Substance: A well-researched adventure blending the Holmes legend with Kipling's Kim in 1924. Politics and history appear to be accurate, as are the depictions of mid-war India and England, but I am not an expert on the period or locale. As an adventure with a "feisty female" lead, it works well, including several twists on the usual cliches of the genre. As a mystery, not so well; the answers to the core questions are stumbled on or revealed in the narrative by events, rather than being deduced and disclosed by the protagonist. As is typical of these derivative Ro-mance productions, Holmes and Kim are reduced to supporting roles, almost window-dressing, but would be memorable as "new" characters.
Style: Straight-forward and clear; the descriptions are occasionally lyrical and the dialogue sometimes witty. ( )

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.

Finally finished reading the book - I liked it, but perhaps not as well as others by the same author. It does make me want to read Kim, though.

this one in india, disguising herself as a man. holmes almost faints! ( )

Once again Mycroft Holmes has sent his brother, Sherlock and Mary Russell Holmes on a secret undercover assignment for the government to India to rescue Kim O'Hara. Thought Mary was very clever in the way she handled things on her own while Sherlock was playing the magician again. ( )

I didn't know much about India during the closing years of the British Empire but this whetted my appetite to know more. ( )

Every now and then someone writes a book so compelling and timely that it becomes iconic—even mythic—in our culture. The characters of truly great fiction live on in our cultural pantheon—D’Arcy and Eliza Bennett, Heathcliff glowering under his wild dark hair, Atticus Finch calmly pacing the courtroom in the heat of an Alabama summer.

These characters are so vivid, so real to us, that they have their own existence—we can hardly imagine life NOT going on for Elizabeth and D’Arcy beyond the last pages of Pride and Prejudice. The gentle admission of Jane Eyre ("Reader, I married him") is a beginning, not an ending. One can hardly help wondering: what happened next?

The irresistible desire to know has inspired an entire genre of writing known as "pastiche." The word means to stylistically imitate something. And, keeping in mind that imitation is "the sincerest form of flattery," pastiches are as much a homage to the books that inspired them as they are an indulgent fantasy on the part of the writer.

No other literary character has been so flattered as the immortal Sherlock Holmes, who even today suffers himself to be written into umpteen stories that run the gamut from romance to cyberpunk. If you are a Holmes purist (as I am) then you despise most of these pastiches on principle. But there are a few that are, well, an interesting take on a beloved icon. The best of the latter-day Sherlock Holmes stories all belong to Laurie King who, in a book called The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, created a very human Sherlock Holmes whist keeping the nervous, brilliant, difficult and flawed original intact. . .read full review

Another fine Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes mystery, set in India. Once again King writes with authority and credibility in this period piece, refining her technique and style to an even greater degree. Although enjoyable and certainly an entertaining read, I found myself a little disappointed with the true lack of "energy and action" that can be found in the earlier Mary Russell novels. Still, a book worth visiting if one is a fan of this genre. ( )

Taking place in India and bringing in the character of "Kim," this is another great read. ( )

Great series by an awesome author. ( )

Another Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes adventure. This time in India, tracking down Kim (Kimball O'Hara), from the story by Rudyard Kipling. I enjoyed it ever so much. Why, oh why, do stories have to end? ( )

Another in Laurie R. King's Russell series, this time having the duo travel to India. Features another famous literary figure, although we don't meet him until the end. Bonus: all you ever wanted to know about pig-sticking. ( )

light mystery. ( )

http://vierran45.livejournal.com/5011... ( )

Sherlock Holmes, his Mary-sue wife and Kim. ( )

an adventure set in northern India; SH and Mary go in search of Kipling's Kim, who has gone missing