Mary Russell
Encyclopedia
Mary Russell is a fictional character
in a mystery series by Laurie R. King
.
Seventeen years in the making, King's novels are portrayals of a succession of memoires written and compiled apparently by an aged Mary Russell. A note from the editor (signed by Laurie R. King) tells readers of a mysterious occurrence wherein a collection of written accounts was anonymously delivered to the unsuspecting novelist; the note ends with a plea for information from anyone with information on the identity of Mary Russell.
The stories are set between 1915 and 1925, mainly in England but extending to Scotland, Wales, Palestine, northern India and California. They begin with fifteen year-old Mary Russell (she was born on 2 January 1900), who runs into a middle-aged individual she realizes is, in fact, Sherlock Holmes - the former consulting detective of Baker Street. now middle-aged and retired to Sussex, where he breeds bees. However, since the series take the form of Mary Russell's memoires, Sherlock Holmes
stays in the stories strictly through the influence he has in Russell's life. Laurie R. King strives to clarify this, and is quoted on her website, "I did not write Sherlock Holmes stories, I wrote Mary Russell stories". Holmes does, however, play a considerable role in the novels, figuring at first as Russell's closest friend, her calculating and idiosyncratic mentor, and as time and circumstance conspire, the Great Detective takes up the roll of companion detective. During that time, Russell and Holmes come to have a greater respect for one another; and seven years from their first meeting, the two negotiate a marriage agreement, and are married in 1921.
Nine of the novels are authored in first-person
with Locked Rooms, The Language of Bees and God of the Hive being exceptions, since several long passages in the stories are written in the third person. This technique also serves to underscore and solidify themes in the first two of these novels. The newest novel, God of the Hive published 2010, is probably primarily first-person as well, however in this newest installment to the series, Mary's narrative collaborates with the various third-person narratives of several characters, and in this way, God of the Hive manages to cover much wider ground than its companion novels.
as "Brother Mycroft." She is also close to her farm manager Patrick and tends to make friends easily when she wants to.
Russell also encounters a number of historical figures and fictional characters (who are treated as "real" within the novels) over the course of her adventures. In addition to meetings with Rudyard Kipling's Kim, Dashiell Hammett, and Sabine Baring-Gould as described above, she has met T. E. Lawrence
, J. R. R. Tolkien
and Edmund Allenby. She and Holmes are also implied to be friends with fellow fictional detective Peter Wimsey, who makes a cameo appearance in A Letter of Mary.
An ardent feminist and a respected scholar in her chosen field of theology, Russell has a variety of unlikely talents that have come in handy during cases. She has extremely accurate aim with firearms, thrown knives, and even rocks. She can also play the tin whistle, juggle and do sleight-of-hand, and pick locks. Most usefully, she speaks a large number of languages, including Ancient Greek and Latin (learned for her theology degree), Hebrew, French, German, Arabic, and Hindi.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in a mystery series by Laurie R. King
Laurie R. King
Laurie R. King is an American author best known for her detective fiction. Among her books are the Mary Russell series of historical mysteries, featuring Sherlock Holmes as her mentor and later partner, and a series featuring Kate Martinelli, a fictional lesbian San Francisco, California, police...
.
Seventeen years in the making, King's novels are portrayals of a succession of memoires written and compiled apparently by an aged Mary Russell. A note from the editor (signed by Laurie R. King) tells readers of a mysterious occurrence wherein a collection of written accounts was anonymously delivered to the unsuspecting novelist; the note ends with a plea for information from anyone with information on the identity of Mary Russell.
The stories are set between 1915 and 1925, mainly in England but extending to Scotland, Wales, Palestine, northern India and California. They begin with fifteen year-old Mary Russell (she was born on 2 January 1900), who runs into a middle-aged individual she realizes is, in fact, Sherlock Holmes - the former consulting detective of Baker Street. now middle-aged and retired to Sussex, where he breeds bees. However, since the series take the form of Mary Russell's memoires, Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
stays in the stories strictly through the influence he has in Russell's life. Laurie R. King strives to clarify this, and is quoted on her website, "I did not write Sherlock Holmes stories, I wrote Mary Russell stories". Holmes does, however, play a considerable role in the novels, figuring at first as Russell's closest friend, her calculating and idiosyncratic mentor, and as time and circumstance conspire, the Great Detective takes up the roll of companion detective. During that time, Russell and Holmes come to have a greater respect for one another; and seven years from their first meeting, the two negotiate a marriage agreement, and are married in 1921.
Nine of the novels are authored in first-person
First-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
with Locked Rooms, The Language of Bees and God of the Hive being exceptions, since several long passages in the stories are written in the third person. This technique also serves to underscore and solidify themes in the first two of these novels. The newest novel, God of the Hive published 2010, is probably primarily first-person as well, however in this newest installment to the series, Mary's narrative collaborates with the various third-person narratives of several characters, and in this way, God of the Hive manages to cover much wider ground than its companion novels.
Appearances
- The Beekeeper's ApprenticeThe Beekeeper's ApprenticeThe Beekeeper's Apprentice is the first book in the Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King. It was nominated for the Agatha best novel award and was deemed a Notable Young Adult book by the American Library Association....
opens in early April 1915, about eight months after the opening of the First World War, when young Mary Russell literally stumbles across retired detective Sherlock Holmes on the Sussex Downs. Russell impresses Holmes with her powers of deduction, and he begins to informally train her as his protégé. This training becomes vitally important when Russell is caught up in an old enemy's vendettaFeudA feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight between parties—often groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one party perceives itself to have been attacked, insulted or wronged by another...
against Holmes. The volume closes in August 1919. - A Monstrous Regiment of WomenA Monstrous Regiment of WomenA Monstrous Regiment of Women is the second book in the Mary Russell series of mystery novels by Laurie R. King.-Explanation of the novel's title:...
takes place from Christmas 1920 to February 1921. Russell becomes involved in a Christian feminist movement concerned with philanthropy and political activism. When several wealthier followers of the group are found to have died under mysterious circumstances after willingWill (law)A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
their fortunes to the cause, Russell and Holmes are drawn into a deeper mystery. A sub-plot deals with the deepening relationship between Russell and Holmes. The title is a reference to the 16th century pamphlet The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regimen of Women. - A Letter of MaryA Letter of MaryA Letter of Mary is the third in the Mary Russell mystery series of novels by Laurie R. King.-Plot summary:August 1923. All is quiet in the Holmes household in Sussex as Mary Russell works on academic research while Sherlock Holmes conducts malodorous chemistry experiments...
is set two years after the events of Monstrous Regiment and the Holmes-Russell marriage. It begins in August 1923 and concluded just a month later. A first-century manuscript surfaces that would turn Christianity on its ear, and its discoverer, a friend of Russell and Holmes, turns up dead. While they investigate the death, they must also evade those who are looking for the manuscript. The fictional Lord Peter WimseyLord Peter WimseyLord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey is a bon vivant amateur sleuth in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers, in which he solves mysteries; usually, but not always, murders...
makes a brief cameo appearance. - The MoorThe Moor (novel)The Moor is the fourth book in Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King.Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes investigate strange goings-on on Dartmoor. Reprising the setting and some of the plotlines of The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes and Russell come to the aid of the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould....
closely follows its predecessor, from end September or early October 1923 until early November 1923. It takes the partnership out to DartmoorDartmoorDartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
, the location of the original Conan DoyleArthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
mystery, The Hound of the BaskervillesThe Hound of the BaskervillesThe Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of four crime novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set largely on Dartmoor in Devon in England's West Country and tells the story of an...
. Another hound is stalking the night, and they must discover how and why. Russell meets Holmes' old acquaintance, the real-life Rev. Sabine Baring-GouldSabine Baring-GouldThe Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould was an English hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1240 publications, though this list continues to grow. His family home, Lew Trenchard Manor near Okehampton, Devon, has been preserved as he had it...
, the squire of Lew Trenchard, when he asks their help in ridding the Moor of the ghostly hound. - O JerusalemO Jerusalem (Mary Russell novel)O Jerusalem is the fifth book in the Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King.Set during the voyage of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes to the Holy Land, the action of this novel takes place chronologically during the action of The Beekeeper's Apprentice...
returns to the close of 1918 and recounts in greater detail the couple's six-week sojourn to PalestinePalestinePalestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
which was glossed over in The Beekeeper's Apprentice. Working with two of MycroftMycroft HolmesMycroft Holmes is a fictional character in the stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. He is the elder brother of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes.- Profile :...
's agents, Mahmoud and Ali Hazr, the partners seek out spies in post-WWI Palestine. - Justice HallJustice HallJustice Hall is the sixth book in the Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King. In this installment, Mary Russell has accepted her tumultuous relationship with her now-husband, Sherlock Holmes and is looking forward to some time alone...
takes up immediately following the conclusion of The Moor, and covers events to Christmas 1923. Two former friends reappear in England, their former lives now revealed. They are brought back to the life they left behind by a sudden succession to a dukedom. Russell and Holmes help search for one of the Duke's nephews, so he can pass on the coronet and return to his preferred life abroad. While there, the pair dig into the past to discover the truth behind the Duke's other nephew's mysterious wartime death. - The GameThe Game (Mary Russell novel)The Game is the seventh book in the Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King, which focuses on the adventures of Russell and her partner and, later, husband, an aging Sherlock Holmes.-Plot:...
In the early days of 1924, Russell and Holmes are given an urgent task by his brother Mycroft: to find a British spy gone missing along India's northwest frontier, where men are dying and trouble is brewing. The spy is one whom Holmes knows from his travels in India long ago, under the name Sigurson - Kimball O'Hara, known to the world by the name Rudyard KiplingRudyard KiplingJoseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
called him, KimKim (novel)Kim is a picaresque novel by Rudyard Kipling. It was first published serially in McClure's Magazine from December 1900 to October 1901 as well as in Cassell's Magazine from January to November 1901, and first published in book form by Macmillan & Co. Ltd in October 1901...
. - Locked RoomsLocked RoomsLocked Rooms is the eighth book in the Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King. It was published in 2005. Unlike King's previous Mary Russell novels, Locked Rooms is split into 5 separate "books". The books alternate between the familiar Mary Russell first-person narrative and a third-person...
Setting sail from their adventures in India during the spring of 1924, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes first visit Japan and then turn their faces toward San Francisco. The time has come to close up the house and business interests she inherited on the death of her family, ten years before. But disturbing dreams and painful memories make the visit more difficult than she expected, and Holmes suspects that there are dark secrets in his wife's past that even she is not aware of. A young Dashiell HammettDashiell HammettSamuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , and the Continental Op .In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on...
makes an extended cameo appearance. - The Language of BeesThe Language of BeesThe Language of Bees is a 2009 mystery novel by American author Laurie R. King. Ninth in King's Mary Russell series, the story features detectives Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock Holmes...
Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes return home to the Sussex coast in August 1924 and find an entire colony of Holmes' bees has disappeared, but soon have a bigger mystery to solve. They are enlisted to find the missing wife and child of Damian Adler, whom they crossed paths with earlier when he was accused of murder. As their investigation brings the couple into contact with many different types of madness, Russell begins to believe that Holmes may be protecting the killer they are after. - The God of the HiveThe God of the HiveThe God of the Hive is a 2010 mystery novel by American author Laurie R. King. Tenth in the Mary Russell series, the story features married detectives Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes...
The adventure picks up directly from the previous book's cliff-hanger ending, as Russell, Holmes, and their companions have been forced to split up in an attempt to make their way back to London, and safety. However, the world has become a dangerous and uncertain place in their absence, with deadly conspiracy so deeply entrenched in the highest echelons of government that even Mycroft is prevented from rendering assistance. New foes threaten the company at all sides, yet in the process a modern-day Robin Goodfellow emerges to lend aid to Mary and her kin.
Early life
The daughter of a British Jewish mother and an American millionaire father, Russell spent time in Dallas and San Francisco as well as England while growing up. Her mother raised her in the Jewish tradition and she continues to consider herself a Jew as an adult. When she is fourteen, Russell's parents and younger brother are killed in an automobile accident outside San Francisco in which she herself is seriously injured. Russell blames herself for the accident and undergoes psychoanalysis during her recovery, continuing to have nightmares for years afterward. After she recovers, Russell returns to her mother's farm in Sussex under the guardianship of her much-hated and penurious maternal aunt, who intends to live well off Russell's fortune until Mary reaches her majority. It is here where, as well as meeting Holmes, Russell prepares for and eventually passes the entrance exams to Oxford University, where she reads chemistry and theology.Relationships
In addition to Holmes, who acts a mentor and father substitute early in their relationship and eventually becomes her husband, Russell becomes close to other characters from the Holmes canon: she considers Mrs. Hudson, who has accompanied Holmes to Sussex as his housekeeper, to be a mother figure, and she refers to Dr. Watson as "Uncle John" and Mycroft HolmesMycroft Holmes
Mycroft Holmes is a fictional character in the stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. He is the elder brother of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes.- Profile :...
as "Brother Mycroft." She is also close to her farm manager Patrick and tends to make friends easily when she wants to.
Russell also encounters a number of historical figures and fictional characters (who are treated as "real" within the novels) over the course of her adventures. In addition to meetings with Rudyard Kipling's Kim, Dashiell Hammett, and Sabine Baring-Gould as described above, she has met T. E. Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18...
, J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
and Edmund Allenby. She and Holmes are also implied to be friends with fellow fictional detective Peter Wimsey, who makes a cameo appearance in A Letter of Mary.
Appearance and attributes
Russell is tall and slim, with strawberry-blonde hair and blue eyes. She usually wears her hair in plaits until she is forced to cut it short as part of a disguise in The Game. She wears glasses due to poor eyesight and often wears men's clothing when not required to dress otherwise for society or a case.An ardent feminist and a respected scholar in her chosen field of theology, Russell has a variety of unlikely talents that have come in handy during cases. She has extremely accurate aim with firearms, thrown knives, and even rocks. She can also play the tin whistle, juggle and do sleight-of-hand, and pick locks. Most usefully, she speaks a large number of languages, including Ancient Greek and Latin (learned for her theology degree), Hebrew, French, German, Arabic, and Hindi.
Inspiration
Laurie R. King has described Russell as "what Sherlock Holmes would look like if Holmes, the Victorian detective, were a) a woman, b) of the Twentieth century, and c) interested in theology". King has a graduate degree in Old Testament theology that has doubtless informed Russell's own theological pursuits.External links
- Laurie R. King's homepage
- "Letters of Mary", Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes fan fiction
- The Mary Russell Mystery Crossword, appearing in the July 4, 2005 New Yorker.