Customer Reviews

Justice Hall: A Mary Russell Novel

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

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.

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 !

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!

Laurie King's series about Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell always puzzle me. Except for one or two less successful efforts, she has managed to create the impossible Holmes gimmick - a Mrs. Holmes, and makes it (and her) utterly believable. Rather than twist Holmes character so that he turns into a romanticized parody of himself, she has made Mary Russell the only woman the consulting detective could have married and remained himself. That Laurie King has proved herself an adept writer in this and her other series about Kate Martinelli is sufficient to ensure that I regularly buy her work.

'Justice Hall' is the seat of one of England's blue-blooded ducal families, the Hughenforts. Whose motto (in English) is 'Righteousness is my strength.' They have been fiercely loyal to the throne of England for nearly 1000 years, but now find themselves in rather peculiar circumstances. The current duke has no desire for the job. Much to Holmes' and Russell's surprise, Marsh Hughenfort is an old friend, but in a difference guise. The seventh duke and his best friend Alistair are Mahmoud and Ali, agent's of the British, and the heroes of another King novel, 'O Jerusalem.'

Ali, determined to free Marsh from the tyranny of his title, has brought the Holmes family in to investigate the credibility of a potential heir. But the case grows more complex as attempted murder rears it's ugly head, and Holmes becomes convinced that the silence around the wartime death of Gabriel, the heir who preceded Marsh hides a secret that will untangle the current perplex. Gabriel was shot for mutiny in the trenches of Europe, but the tragedy has been carefully hidden away by all concerned. When Marsh is nearly killed in a hunting accident Sherlock and Mary realize that there is some evil behind what has happened to the Hughenfort heirs. The chase leads then through England, Europe and off to Canada as well.

One of the remarkable things about this novel is the first quarter of it, which is, for the most part, dedicated to a loving description of Justice Hall, its environs, and its people. For those who are patient, this is a remarkable essay on the beauties of architecture and place. The beginnings of the mystery and all the characters come to life against a background which, if it does not exist, certainly should. If Laurie King ever takes up travelogues, I will not doubt read them. Once this is done, the novel picks up pace rapidly, and by the end the reader will be as stunned by the plot as he or she was entranced by the place.

Another interesting facet of a very rich and complex novel is King's exposure of the horrors of World War I, in particular the excessive harshness the British Army inflicted on its own soldiers. 306 men were shot at dawn for desertion, cowardice, and, occasionally, simply to teach their men a lesson. Most of these were still in their teens, struggling with a brutal war that they only half understood. This punishment was abolished in 1930, but despite re-examination of the cases, the British Secretary of Defense has refused to make any posthumous pardons. King picks up this theme and makes it one of the driving forces behind what I believe is her best effort yet.

I love Laurie King, have read all her books and can't recommend them enough. But not this time. I agree with those who miss the feisty interplay between Holmes and Russell and only wish I could agree with those who love the pages upon pages of architectural and social-event description. To me this book reads like a very good 120-page novella, padded relentlessly until it dragged its way to the requisite 300+ pages. On the positive side, I found the return of the Hazr cousins a wonderful and unexpected treat and the sad history of Britain's World War I officer executions appalling and incredibly poignant. Maybe if, as one reader suspects, King is tiring of her characters and getting ready to kill off Holmes, she'll pair Russell off with this book's wonderfully written new character, Iris. Then she could not only kill off Holmes but also get rid of her Martinelli series which seems to have lost its steam. She'd then be able to merge lesbian and straight detectives into one series and free herself up to write more non-series novels, which I'm guessing is where her real interests lie now. I strongly encourage those of you unfamiliar with this series to start with any book but this one, preferably "The Beekeeper's Apprentice." And do not even consider reading this one until you've read "O Jerusalem," which introduces key characters in this book.

Overall, this book's strong points outweighed its weak points and made it an enjoyable read. The mystery is intruiguing, the growing sense of outrage at the injustice underlying the mystery is strongly developed, the secondary characters, as often with King, are beguiling. So I'd give it a thumbs up.

But having said that, I have to agree with some of the negative points customers have raised. Had I not liked other books in the series so much, I wouldn't bother, since overall I did like the book; but it is kind of a disappointment to see a series you've liked very much fall short of its potential.

Problem here, as with parts of The Moor and O Jerusalem, is that King forgets that characters and action need to be in the foreground and locale and history in the background. It's not that the last two aren't important; they contributed a lot to King's first two novels in the series. But Holmes and Russell were always in the foreground in those two books. Holmes is a fascinating, brilliant, unique eccentric. Russell is fully his match. So why do English country manors become the main characters in the book? Too much touring through these manors becomes like watching the slides of somebody else's vacation. It just doesn't work as entertainment.

There are many interesting themes about Holmes and Russell that could be explored in a book like this: how does Holmes,the Victorian who on some level would like to believe in traditional verities, react to the disillusionment in this story? How does Russell, from another generation, deal with it, or with his reeaction? Does it cause tensions between them? HOw do they resolve those? Are there tensions that could carry over from events in O Jerusalem? That's just to throw out a few ideas. The point is, that with a continuing series about the same characters, and particularly characters as intriguing as Holmes and russell, the focus needs to be on the characters and their adventures. Although I ended up enjoying the book, it could have been much stronger with more focus on the characters and on moving the action along.

For all fans of the Holmes/Russell books, you will not be disappointed.

This is possibly the best book overall in the series save for the original, _The Beekeeper's Apprentice_ (by the way, if you haven't read the other five books, don't read _Justice Hall_ - I highly highly highly recommend that you read all of the books in order). Sherlock Holmes and his young wife and partner, Mary Russell, take a back seat in _Justice Hall_ - making way for the heartwrenching WWI story of Gabriel Hughenfort, whose death under scandalous (and suspicious) circumstances Holmes and Russell are investigating. Old friends are brought back (remember O Jerusalem's Mahmoud and Ali?), and new ones are made - hopefully these new characters will make reappearances in later books.

Those who like Holmes and Russell will love _Justice Hall._ Those who aren't familiar with them need to read the rest of the series, beginning with _The Beekeeper's Apprentice._ Those who can't even fathom the idea of Holmes having another partner than Watson.. well.. keep an open mind. Russell's a both a refreshing and infuriating character - as intelligent as Holmes, slightly arrogant, with an acerbic wit, who buries herself in theology texts and feminist papers... She's very different from Watson, but after reading so much of Watson, it's nice to see a change, and see Holmes from the point of view of both an intellectual equal and a woman of a later generation.

Had I not read all of Laurie R. King's books, I would have found "Justice Hall" enjoyable. Having read, and reread them, this latest addition to the "Beekeeper's Apprentice" series left me disappointed. This novel is about family, injustice, war, and friendship, all certainly noble subjects (no pun intended) in this case covered admirably, but not fabulously by the talented King. This novel focuses on certain injustices handed out by the British Army during WW I, and its effects on one family. Readers used to the rich multi-textured King novels will be, I think, disappointed. Interaction between Holmes and Russell is limited, the burning questions are soon answered, (I even saw a few coming, which is unlike me) and I just can't work up much interest over the traditons and foibles of peerage. (The movie Gosford Park is a far sharper example.) I miss the firey interchanges between two sharp minds, Holmes' immensely satisfying sarcasm, Russell's theological inquries, and genuine peeks into what life must have been like back then. Some of that is present, but seems to be shadows of what went on before. Russell doesn't even get dirty very often or into odd get-ups; that's an indication of how little action is going on in the book! Here's hoping that King will choose a subject she can attack with more passion next time, and that our next adventure with Ali and Mahmoud, if there is one, will be as rich as Mahmoud's coffee and as dangerous as Ali's knife.

Since I have read all books of both series by Laurie R. King, I consider myself a fan. I looked forward to another intriguing Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes mystery with the Holmesian intrigue, logic and devices and Mary Russell as both a hero and equal partner to Holmes.

Holmes and Russell were rarely in scenes of this book together so there was little interplay or repartee; Holmes was not in many scenes period. Instead about half of the book focused on "background" issues such as discussion of the architecture used in Justice Hall (which is a castle), peerage, bloodlines and family history of the Duke who occupies it. About halfway through, the plot gets going and my interest picked up.

The story involves two characters from O Jerusalem, Mahlmoud and Ali. Mahlmoud's brother died and he, now answering to the English name Marsh, assumes the responsibility as the 7th Duke. Holmes and Russell find him uneasy in this role which he feels is his duty. There are several plot lines--a more minor one about a child who is purported to be Mahlmoud's nephew and thus an heir to title (this plot line doesnt get tied up properly in the end) and the main story line about Mahlmoud's and Iris's son Gabrielle who is executed in WW I. The mystery involved unearthing what happened to Gabrielle and if it was a murder.

Even though the second half was much better than the first, I still found that I could guess ahead of time some of the major plot developments and the Holmes/Russell interaction time did not improve. The one saving grace in the second half was the prominence of the character Iris--an artist nominally married to Mahlmoud who lives in Paris with her lesbian lover. Iris was portrayed in a warm, sensitive and interesting way and I hope she returns to the series.

So my rating is 2 stars--an average of one star for the first half and three stars for the second half.

If you are a Laurie King fan, you may do well to skim the first half and concentrate on the more interesting second half. Also you can hope that Ms. King returns to her winning formula with Holmes and Russell in book seven.

First of all, I'll say that I LIVE for the Mary Russell series. I love the complexity of the characters, the original situations, all of it. And I hate having to say that Ms King has missed her mark.
Justice Hall does have some good points--the development of Ali and Mahmoud (although a bit more background would be helpful), the setting, one or two fascinating new characters--which I thorougly enjoyed. However, it lacks a center, a point around which the story revolves. In BEEK, this was..well, a number of things, including Russell's apprenticeship and the development of her friendship with Holmes; in MREG, it was the change in their relationship; et cetera. While reading Justice Hall, I was never sure what the conflict was. Added to this were a number of small problems, such as the occasional phrase coming out of Russell's mouth that sounded like Kate Martinelli (another King character). My guess is that King was writing two books at once, and this one had to be finished in a hurry for a deadline.
By far, however, my biggest problem with the book is that neither Russell or Holmes is really present. Russ puts up with all sorts of things she never would have in the other books--and occasionally talks like a 2002 American. Her theological interests are a side note at best. The oft-absent Holmes is not himself either. I can't list all the evidence; there's too much.
My advice is that if you follow the Russell series, read the book for continuity, for Ali and Mahmoud, and for Iris Sutherland, who is a jewel. The story is interesting enough to keep you reading, though quite convoluted and at times dull. If you need lots of excitement to keep you interested but still want a King book, I'd recommend checking out Night Work, the latest in the Kate Martinelli series.