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This page lists novels and short story collections that feature the amateur detective Mary Russell.

The Beekeeper's Apprentice: Or, on the Segregation of the Queen

Laurie R. King

1994

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novel.

"1915. The great detective Sherlock Holmes is retired and quietly engaged in the study of honey bees 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 protegee 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."

A Monstrous Regiment of Women

Laurie R. King

1995

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novel.

"It is 1921 and Mary Russell--Sherlock Holmes's brilliant apprentice, now an Oxford graduate with a degree in theology - is on the verge of acquiring a sizable inheritance. Independent at last, with a passion for divinity and detective work, her most baffling mystery may now involve Holmes and the burgeoning of a deeper affection between herself and the retired detective. Russell's attentions turn to the New Temple of God and its leader, Margery Childe, a charismatic suffragette and a mystic, whose draw on the young theology scholar is irresistible. But when four bluestockings from the Temple turn up dead shortly after changing their wills, could sins of a capital nature be afoot? Holmes and Russell investigate, as their partnership takes a surprising turn."

A Letter Of Mary

Laurie R. King

1997

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novel.

"1923. Mary Russell Holmes and her husband, the retired Sherlock Holmes, are enjoying the summer together on their Sussex estate when they are visited by an old friend, Miss Dorothy Ruskin, an archeologist just returned from Palestine. She leaves in their protection an ancient manuscript which seems to hint at the possibility that Mary Magdalene was an apostle--an artifact certain to stir up a storm of biblical proportions in the Christian establishment. When Ruskin is suddenly killed in a tragic accident, Russell and Holmes find themselves on the trail of a fiendishly clever murderer. This next installment is brimming with political intrigue, theological arcana, and brilliant Holmesian deductions."

The Moor

Laurie R. King

1998

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novel.

"In the eerie wasteland of Dartmoor, Sherlock Holmes summons his devoted wife and partner, Mary Russell, from her studies at Oxford to aid the investigation of a death and some disturbing phenomena of a decidedly supernatural origin. Through the mists of the moor there have been sightings of a spectral coach made of bones carrying a woman long-ago accused of murdering her husband--and of a hound with a single glowing eye. Returning to the scene of one of his most celebrated cases, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes and Russell investigate a mystery darker and more unforgiving than the moors themselves."

O Jerusalem

Laurie R. King

1999

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novel.

"1918. Forced to flee England, Sherlock Holmes and his young apprentice Mary Russell enter British-occupied Palestine under the auspices of Holmes's enigmatic brother, Mycroft. Their arrival coincides with a rash of unsolved murders that has baffled the authorities, yet no one is too pleased at Holmes's insistence on reconstructing the most recent homicide in the desert where it occurred. What they unexpectedly uncover will lead Russell and Holmes through an exotic gauntlet of labyrinthine bazaars, verminous hovels, cliff-hung monasteries - and into mortal danger. In the jewel-like city of Jerusalem, they will at last meet their adversary, whose lust for power could ignite a tinderbox of hostilities just waiting for a spark."

Justice Hall

Laurie R. King

2002

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novel.

"1918. Forced to flee England, Sherlock Holmes and his young apprentice Mary Russell enter British-occupied Palestine under the auspices of Holmes's enigmatic brother, Mycroft. Their arrival coincides with a rash of unsolved murders that has baffled the authorities, yet no one is too pleased at Holmes's insistence on reconstructing the most recent homicide in the desert where it occurred. What they unexpectedly uncover will lead Russell and Holmes through an exotic gauntlet of labyrinthine bazaars, verminous hovels, cliff-hung monasteries - and into mortal danger. In the jewel-like city of Jerusalem, they will at last meet their adversary, whose lust for power could ignite a tinderbox of hostilities just waiting for a spark."

The Game

Laurie R. King

2004

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novel.

"New Year 1924. Mary Russell is drawn into a new intrigue when she and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, pay a visit to Holmes' gravely ill brother, Mycroft. Mycroft has received a strange package that contains the papers of a missing English spy named Kimball O'Hara, the hero of Rudyard Kipling's Kim, who is feared to have been taken hostage - or even killed. Mary and Sherlock embark on a search for the missing operative, which takes them on a perilous journey through sun-drenched India. But when a twist of fate forces the couple to part ways, Russell learns that in this faraway place it's often impossible to tell friend from foe, and that some games must be played out until their deadly end."

Locked Rooms

Laurie R. King

2005

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novel.

"In 1924, San Francisco is booming. The great fire and earthquake of 1906 cleared the ground for a modern city, but the closer she comes to the place she used to call home, the more troubling Mary Russell's dreams become. As Russell and her husband, the great detective Sherlock Holmes, attempt to settle their affairs in the City by the Bay, Mary's past isn't the only thing that catches up with them - a mysterious stranger is waiting for the pair, and may be the only one who holds the key to the locked rooms that have been haunting Mary's dreams."

The Language of Bees

Laurie R. King

2009

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novel.

"For Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, returning to the Sussex coast after seven months abroad is a delicious anticipation. But the longed for sweetness of their homecoming is quickly tempered by a bitter memory from her husband's past. Mary had met Damian Adler only once before, but the talented and troubled young man is enlisting her help again, this time in a desperate search for his missing wife and child. From suicides among the Standing Stones to a bizarre religious cult, from the heart of Bohemian London to dark secrets on the streets of Shanghai, Russell will find herself on the trail of a killer more dangerous than any she's ever faced - a killer Sherlock Holmes himself may be protecting for reasons near and dear to his heart."

The God of the Hive

Laurie R. King

2010

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novel.

"It began as a problem in one of Holmes' beloved beehives, led to a murderous cult, and ended - or so they'd hoped - with a daring escape from a sacrificial altar. Instead, Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, have stirred the wrath of those they've thwarted. Now they are separated and on the run, and pursued across the Continent by a ruthless enemy with powerful connections. Unstoppable together, Russell and Holmes will have to survive this time apart, and with Holmes' young granddaughter in her safekeeping, Russell will have to call on instincts she didn't know she had. From secret rooms in London to rickety planes over Scotland, Russell and Holmes work their way back to each other in the most complex, shocking, and deeply personal case of their career."

Beekeeping for Beginners

Laurie R. King

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes short story. Published electronically.

"Sherlock Holmes is fending off a particularly dark mood as he roams the Sussex Downs, in search of wild bees. The Great War may be raging across the Channel, but on the Downs, the great detective nears terminal melancholia -- only to be saved by an encounter with headstrong, yellow-haired young Mary Russell, who soon becomes the Master's apprentice not only in beekeeping but in detection. Holmes instantly spots her remarkable ability, but his sharp eyes also see troubling problems. Why is this wealthy orphan who lives with her aunt so shabbily dressed? Why is she so prone to illness and accident? Is she herself the center of a mystery? These are questions that the great detective must answer quickly lest his protegee, and his own new lease on life, meet a sudden, tragic end. The tale of their meeting has been told from Russell's point of view, but even those who have never met the famed Russell-Holmes pair will read this tale with delight--and, as its climax builds, with breathless excitement."

Pirate King

Laurie R. King

2011

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novel.

"When Mary Russell is called upon to investigate the criminal activities that surround England's silent-film supremo Randolph Fflytte, she finds herself travelling undercover to Morocco, as chaperone to the stars of his latest extravaganza, Pirate King, based on Gilbert and Sullivan's masterful The Pirates of Penzance. Nothing seems amiss until the cameras start to roll and Mary feels a storm of trouble brewing...a derelict boat, a film crew with secrets, ominous currents between the pirates, decks awash with budding romance - and where is her husband Sherlock Holmes? As film fiction becomes true terror, Russell and Holmes themselves may experience a final fadeout."

Garment Of Shadows

Laurie R. King

2012

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novel.

"When Mary Russell is called upon to investigate the criminal activities that surround England's silent-film supremo Randolph Fflytte, she finds herself travelling undercover to Morocco, as chaperone to the stars of his latest extravaganza, Pirate King, based on Gilbert and Sullivan's masterful The Pirates of Penzance. Nothing seems amiss until the cameras start to roll and Mary feels a storm of trouble brewing...a derelict boat, a film crew with secrets, ominous currents between the pirates, decks awash with budding romance - and where is her husband Sherlock Holmes? As film fiction becomes true terror, Russell and Holmes themselves may experience a final fadeout."

The Mary Russell Companion

Laurie R. King

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes short stories and non-fiction pieces. Published electronically.

"The world of Mary Russell, apprentice-turned-partner of the great detective Sherlock Holmes, has long fascinated her followers. Over the course of ten Memoirs and a number of short stories, Russell has revealed much about her life—but far more has gone unexplored. Filled with new and original material, The Mary Russell Companion helps to close that gaping chasm of ignorance. With lavish illustrations and a firm commitment to academic formalities, the Companion serves as a guide to all things Russell. First and foremost, it is an Entertainment. Fun and informative essays alternate with the words of Miss Russell herself, with supplemental material that appears here in print for the first time. Second, it is an aid to scholarship. Key elements of the Memoirs are brought together in one place: maps of Russell’s travels, a detailed chronology of the books, biographies of the central players (those known to Arthur Conan Doyle, those known to the world at large, and those seen exclusively in the Russell Memoirs), and reviews of this remarkable woman’s extraordinary set of skills: all that is known about Russell’s history through the first ten of her Memoirs."

Mary's Christmas

Laurie R. King

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes short story. Published electronically in 2014 initially via Laurie R. King's website. Subsequently included in the 2016 publication Mary Russell's War.

"It begins one winter’s evening in the early Twenties when the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are seated by their fire, sharing stories about the unexplored portions of their past. Naturally, a person might expect the older Holmes to have a large collection of these—but tonight it is Russell who astonishes her husband with news of a previously unknown, even unsuspected, relation, and her own flirtation with a criminous past."

Dreaming Spies

Laurie R. King

2015

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novel.

"1925. Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes arrive home to find a stone. The stone is inscribed with the same name that they last saw in the Tokyo garden of the future emperor of Japan. It is the first indication that the investigation they did for him a year ago might not be as complete as they had thought.In Japan there were spies; in Oxford there are dreams. In both places, there is a small, dark-haired woman, and danger."

The Marriage of Mary Russell

Laurie R. King

2016

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes short story. Published electronically only in 2016. Subsequently included in the 2016 publication Mary Russell's War.

"Though she cannot entirely discount the effects of the head injuries they were both suffering at the time, Mary Russell is delighted by Sherlock Holmes’s proposal of marriage. After all, they have become partners-in-crime, and she has recently come into her inheritance: what remains but to confirm the union with her mentor-turned-partner through a piece of paper? Russell’s pragmatic side tells her to head straight to the registry office—until Holmes surprises her with a sentimental wish to be married in the chapel of his ancestral manor. There’s just the small issue of ownership: the house is not exactly his, and he is most definitely not welcome there. Of course, such obstacles have never deterred Sherlock Holmes before, and they certainly won’t keep him from concocting an elaborate scheme to evade angry dogs and armed butlers—all in the name of wedded bliss."

The Murder Of Mary Russell

Laurie R. King

2016

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novel.

"Mary Russell is well used to dark secrets - her own, and those of her famous partner and husband, Sherlock Holmes. Trust is a thing slowly given, but over the course of a decade together, the two have forged an indissoluble bond. But what of the other person Mary Russell has opened her heart to, that third member of the Holmes household: Mrs Hudson? Blood on the floor, a token on the mantelpiece, the smell of gunshot in the air: all point directly at Clara Hudson - or rather, at Clarissa, the woman she was before Baker Street. The key to Russell's sacrifice lies in Mrs Hudson's past, and to uncover the crime, a frantic Sherlock Holmes must put aside his anguish and push deep into his housekeeper's secrets, to a time before her disguise was assumed, before her crimes were buried away. There is death here, and murder, and trust betrayed."

Mary Russell's War

Laurie R. King

2016

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes short stories.

"Nine previously published short stories and one brand new, never-before-seen Sherlock Holmes mystery—available together for the first time. After an “Appreciation” by noted Sherlockian Leslie S Klinger, Laurie R. King blends her long-running brand of crime fiction with historical treats and narrative sleight of hand, from a prequel novella of Mary Russell’s teenage diaries to the real story of how Miss Russell came to send her Memoirs to Laurie R. King, from Mrs. Hudson’s own investigation to a tale of young Russell’s beloved Uncle Jake–and, a Christmas investigation by Sherlock Holmes and his very young assistant."

• Mary’s Christmas
• Mary Russell’s War
• Beekeeping for Beginners
• Mrs Hudson’s Case
• The Marriage of Mary Russell
• Birth of a Green Man
• A Venomous Death
• My Story
• A Case in Correspondence
• Stately Holmes

Island of the Mad

Laurie R. King

2018

A Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes novel.

" Lady Vivian Beaconsfield has spent most of her adult life in one asylum after another, since the loss of her brother and father in the Great War. And although her mental state seemed to be improving, she's now disappeared after an outing from Bethlem Royal Hospital . . . better known as Bedlam. Russell wants nothing to do with the case--but she can't say no. And at least it will get her away from the challenges of housework and back to the familiar business of investigation. To track down the vanished woman, she brings to the fore her deductive instincts and talent for subterfuge--and of course enlists her husband's legendary prowess. Together, Russell and Holmes travel from the grim confines of Bedlam to the winding canals and sun-drenched Lido cabarets of Venice--only to find the foreboding shadow of Benito Mussolini darkening the fate of a city, an era, and a tormented English lady of privilege."