The God of the Hive

The God of the Hive
By Laurie R. King
Bantam Books, 2010. 354 pgs. Mystery

Separated to keep their family alive, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes continue to investigate the person or persons behind the death of Damian Adler’s wife. To their dismay, they find themselves without the resources of Mycroft, who has disappeared. Russell, her step-granddaughter, and her pilot, are at the mercy of an eccentric man who lives in the woods when their plane is shot down. Robert Goodman, with a likeness to Puck and the Green Man, admires both Estelle and Russell and helps Russell with her investigation in London. Holmes does what he can with his limited resources in Holland. Not sure who they can trust, the two search for Mycroft and the mysterious men behind Damian’s case and Mycroft’s disappearance.

King’s Russell series have always been self-contained mysteries, but this is the first time that a mystery has continued from the previous book. Thankfully for fans of the series who read the last one a year ago (as I did), you don’t have to remember too much to appreciate this one. I enjoyed the different points of view from various characters; it gave the mystery a greater sense of urgency and seeing the villain’s perspective gave the reasoning behind his role more depth. The new character, Robert Goodman, served as a good example of one of the novel’s main themes; change (in many ways) has come and will continue to come. These changes will affect these characters and their work. I must say though I am beginning to tire of Holmes and Russell operating apart for a great deal of the books; one of the draws to this series is their relationship and how they work together on cases.

MN