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It's the 1920s and the great Sherlock Holmes is alive, well and in California with his wife Mary Russell. No, you haven't missed a long-lost Conan Doyle story. Instead, American crime writer Laurie R King has built a series around the two characters. LOCKED ROOMS is number eight in the series. After their adventures in India and Egypt, Holmes and Russell are heading for San Francisco, Russell's childhood home, to sort out her investments. This includes a large, rambling house which has supposedly been kept closed under the terms of Russell's father's will. But why, then, are there footprints in the dust and ashes in the fireplace? And someone seems awfully keen to stop the pair investigating. I'm a big fan of Laurie R King's Kate Martinelli series, but have never warmed to the standalones. I read the first couple of books in the Mary Russell series some years ago, under great duress from a friend. My instinct then was 'nice writing, but why bother?' LOCKED ROOMS is classy writing which generally does justice to the spirit of Conan Doyle. The question is, though, why you'd want to play in someone else's sandpit when you could create your own. One can only assume King was captivated by the thought of this strong 20-something female giving Holmes a run for his money. I'm not sure she does, though. She's a feisty creation for sure, but I found myself much more interested in Holmes' sections. Russell spends most of the book musing over the glaring gaps in her memory concerning the death of her family in a car accident. The book is told in the first person by Russell and in the third by Holmes (with one minor wibble near to the end). King generally provides the two with convincing voices, although I can't hear the very English Holmes saying: "I could use some new socks." Use them for what? LOCKED ROOMS really came alive for me when Holmes was applying his usual razor-sharp brain to the mystery and bringing in some wonderful Irregulars in the shape of some San Francisco street kids, and teaming up with a certain Dashiel Hammett. The plot is thin and the suspense pretty laboured, but in the end what makes LOCKED ROOMS worth your time is the sheer quality of the writing. I just hope King reapplies that skill to the much-missed Martinelli series.
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, June 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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