The Beekeeper's Apprentice: On the Segregation of the Queen (Mary Russell Mystery, #1)

by Laurie R King

First in Laurie King's acclaimed Mary Russell crime series: ' Beguiling variation on Sherlock Holmes sequels...King's novel is civilized, ingenious and engrossing. Best of all, it has heart' -- Literary Review What would happen if typical Victorian man Sherlock Holmes came face to face with a twentieth-century female? And what if she grew to be a partner worthy of his legendary talents. In The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Laurie King tells the story of Mary Russell, who in 1914 meets a retired beekeeper on the Sussex Downs. His name is Sherlock Holmes. Pompous, smug and misogynistic, the Great Detective can still spot a fellow intellect, even in a fifteen-year-old woman. At first he takes Mary on as his apprentice on small, local cases, gradually working up to larger investigations. All the time Mary is developing as a detective in her own right, but then the sky opens on them, and Holmes and Mary find themselves the targets of a slippery, murderous and apparently all-knowing adversary. Together they devise a plan to trap their enemy -- a plan that may save their lives, but may also kill their relationship...

• ISBN10: 0312104235
• ISBN13: 9780312104238
• Publish Date: 15 January 1994
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 14 June 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 347
• Language: English

Reviews

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

For a little while, I was ready to tear apart The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. I found the writing bit flat and there was a scene early in the book that involved characters tinting the color of their skin for a disguise. Still generally intrigued, I waited it out. This review is going to be mostly informative – no passion one way or the other. To be honest, I’ve never been intrigued enough by Sherlock Holmes to pick up Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s work, and The Beekeeper’s Apprentice was very much a cover pick. Seriously – that honeycomb cover is gorgeous.

Despite my initial misgivings, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice stepped back from racist undertones and addressed a bit of the prejudice against the Romani people. The deeper I got into the book, the more it felt like not only was Laurie R. King honoring the Sherlock Holmes character, but also addressing the unfortunate choices that had been made by Doyle in writing in the first place. More than once does Holmes appear in a garish and unnecessary disguise, which Mary Russell internally tears apart. At one point, she finds herself in a safe house and spends some time pondering the unlikeliness of the location. Without reading the original Holmes work, I got the impression that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle made a lot of ridiculous choices, and while Laurie R. King respected her source material, she also spent some time correcting it. And I appreciated that.

The writing, as I said, felt flat to me. Again, this could be King trying to emulate Doyle’s writing style, which I could certainly see. The characters are guarded and there’s a lot of dialogue. I didn’t get a sense for what Mary Russell, our protagonist, looked like until we were about halfway through the book. The story also ambles, and while it all comes together at the end, I felt like it took the scenic route in getting there. To be honest, I kept speeding up my audiobook because while I didn’t want to DNF it – I wasn’t quite that bored and had already invested a lot of time – I just really wanted the story to get on with it already.

I suppose The Beekeeper’s Apprentice does just fine for its genre and while it wasn’t my particular cup of tea, I can appreciate it as a successful next-generation evolution for a beloved classic character. Fans of Sherlock Holmes will most likely enjoy Mary Russell’s tales and seeing their favorite sleuth brought back to life. For myself, the pacing was just murder and the voice dull, so I don’t think I’ll be continuing on with the series. But it was a good book for what it was, and I can appreciate that.

[layawaydragon]

I’m wavering between 1 and 2 stars because I finished it and it was well written.

I really wanted to like this. I read the reviews and while there were some clear issues a female Holmes sounded great.

It was not. Mary "Sue" Russell is NOT.

She has no flaws, no addictions, no mental issues, no shortcomings, or blind spots. She is the perfect tomboy smarty-pants princess.

She doesn't suffer, struggle or overcome sexism or hurdles because of her gender. She wins Holmes and every other man over in 5 seconds. (And women, but they're few and far between.)

Shit, I wish men learned that fucking lesson that fucking quick. As do academic women everywhere.

Her greedy no good Aunt is handled and ignored. She has no chaperons except at school and there she doesn't mind.

I did like how it talked about the war and how things changed because of it but I can’t fathom it being this easy. There’s zero pressure on her for being a woman and she escapes social norms, demands, and functions like Houdini.

She cannot fill Holmes's shoes because she floats.




She can't cook or drive well, but that means nothing in the face of everything else. Plus, she claims she's improving in cooking and she just learned to drive. Fuck, can’t you struggle like everyone else?

She has The Nightmare occasionally, but speaks about it once to Holmes and she's cured after almost a decade of it. WTF kind of magic psychology is that?

It's pathetic and frustrating. Women CAN be like Holmes; they don't have to be perfect. And yet the result of this "What if" resulted in this insulting Mary Sue.

Okay, sure there's a place for wish fulfillment and escapist fantasy. But besides Holmes? No. He's not motherfucking Rambo or Conan the Barbarian or James Bond or whoever the fuck is the new masculinity mascot.

**Deep Breath**

I didn't think I'd be so sensitive and responsive to the attitude towards Watson but it's unbearable. Mary treating Watson as a doddering old fool (her words) is bad enough, but Holmes joining in is repulsive.

Watson has his faults and strong suits. He played a major role in Holmes life story. Not only is it hard to fathom that Holmes throws him under the bus, but degrades their relationship.

And how could Watson be stupid enough to carry his medical bag in plain view while trying to be sneaky? No fucking way. You don't partner with Holmes without learning a thing or two.

And Holmes forgetting to warn his two oldest friends when in danger? But never fear, Mary is here! After of course, Holmes races across the way to get to her to ensure her safety above all else.

It's character assassination in a school girl fanfic. This isn’t tweaking the characters or creating new stories in an established universe. This is inserting a black hole that warps and sucks everything people loved about Holmes—and it’s name is Mary Sue. While it is better written than most, it fails in every way that counts.



It shits on every aspect of Holmes' previous relationships. Mary must be the focus and there is no room for anyone else.

Watson is important and here's a several reasons the narrative is originally from him instead of Holmes. He not only balances Holmes in many ways, but brings his own skill set. He's also the reader surrogate.

Holmes also a manic depressive highly-functioning sociopath addict chivalrous misogynist. His mind is not a pleasant place and discovering how he thinks and what he knows is part of the appeal. But wanting his skill and wanting to be him are two totally different things.

Having no Watson and two Holmes detectives makes it unbalanced and unwieldy. Even when the big mystery came around, there wasn’t any doubt of the outcome and the journey was duller having Mary as Holmes’s shadow. Two of them is just too much.

Besides being driven mad for the previous issues, I was also bored. I appreciate King taking the time to build Russell and Holmes relationship and her abilities. That’s really important obviously, but along with all the other issues, it was dull. If I had brought another book with me, I'd have quit because of this alone.

The first part is all about her training, schooling, and initial minor mysteries to solve. It finally picks up a bit toward the middle but even with kidnappings, bombs, and murder, I still would've been fine dropping it.

I couldn't care about Mary or Holmes. Holmes is toothless and edge-less now. His previous faults replaced with caring for Mary. And Mary is perfect-ly bland. Which is an.noy.ing.

Every problem wraps back around to each other and in the end, appreciating King’s ideas is the only good thing I can say.

[brokentune]

Ok, I got to page 60 and am calling it quits.

The Watson bashing is already in full swing.
There is a scene that was basically copied out of Pride and Prejudice.
This is all wrong and too disturbing.

I'm sorry, I am just not compatible with pastiche when it concerns my favourite characters.

[MurderByDeath]

I started reading this because I had read Laurie King's short story in the Sherlock anthology she edited a few months ago, and I really liked how her story felt like a plausible Sherlock Holmes story - she was true to what I saw in the character of the world's greatest detective.

This story didn't disappoint - I'd like to think Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself would be pleased with the book. True, it showed a slightly more human Sherlock, but since it's told from a female viewpoint, it's plausible (Sherlock was always a gentleman with the ladies in his cases). His cold logic, however, and certain lack of humanity, were still there to be seen. The book covers a lot of time - about 4 (5?) years and more than a few cases, ranging from trivial to life-changing. I enjoyed the narrative of Mary Russell, and I appreciated the austere style of writing.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who's read the Sherlock Holmes cannon and wants to keep visiting with the man. Be sure to read the Editor's preface - it threw me for a loop and I still don't know wether to believe it to be true or not, but it certainly puts a different spin on one's reading.

[Eve1972]

If you enjoy Sherlock Holmes and a good mystery, then you will certainly enjoy this wonderfully written novel! The author does a fabulous job of recreating the same whit and atmosphere that made the Arthur Conan Doyle books so popular. A must read if you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes.