Customer Reviews

The Moor

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Gothic mysteries have always been among my favorites, so seeing the title, The Moor, immediately drew my attention. Then when I saw Sherlock Holmes had been teamed with a female partner, Mary Russell, I was hooked. This is a delightful book!

Interestingly, the author provides an editor's note in which it is claimed that the manuscripts have been found and were originally written by Ms. Russell. This is an added note that lends a curious, but nonetheless minor,twist, because as with any mystery involving Holmes, you soon get so tied up into the story that it matters little who is the author.

Later in Sherlock Holmes' life, we find that he has taken not only a new partner...but she has become his wife! Mary Russell, who prefers to go by that name, is an intellectual, an Oxford student of theology, and, once in a while, partner to the famous sleuth. What is interesting is that the story is oftentimes written from the point of view of Ms. Russell This change is almost transparent, yet lends a new and highly entertaining perspective to the traditional cases where Holmes is the leader in finding clues and solving the case. For King has "humanized" Sherlock in a gentle, loving way and allows him to call upon his wife for help in a way that shows both his love and respect. A truly delightful team!

The Moor takes us to Dartmoor, where Holmes once solved the case of the Hound of the Baskervilles, at the request of the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould. Nearing his 90th year, in the early 1920's, the Reverend has summoned his godson, Sherlock, to find out what is happening on the moors. For there have been strange sightings of a coach and dog, claimed to be a woman who married a local lord who soon died. She "was never officially accused and tried, but for her sins she is said to be condemned to riding in a coach made of the bones of her dead husbands, driven by a headless horseman and led by a black hound with a single eye in the centre of his forehead." More importantly, a local man has been killed and found on the moors.

The book opens with Mary Russell receiving a telegram to come immediately to Devonshire...and bring her compass. Mary is not thrilled to be summoned and returns to her reading only to receive another telegram two hours later to bring maps, close her books...and leave now. This tug and pull of the two individuals in their own professional lives erupts throughout the book to show each person's independence, yet reliance on each other. An intriguing diversion from reviewing the clues, until both are so caught up in solving the mystery that, upon meeting after each doing their own research, they both proclaim the resolution of the case!

The exploration of the moors, its occupants, its hidden dangers are reminiscent of other stories set in Dartmoor, but still beckon and capture the reader to roam through the site, inspecting each stone, each change in the weather and what it may mean and how it can help solve the mystery. The characters brought forth are delightful and serve to introduce you to the community of those who become close by necessity as they must depend upon each other in this strange, wild land. Ms. Russell's love of reading takes her into the hundreds of books written by Reverend Baring-Gould, where she finds "pieces" of evidence that slowly pull together to help solve the case.

In the end, the activity behind the mystery is somewhat mundane... However, watching the Holmes couple, go their respective ways,to gain and add to the clues that leads to the final discovery, provides a new dimension for Sherlock Holmes' fans. If you're one...look for the entire series with Mary Russell as his wife!

While "The Moor" is not up to "Beekeeper's Apprentice"'s promise, I still pity Ms. King. It's the crowning irony of her career that when an author writes a book this good, she will inevitably not please everyone. Fans of the Holmes-Russell detecting duo will cry foul over this mystery's lukewarm punch. Fans of the emotionally satisfying Holmes-Russell courtship and marriage will sift "The Moor" for bodice-ripping scenes--in vain. And fans of the Sherlock Holmes Canon will yell automatically, but we who love her books them anyway.

Still, it's one of her best, and for the same reasons all her Mary Russell books--even the weak ones--are good. Dartmoor unfolds before us as a kind of moral proving ground, a Presence. We are introduced to Sabine Baring-Gould in the winter of his prolific life, and to his house, which is another Presence--ramshackle, book-lined, with the smell of dinner wafting through to the dusty library. Ms. King knows what she likes, and delivers: innumerable fires in the grate, banked up against the storm outside, and chairs drawn up to the fire-irons, and the tea-things close to hand. She knows Holmes looks must fetching slumped in a fireside chair at 2 a.m., his fingers steepled as he ruminates a difficult case with Mary.

And she knows that what her fans really want is not merely a cold-blooded mystery nor an incongruous bodice-ripper, but for her characters to be true to the real adult people they so obviously are, and to love each other. Which they do, in spades. Holmes' unspoken devotion to Baring-Gould was nicely understated. And King's most romantic scene in the Beekeeper books occurs as Mary, in slightly over her head while sleuthing, paces the floor for Holmes' return. A deftly written moment, and one that makes me wonder how some readers could have so completely misunderstood what Laurie King was trying to say about the integrity of erotic love and emotional bonds.

Alas, "The Moor" was over too soon, and I was left immersed in an atmosphere of old books, old hymns, the power of the moor, and the passing of something grand and beautiful. Not bad, for a historical mystery.

This book features Sherlock Holmes in his late 50s, and his godfather, Revd Sabine Baring-Gould, a real person who lived in Devonshire, England from 1834-1924. The story takes place in 1923, a few weeks before Baring-Gould's death. Mary Russell, the narrator, is married to Holmes, and they have both been summoned to Dartmoor to solve a murder mystery. The story itself is weak, and requires knowledge of 'the Hound of the Baskervilles' for a full appreciation. This is compensated for, however, by the wonderfully vivid and realistic descriptions of Dartmoor, and Lew House, where Baring-Gould lived. As someone who grew up a few miles from this spot, I can vouch for the absolute accuracy of the setting. Laurie King has also read just about all of Baring-Gould's 150 books, and quotes delightfully from many of them. The skill of the book lies in the imaginative conjunction of a fictional and a real character, and for any reader with knowledge of either man, the result is very pleasing. As a lifelong afficionado of Sabine Baring-Gould, I am most indebted to King for bringing him into greater prominence.

The fourth in Laurie King's series featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, this one returns to Dartmoor, the setting of the classic Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel, 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. And, like in its predecessor there are tales of a ghostly hound out on the moors, this time accompanying an equally ghostly carriage.

This series are always well worth a read. Laurie King brings carries off three significant tricks, each alone being worth the price of admission: characterisation of her leads, local and contemporary colour, and a great plot.

In terms of the first, both Holmes and Russell are depicted as somewhat prickly characters, unwilling to suffer fools gladly, and each with their own areas of interest and expertise. Russell works well by herself, but sparks of all kinds fly when her husband is around (being narrated by Russell, we never see Holmes by himself). In this book, the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould also features strongly, and occasionally view with the leads for our attention. Given he is virtually bedridden, this is no small feat.

The depiction of different kinds of characters and their environments helps bring the story to life. Between those who live on the moor and those who live in the village, lords of the manor and their servants and so forth, we have no opportunity to mistake where and when the book is set. Two scenes which didn't really advance the plot but were wonderful are Russell's meeting with the local witch (as the moor dwellers call her), Elizabeth Chase, and a scene set in the pub where the locals spend the evening singing to entertain themselves - with its attendant rivalry between those who live in the village and those who live on the moor.

Russell's growing understanding of the moor as a place and a presence in the life of its inhabitants also works very well.

And lastly the plot: it's a cracker! I'm not going to give anything more away, but the final outcome was not what I had expected at the beginning of the book.

In summary: what are you waiting for?

The Moor, another adventure of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes by Laurie King, gets off to a slow start and never really picks up. The writing is flawless (King's talent in this regard is exceptional)but the story consists almost entirely of Holmes and Russell walking the Moor and finding nothing. While the Moor itself may be the focal point of the book, it's hardly enough to sustain real interest for mystery fans. This has been an entertaining series to date, but to continue in that vein, King must deliver exciting stories to accompany the mood and settings of turn of the century Britain.

First of all, let me say Laurie King is my favorite mystery writer outside of Dorothy Sayers. A new book of hers comes out (either the Russell or Martinelli series) and I devour it in an evening, unable to put it down. But I found The Moor rambling and hard to get through. Everything is described in the minutest of detail: characters, their reminiscing, even the meals they eat. Sure, parts of it are beautifully written, in Ms. King's inimitable way, but get me to the action! That's why I read the genre in the first place. I didn't feel like the chase started till two thirds into the book. Then I found the story and conclusion compelling. I miss the tightness of King's earlier books (pre-Letter of Mary). Really good things: 1) King creates a palpable sense of place with misty, peaty Dartmoor; and 2) Mary Russell becomes less of a snotty know-it-all, as she copes with the moor and the emotional residue of her most recent case.

It took me six weeks to get through this book ... and only because I was determined. The start was dreadfully dull. It was so slow every time I'd pick it up I'd fall asleep. I have to agree with the reader who said it was like a sleeping pill. The 3rd book wasn't as good as the 1st and 2nd, and this 4th installment was awful. If not for the interesting literary tidbits incorporating Sabine Baring-Gould into the story, I probably would have turned the book into the used bookstore. The ending was dull and uninteresting and did not make this read worthwhile. It was a simple and silly and too quick ending after all that work to get there.

This book is a paean to a unique geographical zone in England. It's not really a detective or adventure novel.

Author Laurie R. King obviously is fond of the Dartmoor area, in the southwest corner adjacent to the port town of Plymouth, and the people who inhabit it.

While Dartmoor is the name of the prison located there, the title of King's book is how the overall area may be better known. The moor is a center of: exploration for relics of the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, whitewater kayaking and canoeing, mining for various clays and metals such as tin, farming and raising of animals, and the study of local myths and legends.

Geographically, the moor is an elevated region at about 2,000 ft of about 350 square miles, circularly-shaped, isolated from normal commerce, and a massive target for rainfall and ocean-based storms. As a bowl-shaped area it holds water, and spawns rivers. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops (known as tors).

Conan Doyle cited his earlier novel about Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, in the moor. He also introduced the character of a church rector named Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould (SBG). Actually SBG was a real person (28 January 1834 - 2 January 1924) who is remembered particularly as a writer of hymns, the best-known being "Onward, Christian Soldiers," and is a primary character at age 90 in "The Moor."

Author King's novel is set in 1924. It's basically a set of short adventures, mostly by Sherlock's wife Mary Russell. All are aimed at exploration of some area or facet of the moor or the people who live within it, and originate from SBG's home. By this device, King shows us what she likes about the moor. And she does that with her skill in setting scenes and creating dialogue with lavish use of the full power of the English language. That's the redeeming characteristic of this novel.

"The Moor" is not, IMHO, as described on the cover "a novel of suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes." Russell is the featured character in the little adventures of discovery about the moor. Author King really doesn't get serious about plot until the last 50 or so pages, and Holmes doesn't really do any deduction. The only suspense is to learn if King will bring the book to some definitive ending, or run out of paper.

I would rate this book at 3 stars because I love to read someone's writing using the full strength of the English language. By another author, it's 1 star, and a pass.

THE MOOR starts well and ends well, but it's way too long -- with a lot of seemingly repetitive sequences (how many baths? how many walks on the moor?), at 369 pages I was begging for it to be over. I think a good editor could have cut out almost 100 pages. This is the fourth entry in the Mary Russell series, and Holmes is much less active this time. King continues to create a definite sense of time and place, and excellently weaves an eery mood. All the travel on the moor definitely makes you feel cold and wet. The plot provides great fun in that it revives "The Hound of the Baskervilles" story in detail. You do NOT need to read the previous books in the series to understand THE MOOR. But quite frankly I enjoyed the previous books much more.

In The Moor by Laurie R. King, her fourth pairing of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, the author has the husband and wife team return to the moors made famous in Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles. This time they are summoned by the eccentric scholar Sabine Baring-Gould to explore some mysterious occurrences which includes two deaths and the appearance of a ghostly coach which is accompanied by a hellish hound with one glowing eye.

Laurie King claims in her Editor's Preface that these stories were found in a trunk that was mysteriously left at her front door. Purportedly the notes of the real Mary Russell, this story is set in 1924. Each chapter is introduced with a quote from one of Baring-Gould's many works.

Russell has her hands full with the aging and sexist Baring-Gould who has a close relationship with Holmes. The problems of a woman in male society are well portrayed, and she eventually wins the respect of the elderly scholar. It is a long story that is rich in local characters and legends. By the time of this novel Holmes and Russell have settled into a comfortable relationship based on mutual respect and the main dynamics are between them and the people of the moor.

A well-written tale with lots of atmosphere that will appeal to the historic mystery buff.