A Letter of Mary - Hardcover

‘A novel which challenges the cliches of history’
Independent

‘Laurie King’s idea... is beguiling’
Ham & High (of A Monstrous Regiment of Women)

‘King’s novel is civilized, ingenious and engrossing’
Literary Review

‘An inventive variation on the Sherlock Holmes myth’
Time Out

‘Crime fiction’s most unlikely but utterly credible romance... Laurie King is the most interesting writer to emerge on the American crime fiction front in recent years’
Val McDermid (of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice)

The third novel in Laurie King’s riveting and intelligent series featuring Sherlock Holmes and his partner in sleuthing, Mary Russell.

It is August 1923 and all is quiet in the Holmes household in Sussex. Mary Russell works on academic research while Sherlock Holmes conducts malodorous chemistry experiments. Butthe peace comes crashing down when a figure from Mary’s past enters their lives: Dorothy Ruskin, an amateur archaeologist recently returned from the Holy Land, pays the couple a visit, bringing with her a gift – a charming inlaid box containing a tattered roll of stained papyrus.

The evening following their meeting, Miss Ruskin dies in a traffic accident that Holmes and Mary soon prove was murder. But what was the motivation? Was it the inlaid box holding the manuscript? Or the woman’s involvement in the volatile politics of the Holy Land? Or could it have been the scroll itself, a deeply troubling letter apparently written by Mary Magdalene that contains a biblical bombshell ...

Perfectly combining the elements of crime and historical detail, 'A Letter of Mary' is a fascinating and beautifully observed novel from the award-winning Laurie King.

PRAISE FOR LAURIE R KING

”One of the most literate and gifted writers the mystery world has seen for some time”
VAL MCDERMID

“If there is a new P.D. James ... I would put my money on Laurie King”
BOSTON GLOBE

THE BEEKEEPER’S APPRENTICE

“Civilised, ingenious and engrossing. Best of all it has heart”
LITERARY REVIEW

“An inventive variation on the Sherlock Holmes myth”
TIME OUT

“ A tantalising novel, both for the intelligence and charm of the flirtation as well as for the intrigue of plot “
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

A MONSTROUS REGIMENT OF WOMEN

“A novel which challenges the cliches of history”
INDEPENDENT

“ A diverting book”
JAMES MELVILLE, Ham and High

“As audacious as it is entertaining and moving”
CHIGAGO TRIBUNE