A Letter of Mary

Review: [review regards the British edition] A letter written by Mary of Magdala, proving her to have been an apostle of Jesus, would cause havoc within the Christian church - but is it a strong enough reason for murder? That's the premise of A Letter of Mary, Laurie R. King's third novel about Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes.

It's a clever and exciting story, and by now, I can just about accept the notion that the 70-year old Holmes and the 20-something Russell are married. Ms King doesn't really capture the atmosphere of England in 1923, however, and the text is littered with anachronisms (no respectable young woman would enter a pub alone unless she wanted to be considered 'fast'; nor would she drink beer) and Americanisms (English head waiters are not called maître d', and English restaurants don't employ busboys) - which the British publishers should have caught and corrected.

Recommended, but with reservations.

Reviewed by: Roger Johnson, [District Messenger 190, 1999]