Review--Dreaming Spies

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Dreaming Spies (Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes #13)Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I confess, I nearly gave up on Mary and Sherlock after the last couple of books. I felt the series was losing its edge and it was time to move on. However, like so many others, I'd been intrigued by references to the adventure in Japan. We finally get that story in Dreaming Spies, and it was worth the wait.

Mary and Sherlock are traveling back to England from the East in the early '20s and encounter a young woman on their ship with a particular skill-set. She embroils them in a mystery, and when their ship docks in Japan Mary and her intrepid detective husband find themselves being tested to see if they're capable of taking on a delicate task for a Japanese VIP--Japan's most important VIP, actually.

As one reader said, "You had me at ninjas." The mystery is well crafted with an intriguing mcguffin, one learns a great deal about the Bodleian Library, and the glimpse into pre-WWII Japan is fascinating.

It's not the best of the Russell and Holmes novels, but it was worth an evening's read.


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