[SensualPoet]

I am delighted to report on my latest read, Laurie R King's Locked Rooms, the eighth installment of her Mary Russell, wife of Sherlock Holmes, series. In this mid-1920s adventure, Mary and Sherlock have ventured back to San Francisco, and her family home, where Mary at age 6, and her family, endured the mighty 1906 earthquake. Some of the tale is told in first person of Mary's voice; other sections in thirrd person, mainly from Sherlock's point-of-view.

Anyone who has been to San Francisco in modern times will recognize the landmarks; and anyone who has seen footage of San Francisco -- from 1930s movies like the stock footage in the Perry Mason film The Case of the Curious Bride -- will feel right at home. In fact, King has thoroughly done her homework: invoking the 1906 earthquake, ten years later when Mary's family are murdered, and the present day 1920s with equal detail. What a cracking good tale it is, as onion layer after onion layer is peeled back. And there are other delicious twists: such as invoking Dashiell Hammett as a private eye to help Sherlock Holmes; or a newspaper report of Conan Doyle in transit who found San Francisco lacking in spirituality and much preferring Los Angeles.

But after all the fluff is pulled away what's left is a darn good story, evocative settings and likable characters with a "locked room" puzzle to sort out. It hardly ever gets better than this. Well, in this case even better: it's under $6 at both Amazon and Kobobooks -- so it's a bargain to boot! Deeply recommended.