The Beekeeper's Apprentice or, On the Segregation of the Queen

An Agatha Award Best Novel Nominee Named One of the Century's Best 100 Mysteries by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association From New York Times bestselling author Laurie R. King comes the book that introduced us to the ingenious Mary Russell'Sherlock Holmes mysteries In 1915, Sherlock Holmes is retired and quietly engaged in the study of honeybees when a young woman literally stumbles into him on the Sussex Downs. Fifteen years old, gawky, egotistical, and recently orphaned, the young Mary Russell displays an intellect to impress even Sherlock Holmes-and match him wit for wit. Under his reluctant tutelage, this very modern twentieth-century woman proves a deft protégée and a fitting partner for the Victorian detective. In their first case together, they must track down a kidnapped American senator's daughter and confront a truly cunning adversary-a bomber who has set trip wires for the sleuths and who will stop at nothing to end their partnership. Full of brilliant deductions, disguises, and dangers, this first book of the Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes mysteries is "wonderfully original and entertaining . . . absorbing from beginning to end" ( Booklist ).

Laurie R. King is the Edgar Award–winning author of four contemporary novels featuring Kate Martinelli, eight acclaimed Mary Russell mysteries, and four stand-alone novels, including the highly praised A Darker Place. She lives in northern California.

"Wonderfully original and entertaining . . . absorbing from beginning to end."--Booklist
 
"King has stepped onto the sacred literary preserve of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, poached Holmes, and brilliantly brought him to life again."--The Washington Post Book World 

"Remarkably beguiling."--The Boston Globe

 

"A fascinating and often moving account of a friendship so unusual and so compelling that one almost accepts it as being historically real."--The Denver Post

 

"Enchanting . . . The Beekeeper's Apprentice is real Laurie R. King, not faux Conan Doyle, and for my money, it's better than the original."--San Jose Mercury News

 

"Rousing . . . Riveting . . . Suspenseful."--Chicago Sun-Times