The Beekeeper’s Apprentice

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (1994, St. Martin’s Press) is a suspense novel written by Edgar-Award winning author, Laurie R. King. It is the first in a series of eight featuring Mary Russell and the great detective, Sherlock Holmes. After literally stumbling upon him in the Sussex Downs, fifteen-year-old Mary Russell impresses him with her intelligence and wit. Holmes, who has retired and now cultivates bees, then takes her as his apprentice. So begins a delightful friendship that is a delicate balance of the caring love of a father and daughter, the closeness that develops between a mentor and student, and a little bit of romantic attraction kept properly in check.

Mary Russell is a wonderful new addition to the Holmes cast. Though she is only fifteen, Russell is already exasperated with the dim intellects around her and finds it refreshing that Holmes can keep up with her, challenge her, and “reduce her sharply to size” with a sarcastic remark. Orphaned after having lost her parents and younger brother in a car accident, Russell finds solace in Holmes’ presence. Throughout the apprenticeship, he helps her to reach her full potential, as a person as well as a detective. After a few years of training, Holmes realizes that he has created a “not inconsiderable force. With that realization comes respect, and the solitary detective finally allows himself to trust in someone else’s abilities.

The main part of the book is comprised of three major cases in Russell’s life; each slightly outré but nonetheless believable. In the climax, mounting suspense comes to a peak as the pair find themselves the target of deadly attacks. Their investigations reveal an adversary as cunning as Holmes’ former nemesis Moriarty. They escape to Palestine for a time, hoping to lose their pursuer (a story fully told in the fifth book, O Jerusalem.) When they return, they stage a falling-out between them in an attempt to lure out their pursuer, risking their relationship as well as their lives. Russell returns to Oxford, working feverishly in the Bodleian Library, and Holmes works from his cottage in Sussex. All the threads finally lead up to a conclusion as thrilling as it is surprising.

Laurie King’s writing is thoughtful, her descriptions detailed. The characters she draws from the original stories are more real, while still immediately recognizable. Dr. Watson is as dear as ever, Mrs. Hudson still longsuffering, and Mycroft Holmes plays a greater part than he did in Doyle’s works. Readers will enjoy getting to know them better through the eyes of Holmes’ new young protégée. Even the most devoted Doyle fan will be enchanted by this delightful series.