?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A lost heir, murder most foul, and the unexpected return of two old friends start Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes--spouses and intellectual equals--on an investigation that takes them from the trenches of World War I France to the heights of English society. In this sixth entry in Laurie King's award-winning series, fans will find the Baker Street sleuth mellowed by age and marriage yet still in possession of his deductive abilities and acerbic wit, and, in Mary Russell, a surprisingly apt companion for the legendary detective.

Justice Hall brings back two colorful characters from earlier in the series: Bedouins Ali and Mahmoud Hazr (now known as Alistair and Marsh), who last appeared in O Jerusalem. At their request, Holmes and Russell take up the trail of the doomed heir to Justice Hall, who has been executed for cowardice in the bloody trenches of France. As the detectives strive to make sense of his death and to locate another heir to the family title, an attempt is made on the life of the man who's soon to be welcomed as the new duke. Holmes and Russell soon realize something sinister is afoot, and that they must untangle a web of deceit to discover which of the many suspects is taking steps to shorten the line of inheritance. Once again, King's satisfying tale stays true to the spirit of Conan Doyle's original stories while extending them into new terrain. --Benjamin Reese --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Sherlock Holmes has been much used and even more often abused by the many writers who have adopted and adapted him for their own purposes. What a delight then to find an author able to make profound changes while hewing so closely to the spirit of the original. With great verve and imagination King has extended Sherlock's career, pairing him with the superb Mary Russell. In the Edgar winner's sixth novel to feature the sleuthing duo (The Beekeeper's Apprentice, etc.), Mary is a fully accepted equal to her husband and partner in detection. From the opening knock on their door by a wounded visitor to the satisfying denouement, King has again crafted a sterling story. Two characters from a previous adventure (O Jerusalem), Ali Hazr and his brother, Mahmoud, have problems that require an understanding of British aristocracy and the unraveling of the story behind a British soldier's execution. King employs the English manor house to good effect, including the changes wrought by WWI, and seamlessly incorporates as background the horrific wartime executions of numerous British soldiers for desertion or cowardice. Separately and jointly, Mary and Sherlock utilize familiar tools: research, disguises, trips to London and France and the connections and expertise of Mycroft Holmes to ferret out crimes committed and contemplated. Though some Baker Street Irregulars may humbly beg to differ, King comes close to matching the fine intelligence and wit that informed Doyle's original adventures, providing irresistible entertainment.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 346 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins Pb (December 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 000711138X
• ISBN-13: 978-0007111381
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (77 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,595,345 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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Mystery but Not a Holmes One, June 28, 2002

By 

Katherine Woodbury "Woody" (Portland, ME) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Justice Hall (Hardcover)

I enjoyed reading this latest installment of the Holmes-Russell saga. I was interested from beginning to end. And I found the WWI parts fascinating.

However . . . the book, for all its rather heavy exposition, felt rushed and not as thoughtful as the other Holmes-Russell books. It also felt, I hate to say this, a tad contrived, as if plots devices were being forced on each other rather than growing together naturally. Despite the charisma of Ali and Mahmoud (their relationship is the best part of the book), I felt I was skimming the surface of their motivations. Consequently, there were parts of the mystery that seemed too easily resolved.

And I missed Holmes. The book is not really about Holmes. Or even Mary. It is about Justice Hall and its occupants, and I will overstepped my bounds by suggesting that that is the story Laurie King wanted to write with Holmes-Russell added on as an afterthought.

My recommendation: Unless you are a fan/collector, wait for it in paperback.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A well written but disappointing sequel, March 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Justice Hall (Mary Russell Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm a fan of the first books of the series and I found that so far Ms. King had very skillfully reinvented Sherlock Holmes, giving him an active and attractive partner/equal in the person of his wife rather than a passive 'Watson' one. In this book however, nearly all the elements I liked in the original Holmes stories and the first Holmes/Russel ones are absent. No interesting plot, no real detection, no clever reasoning. Holmes is so much in the background and achieves so little that he's almost absent. Mary Russell does more (feminist) socializing than detection. Even the characters of Mahmoud and Ali, so interesting in 'Oh Jerusalem'are disappointing because they are 'overdone'. What's left is a somewhat interesting depiction of post WWI England, with a nice insight in the life of England's 'names' families and their estate (but if you like that go for 'Gosford Park' instead, at least you'll get a subtle plot), combined with a depiction of life in the trenches during WWI (pages and pages of a soldier's diary mostly unrelated to the plot) and a critcism of the execution for 'cowardice' of soldiers. And I almost forgot, the usually interesting game of Holmes the misogyn vs. Russel the feminist is almost absent, it has been supplanted by a more carricatural feminism, such as the character of 'the-wonderful-lesbian-who-did-it-once-with-a-friend-and-is-therefore-also-a-mother'.
Nero Wolfe would say 'pfui!', and so do I.
Not a bad book, but not a Holmes/Russel one, and definitely not a Holmes one.
Disappointing !

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Return!, March 28, 2002

By 

Elizabeth A Bryant (Elizabeth, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Justice Hall (Hardcover)

Wonderful! The return of the Hazr brothers! I have waited two years for this book, and it was worth every second of the wait!
A reluctant, yet dutiful, heir. A loyal and desperate cousin. A surprise wife. A murdered and righteous man. A secret. And, of course, the remarkable pair of Holmes and Russell.
This was a great read. I would have to rank it right up there with "O Jerusalem," just behind "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" and "A Monstrous Regiment of Women." I absolutely devoured every page of this great book!