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Dreaming spies : a novel of suspense…
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Dreaming spies : a novel of suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes (original 2015; edition 2015)

by Laurie R. King

Series: Mary Russell (13), Mary Russell: Chronological Order (Spring 1924, Spring 1925)

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8329426,028 (3.89)78
"It is a normal afternoon in Sussex when Russell and Holmes return home to find a peculiar addition to their garden: a beautiful stone that once occupied the Imperial gardens in Kyoto. The stone immediately recalls the spring of 1924, when, on their way back from India (The Game), Russell and Holmes agreed to perform a small but exceedingly dangerous job for the emperor of Japan. At the time, Russell encountered a young Japanese woman on board their ship who tutored the two foreigners about her country and guided them into a secret meeting with the Prince Regent himself. Now, when Russell heads for Oxford to resume her long-delayed studies, she comes face-to-face with that very same young Japanese woman--and quickly realizes Miss Sato Haruki is not all that she seems.."--… (more)
Member:Marchbanks
Title:Dreaming spies : a novel of suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes
Authors:Laurie R. King
Info:New York : Bantam Books, 2015. 331 p. : map ; 25 cm. black-backed gray boards ; dj.
Collections:Your library, Mystery and suspense
Rating:
Tags:None

Work Information

Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King (2015)

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» See also 78 mentions

English (97)  Piratical (1)  All languages (97)
Showing 1-5 of 96 (next | show all)
As a teenager I read this series almost devotedly, and some of the earlier adventures I really truly love; I even consider the first book one of my all-time favorites. But right before the release of this installment in 2015 I fell off the Russell & Holmes train for awhile and got behind by 5 books. So when started this one in order to catch up, I was SHOCKED at how much I immediately disliked:

-the chemistry between Russell and Holmes is nonexistent in this installment. Their interactions are sanitized and just downright boring, with none of the spark that I vividly remember (and can point to exact passages) from the earlier books.
-the STAGGERING amount and abuse of phonetic spelling used by King to convey accents, particularly Japanese ones. King draws out scenes and emphasizes over and over just how difficult it is for various Japanese characters to pronounce English words, especially the English letter "r", and is just quite offensive at times. Russell is also deeply judgy about characters not being able to speak "properly".
-the reliance on Japanese stereotypes, such as comparing Japanese characters to dolls and children because of how "tiny" they are; the broad, sweeping statements about Japanese people being super industrious; the repetitive scenes of Russell turning her nose up at Japanese foods that are, to her, basically all just stinky dried fish. And there aren't things that just happen a bit and then Russell learns from them and corrects her thinking - even up until the very end of the book these problems persist.
-the mystery is little more than a brainteaser wrapped in a history lesson that King has tried to make multilayered but is really just quite messy. I genuinely didn't believe for a moment this was a case Holmes (any version of him) would get involved in, let alone not be able to see the very obvious answers to.

I don't remember any of the previous books having the same issues to this extent, but I'm also not sure how much of it was maybe a younger me not picking up on things? I'm going to continue my catch-up of the series for now (partially to find out if "Dreaming Spies" is just a weak link) but I'm really disappointed in King for both the overall mystery as well as astounding amount of stereotypes and snobbery she's written into this book. ( )
  deborahee | Feb 23, 2024 |
A great return to form. ( )
  BarbKBooks | Aug 15, 2022 |
The story in Dreaming Spies begins with Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell arriving home after all the adventures in Morocco (Pirate King and Garments of Shadows) and finding a rock in their garden. This rock is just the beginning, or in a way the continuation of an old case that started around a year ago in Japan after Holmes and Russells adventure in India in The Game

We start off the story in Sussex and Oxford with the arrival of a rock and an old “friend” of Holmes and Russell. After that, we get to know what really happened in Japan before they arrived in America. Laurie R. King has as usual written a very describing and well-researched book. I felt that I was in Japan as I read and it was a wonderful treat to get to know the country and its culture throughout the story.

The only objection I have and that is that I felt a trifle impatient reading it sometimes. Because even though it was well written not so much happened, or, of course, things happened but alas so slowly. I wanted some more drive to the story. The story in Japan takes up 2/3 of the book and much of that was just to lay the groundwork for the story later on in Oxford. So even though I enjoyed the time on the ship from India to Japan and the time in Japan I liked the story best later on in Oxford when the game was afoot. This doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy the book. I loved reading it. It was a great book and I think that fans of Laurie R. Kings books will truly enjoy reading this book.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! ( )
  MaraBlaise | Jul 23, 2022 |
I read this book in a flurry and couldn't figure out where it fit in within the narrative arc. I enjoyed it some, but there were aspects of the relationship between Mary and Sherlock which have begun to trouble me and the story line was a little too much. ( )
  minxcr1964 | Jul 16, 2022 |
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» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Laurie R. Kingprimary authorall editionscalculated
Dilfey, RobertMapsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Lukens, JeanMapsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Cunningham, CarolineDesignersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Sterlin, JennyNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Mary Russell: Chronological Order (Spring 1924, Spring 1925)
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Epigraph
...that sweet city with her dreaming spires...
- Matthew Arnold
Dedication
For Barbara Peters and Rob Rosenwald: travelling companions in the Empire, and beyond
First words
"It's a rock Holmes."
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
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Wikipedia in English (1)

"It is a normal afternoon in Sussex when Russell and Holmes return home to find a peculiar addition to their garden: a beautiful stone that once occupied the Imperial gardens in Kyoto. The stone immediately recalls the spring of 1924, when, on their way back from India (The Game), Russell and Holmes agreed to perform a small but exceedingly dangerous job for the emperor of Japan. At the time, Russell encountered a young Japanese woman on board their ship who tutored the two foreigners about her country and guided them into a secret meeting with the Prince Regent himself. Now, when Russell heads for Oxford to resume her long-delayed studies, she comes face-to-face with that very same young Japanese woman--and quickly realizes Miss Sato Haruki is not all that she seems.."--

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Book description
For years now, readers of the Russell Memoirs have wondered about the tantalizing mentions of Japan. Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes had spent three weeks there, between India (The Game) and San Francisco (Locked Rooms). The time has finally come, to tell that story.
It is 1925, and Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes arrive home to find…a stone. A stone with a name, which they last saw in the Tokyo garden of the future emperor of Japan. It is the first indication that the investigation they did for him in 1924 might not be as…complete as they had thought. In Japan there were spies, in Oxford there are dreams. In both places, there is a small, dark-haired woman, and danger.
Haiku summary
A book from Japan \
A dark secret may be lost \
Holmes can show some light

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