A thrilling conclusion to the storyline started in the previous book. I'm afraid I won't ever believe a Holmes is dead until they've died of old age. ( )

Given when the book was written and the style/words used, it took me awhile to get accustomed to things like 'connexion' and British spelling of things, ala Conan Doyle. Once the story started to move and I got a sense for Mary Russell and her journey with Holmes, his grand daughter and son, I much enjoyed it. She's a talented word smith and tells stories that are very typical of Sherlock and his brother Mycroft. Given the recent popularity of the contemporary "Sherlock" BBC series, this was quite fun. I just picked up a collaboration she did titled, "A Study in Sherlock" and will report back as I make my way through it. ( )

Mary Russell is saving her niece while her husband is trying to save his son. Mycroft Holmes is kidnapped. This is a page turning mystery with some character development but I confess I've left too much time inbetween reading the previous book in this series and this one, so I was a little lost but I still enjoyed it. ( )

A disclaimer here--this is a long-overdue review and I have likely lost some plot points in the interim. However, here goes:

I was a fan of Mary Russell and her highly satisfying verbal sparring with Sherlock from the get-go (The Beekeeper's Apprentice), keeping up with the series, until we hit this one. This entry in the series, to me, was convoluted and improbable and nearly caused me to desert it entirely. At the time, I didn't like the characters imported from Sherlock's past, either.

With that said, lots of water has gone under the bridge and I wonder if time might temper my opinion. I re-entered Mary's world with some later books in the series (Dreaming Spies, Garment of Shadows, The Murder of Mary Russell) and enjoyed those thoroughly: the story lines and editing made them a little lighter and leaner and easier to read. ( )

After their confrontation with a villain, Holmes and Russell need to split up to confuse their enemy. Holmes takes to the sea with his son Damian who has a gunshot wound and Russell grabs Holmes's three-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter Estelle and heads south. She catches up with the pilot who flew her north and convinces him to take them to a place where they can catch a train heading further south.

However, a sniper shoots their plane and wounds their pilot which convinces them to go even further before landing to get out of the range of the villains who are after them. A plane crash lands them in the realm of Robert Goodman who is living as a hermit. They spend a couple of days there before the villains overtake them and all four are forced to flee.

Russell stashes the pilot and Estelle in a place that should be safe and travels to London with Robert Goodman to search for both Holmes brothers. Then the news comes the Mycroft has been killed outside a house of ill repute and his funeral is to be the next Sunday.

Mycroft has fallen afoul of villains of his own though they are part of the larger conspiracy. Sections from the head villains point of view let us know about a plot to depose Mycroft and take his place in the Intelligence community which he feels is his destiny. And he's more than willing to murder, Mycroft, Sherlock, Mary, and anyone else who might stand in his way.

This story is told from multiple points of view and was filled with action as our heroes new and old have to find out who is behind the massive plot and save their lives and the lives of innocent victims along the way. Holmes and Russell are apart for large parts of this story which adds their worry for each other to the tension of an already tense situation.

This was an excellent story. I loved the action and tension. I really liked Robert Goodman who was an intriguing character. I also want to know more about Damian, Estelle, and the young Scottish doctor that Sherlock kidnaps to take care of Damian's gunshot wound. ( )