The whole sub genre of Sherlock Holmes-type mysteries is by its very nature highly intellectual, what with all the deductive reasoning, but this entry in the Mary Russell series is especially so. I was quite tickled to realize that big chunks of the mystery here were to be solved through clues gleaned from extensive reading. I love that Mary can be very--perhaps most--helpful to Holmes from her cozy fireside wingback. It is a position to be envied, and aspired to: armchair detective. Of course there is a fair amount of traipsing that occurs in this story, as Russell and Holmes slog up, down and across the moor, a place unique and moody, gloomy and beautiful, inspiring and deadly. The descriptions are rich and gorgeous, and make me want to see it for myself. I hope it exists as Laurie King writes it here, because it sounds like a weird and wonderful landscape. ( )

In the eerie wasteland of Dartmoor, Sherlock Holmes summons his devoted wife and partner, Mary Russell, from her studies at Oxford to aid the investigation of a death and some disturbing phenomena of a decidedly supernatural origin. Through the mists of the moor there have been sightings of a spectral coach made of bones carrying a woman long-ago accused of murdering her husband--and of a hound with a single glowing eye. Returning to the scene of one of his most celebrated cases, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes and Russell investigate a mystery darker and more unforgiving than the moors themselves. ( )

While enjoyable to some degree, the pace is rather slow and for the most part, suspense is missing throughout. Ms. King is a great storyteller and has in some ways mastered the Conan Doyle approach, though this left me somewhat bored while reading it due to far too much dialog and lack of forward motion. ( )

Mary Russell is summoned by Sherlock Holmes to Dartmoor to help investigate a mysterious death that is said to be heralded by a phantom coach carrying long-dead noblewoman over the moors. Around the dead body was it oversized paw prints…

This book is especially interesting since it brings Sherlock Holmes back to Dartmoor, the place where The Hound of the Baskervilles cases took place. It’s quite a dark and chilly tale, and the dark and deadly moor adds a special atmosphere to the tale. Like the previous books a 5-star book!
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