Russell and Holmes are at their home in Sussex, enjoying a much-needed rest. But Holmes’ brother Mycroft is seriously ill, and the pair travel to London for a visit. Sick or well, Myrcroft is always looking after British Intelligence interests; when he asks Sherlock rather casually if he has been following the news our of Russia, Russell immediately suspects that the end result of the inquiry is that she and Holmes will be off on some sort of foreign adventure.

She’s right. Into Mycroft’s hands has recently come a travel-stained packet containing documents that pertain to one Kimball O’Hara--the Kim of Kipling’s book. One of the better lines in this book occurs when Russell asks Holmes:

“He’s real, then? Kipling’s boy?” to which Holmes replies:

“As real as I am.”

No longer a boy, Kim has been an British Intelligence agent in the Northwest Provinces, where such clandestine information-gathering is known as The Great Game. The Russian Bear has awakened and is looking menacingly at India’s Northwest Provinces, which bordered on Russia. In the India of 1924, many of the provinces were still under the nominal rule of rajas, some of whom were less than well-disposed towards the British. After some years of playing The Game in the area, suddenly Kim has dropped out of sight. Mycroft worries that there may be hostile forces, possibly Russian, behind the disappearances. The situation is so urgent that the pair take off without even a chance to pack their bags.

Naturally, in an intelligence investigation, the information must be gathered clandestinely, requiring disguises--and the ones adopted by Holmes and Russell are among the best in the series yet. The “international spy thriller”, if that is what this book can be called, has an excellent plot that reveals a good deal of what conditions--and politics--were like in post World War I India. There is a marvelous journey from Calcutta to the Northwest Provinces, some truly funny but endearing Americans, including a classic flapper, and intriguing descriptions of what life was like for the Indian rulers of some fairly large states; essentially powerless but still extremely wealthy, they indulged in all sorts of pastimes, such as pig-sticking (hunting wild boar), and others, decadent to the point of perversion.

Holmes and Russell are at their best; the denouement is one of the most exciting in the series, a well-written page turner. The descriptions of India and ports of call along the way are fascinating, and contribute enormous interest to the storyline. One of the best in the series.

Highly recommended. ( )

When I first realized that The Game was the name of the seventh Holmes and Russell mystery, I thought it referred to a literal game. I knew it didn’t mean XBox, of course, since these novels take place in the twenties. Chess, I thought, might be the game that was…afoot.

[Continued: http://www.bibliotica.com/2009/06/rev...]

Perhaps it's because I recently have been on a Kipling kick, but this simultaneous tribute to Kim and Sherlock Holmes had me engaged to the very last page. A delicious romp through India under English rule - although if you are troubled by the idea that a book set at this time period mightn't be an indictment of imperial rule, be forewarned: this book hardly touches on such issues. Written from the perspective of happy colonialists, it doesn't embrace racism, but nevertheless is the story of a mad maharaja being brought down by the heroic efforts of a British man (and therefore may be unsettling and not enjoyable to some sensibilities). I have no way to judge the quality of the descriptions of India, except to say that it was quite in Kipling's mode. ( )

Perhaps it's because I recently have been on a Kipling kick, but this simultaneous tribute to Kim and Sherlock Holmes had me engaged to the very last page. A delicious romp through India under English rule - although if you are troubled by the idea that a book set at this time period mightn't be an indictment of imperial rule, be forewarned: this book hardly touches on such issues. Written from the perspective of happy colonialists, it doesn't embrace racism, but nevertheless is the story of a mad maharaja being brought down by the heroic efforts of a British man (and therefore may be unsettling and not enjoyable to some sensibilities). I have no way to judge the quality of the descriptions of India, except to say that it was quite in Kipling's mode. ( )

I read 69/442 pages. I stopped reading this book when Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes go to India to find an English spy named Kimball O' Hara. They are traveling on a boat and meet a few interesting people. I stopped reading this book because it got confusing for me, and I didn't understand much of what was going on.