A Monstrous Regiment of Women [Library Binding]

Laurie R. King (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 2009

Second in Laurie King's acclaimed Mary Russell mystery series: 'Beguiling variation on Sherlock Holmes sequels!civilized, ingenious and engrossing' -- Literary Review In this the riveting sequel to The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Mary Russell has metamorphosed from able apprentice to skilled detective in her own right. After a tedious visit from relatives, Mary is looking for respite in London when she comes across a friend from Oxford. The young woman introduces Mary to the enigmatic Margery Childe, leader of the New Temple of God, a charismatic sect involved in the post-World War One suffrage movement, with a feminist slant on Christianity. Intrigued and curious, Mary begins to wonder if the New Temple is a front for something more sinister. When a series of murders claims members of the movement's wealthy young female volunteers, Mary, with Holmes in the background, starts to investigate, but events spiral out of control as the situation becomes ever more desperate, and Mary's search plunges her into the worst danger she has yet faced!

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Laurie R. King came up with a completely original story that had Sherlock Holmes as one of its principal characters but was in no way part of the Holmes canon. The focus of that book was a young woman, Mary Russell. Now in A Monstrous Regiment of Women, Mary Russell's adventures as a student of the famous detective continue. A series of murders claims members of a strange suffrage organization's wealthy young female volunteers, and Mary, with Holmes in the background, investigates, little knowing what danger she personally faces.

Laurie R. King is also the author of the Edgar Award-winning novel A Grave Talent. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

King first teamed Mary Russell with Sherlock Holmes in the riveting The Beekeeper's Apprentice. Then Mary was a vulnerable, bright 15-year-old. Now, in 1920, Mary is a week away from her 21st birthday and has finished her studies at Oxford, and the relationship between these two forceful, eccentric and indelibly etched characters is charged with sexuality and issues of authority. A chance meeting with a friend in London introduces Mary to Margery Childe, leader of the New Temple of God, a burgeoning institution in which feminism powers both theological inquiry and programs of social activism. Skeptical, analytical Mary, who concentrated on theology at Oxford, is reluctantly drawn toward Childe and the temple's inner circle, most of whom are wealthy, educated young women. After one of them is murdered, Mary persuades Holmes to help in the recovery of the dead woman's brother, who became addicted to heroin while in the war. While Holmes is so occupied, Mary learns about other unexpected deaths of temple members and determines to investigate. Coming into her considerable inheritance, she displays her new wealth, leaps into temple activities and is soon in danger that threatens her soul as much as her life. King builds a riveting plot on the era's fervent feminism and crushing social order. Even more gripping, however, are the internal dilemmas faced by the deeply rational, fiercely independent Mary as she struggles to accept both Childe's possible mysticism and her deepening affection for Holmes. King's second Russell/Holmes tale lives up to all the accomplished promise of the first. Paperback rights to Bantam; author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Library Binding
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439560838
• ISBN-13: 978-1439560839
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,289,510 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

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars British mystery done properly, September 10, 2004

By 

B. Walker "Basia's Bookshelf" (Wisconsin, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Monstrous Regiment of Women (Mass Market Paperback)

Second in terms of release date but third in terms of the timeline (O Jerusalem should actually be read second, its story taking place right before the end of The Beekeeper's Apprentice when Mary is 19), A Monstrous Regiment of Women finds the brilliant Mary Russell approaching her 21st birthday, questioning the nature of her relationship with Sherlock Holmes.

In an effort to distance herself from him a bit, Mary renews an Oxford friendship and finds herself drawn to the charismatic leader of a feminist church/society movement, intellectually and spiritually. A series of deaths attached to the society sends Mary and by proxy, Holmes himself into the investigation.

As with the first book (and the following books), Regiment is primarily about Mary. Finally at an age where she inherits her parents vast estate, she struggles with her newfound freedom, the burden of responsibility and starts to look at parts of herself and Holmes that she'd been able to avoid when she was a girl. Mary is exposed to the seamiest sides of London as she tries to balance depending on Holmes with wanting to do things her own way.

A lot has been made of the romance between Mary and Holmes - something the author could have avoided entirely if she'd have just not mentioned Mary's age. She's written as far, far older than her calendar years; it also wasn't that uncommon around the turn of the century to find a young woman married off to a much older man. I'm not a Sherlock Holmes purist, which enables more suspension of logic, but the romance is still sparingly written and is actually kind of sweet. If anything, a reader looking for passionate clinches and sex is not going to find it in these books; even compared to the tamest of today's romance novels, the scenes here are the mildest of mild.

The mystery itself is well-written and paced, with the exception of the middle section about the society which are a little dull. The clues, confrontations and eventual solving are interesting, the extra little details about London in the early 20's is fun to read. There's a long passage towards the ending where Mary falls into the hands of some criminals that I thought was particularly well done; it goes a long way towards the aging of Mary and towards her understanding of Holmes.

This was a really enjoyable and fast book to read. I recommend it for anyone who likes authors as diverse as Agatha Christie, Patricia Cornwell, Elizabeth Peters, J.D. Robb and P.D. James. A Holmes purist would probably have some issues with Mary, but if you like the idea of a tough, intelligent and capable feminist solving crimes, then you'll enjoy these books.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The return of Mary Russell, August 1, 2004

By 

J. Carroll "Jack" (Island Heights,NJ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Monstrous Regiment of Women (Mass Market Paperback)

In this sequel to THE BEEKEEPER'S APPRENTICE, Laurie King gives us the now mature Mary Russell, claiming her inheritance and becoming involved in the investigation of a charitable organization run by an extremely charismatic woman, whose wealthy members seemed to be dying and leaving their inheritance to said organization. Mary works undercover and with her newly found wealth makes herself a target, with serious consequences. King creates a real sense of menace in this installment and Russell's peril is strongly rendered and will make the reader feel true compassion for her.
Holmes's presence is felt throughout the novel, and King does a fine job of staying true to this character, fleshing out some of his personality while never forgetting that he is the "world's greatest detective." The eventual match of Russell and Holmes may put some traditionalists out of sorts, but I find it a way to breathe new vitality into this legendary character, and in Mary Russell, King has developed a fine and equal partner for the detective.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A positively engaging follow-up.., April 15, 2001

By 

Kait Rankins (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Monstrous Regiment of Women (Hardcover)

I had heard mixed reviews of A Monstrous Regiment of Women before I read it, directly after its prequel, The Beekeeper's Apprentice. I didn't think I would enjoy it nearly as much as the first one--I was wrong. For fans of Mary Russell, this is surely a book to be enjoyed. I read the Holmes/Russell novel for Sherlock Holmes, however. Though he isn't in the book much at this time, the scenes he -is- in are absolutely charming and unforgettable. Many people don't enjoy Holmes in this book--To them he doesn't seem to be the Holmes of Watson. Naturally, he isn't. He's seen from an entirely different perspective in Russell's narration, he's allowing Russell to take the case on her own, rather than stepping in and doing the work for her--And he finally has a woman astute and edgy enough for him to realize that women aren't always something to scoff at. This woman happens to be Mary Russell, thirty-nine years his junior with an intelligence, arrogance, and attitude remniscent of Holmes himself. Mary Russell is, indeed, Holmes as a young woman--including her own weakness to opium derivatives.

I'm not a fan of mystery novels as it is, so I found the character work in the King novels fascinating. Russell's narrative focuses on the people involved, and personal matters, rather than just the case. You get a sense of who people are and why they're involved, not who did it in the where with the what. In order to grasp all of this development, you MUST read The Beekeeper's Apprentice before this book.

A Monstrous Regiment of Women contains some of the best scenes in all of the Holmes/Russell series--Short passages between Holmes and Russell will jump out from the page. You can hear them in your mind and the characters will suddenly become real. Anyone who followed Holmes and Russell through the first six years will find true delight in reading this book.