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The Moor (Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes #4)

by Laurie R. King (Goodreads Author)

3.94 · Rating Details · 11,674 Ratings · 724 Reviews

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 h ...more

Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages

Published (first published 1998)

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Community Reviews

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Mar 26, 2011 LauraRW rated it liked it

I read reviews warning the reader to skip over this one in the series, but that advice goes against my nature as a reader.

I wish I had been able to listen.

Meanwhile, the book is summed up as follows. (Here be spoilers)

Holmes--"Russell, come to rainy, foggy Devonshire."

Mary---"No." (Changes mind)

Mary tramps through mud, gets wet, dirty, hungry cold. Takes bath.

The Reverend Baring-Gould, "I won't be around much, but I am old, my house is queer, and I don't think much of you, only Holmes."

Mary, "Li ...more

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Jan 11, 2011 Hannah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries, 2011-reads

I was leary of reading this 4th installment of the Mary Russell (Holmes) series. Leary because I love the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories featuring Sherlock Holmes (most especially The Hound of the Baskervilles). It's always a crap shoot when a new author decides to play off well known characters and create a new set of stories (I can't fully describe how most of the Jane Austen knock-offs horrify and disgust me).

But I should have given Laurie King more credit, because The Moor not only held it's ...more

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Oct 12, 2010 Grace Tjan rated it it was ok

Shelves: mystery-thriller, 2010, ebook, holmesiana

Dear Miss Russell/ Mrs. Holmes,

Having perused the earlier installments of your chronicles with a good degree of enjoyment, I regret to say that I am somewhat disappointed in this one. The mystery’s premise is valid, if rather simple, but the execution is sorely lacking. I find it to be utterly uninvolving and rather incoherent. Where’s the suspense? And all this traipsing across the moors, abundantly padded with repetitive descriptions of mundane activities such as meals and hot baths, is extrem ...more

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Oct 27, 2011 Kim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-fiction

Reading this, the fourth episode in King's Mary Russell series, was made more enjoyable by immediately preceding it with a re-read of The Hound of the Baskervilles. The plot and characters of arguably the greatest of Sherlock Holmes stories was thus firmly in my head, ready to inform my reading of King's offering.

A very good offering it is. King does a superb job of evoking the most important "character" in the novel - and in The Hound of the Baskervilles for that matter - that is, Dartmoor its ...more

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Jan 31, 2016 Magdalena rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, historical-fiction, crime-and-thrillers, historical-mystery, sherlock-holmes, all-time-favorite-books

Mary Russell is summoned by Sherlock Holmes to Dartmoor to help investigate a mysterious death that is said to be heralded by a phantom coach carrying long-dead noblewoman over the moors. Around the dead body was it oversized paw prints…

This book is especially interesting since it brings Sherlock Holmes back to Dartmoor, the place where The Hound of the Baskervilles cases took place. It’s quite a dark and chilly tale, and the dark and deadly moor adds a special atmosphere to the tale. Like the p ...more

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Feb 20, 2015 Tracey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery, holmes, another-author-s-characters, 5-star

I would have loved to have reread The Hound of the Baskervilles before this, but I was in a hurry to get to the ARC of Pirate King that was waiting. Next time – because these are definitely books I will reread now and then as time goes by.

It's great fun to watch the investigation into new reports of spectral happenings on the Moor, punctuated by Holmes's disgust with the common man's susceptibility and Russell's very private never-spoken niggling question as to whether in such a weird (in the c I would have loved to have reread The Hound of the Baskervilles before this, but I was in a hurry to get to the ARC of Pirate King that was waiting. Next time – because these are definitely books I will reread now and then as time goes by.

It's great fun to watch the investigation into new reports of spectral happenings on the Moor, punctuated by Holmes's disgust with the common man's susceptibility and Russell's very private never-spoken niggling question as to whether in such a weird (in the classical sense) place as this the supernatural might not be real. But best of all is the emotion in the story: another glimpse of Holmes the human being, the fierce friend.

The Moor is a prime example of why this series isn't mere fan-fiction, why it rises above the level of most pastiche. I'll probably grow repetitious with these reviews, but so be it: Laurie R. King's Sherlock Holmes is beautifully true to Doyle's, having realistically aged since the last of the original stories, and having found a new lease on life. LRK knows the world she's writing in, both the real world of the 1920's and the earlier London and its environs of the original stories and books – knows it well enough that she can move so confidently from, as here, London to Yorkshire that the reader never questions a detail. Generally the books in the Holmes and Russell series pay only passing homage to the original works; obviously The Moor is a law unto itself. In more ways than one. And honestly, who could resist doing honor to The Hound? It's such a beautiful opportunity to both tie the progenitor and the offspring together and to create the distance this Holmes desires between the things that man Doyle wrote about him and what an intelligent and loving wife would set down. And it also ties together the fictional hero and the man who wrote his "biography", Sabine Baring Gould, in a lovely manner.

Yes, I'm the one who constantly complains, bitterly, about the use of real people as characters in fiction (as well as the use of other people's characters). But there is a world of difference between the Jane Austen, Lady Detective books (not to mention Jane Austen, Vampire or whatever) and this sort of treatment. This was … wish fulfillment, in a way. Like the Doctor Who episode Vincent and the Doctor – which was something of a valentine to the artist, not so much never-was-or-could-be as an I-wish-this-could-have-been (and I really do) - it's a lovely thing to imagine that this great aficionado of Holmes, Sabine Baring-Gould, was in fact the detective's old and valued friend. I think he would have loved it. As with the setting and Holmes himself, it is obvious that LRK knows what she is talking about inside and out, and has the utmost respect for both the fictional and the actual. It's what makes the series not only tolerable but wonderful. ...more

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Feb 01, 2008 Melanie rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery, in-high-school, sherlock-holmes, read-more-than-once

(See my review for book 3, A Letter of Mary....the thoughts below pick up where it leaves off)

...Along the same lines, one thing that surprises me in this book is that Russell complains that the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould's treatment of theology is haphazard--yet doesn't seem to realize that he's not merely evaluating theology, he's doing it. (Which means that as a scholar herself she needs to be evaluating what he's doing on its own terms.) Again--deliberate on King's part, or a flaw in her abili (See my review for book 3, A Letter of Mary....the thoughts below pick up where it leaves off)

...Along the same lines, one thing that surprises me in this book is that Russell complains that the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould's treatment of theology is haphazard--yet doesn't seem to realize that he's not merely evaluating theology, he's doing it. (Which means that as a scholar herself she needs to be evaluating what he's doing on its own terms.) Again--deliberate on King's part, or a flaw in her ability to portray this particular character?

(On a similar note, because the pet peeve fits well here: Russell at one point complains that Sunday is the day that the Christians "mistakenly call the Sabbath." However...it is the Christian Sabbath. And there are a number of distinctly Christian reasons why it is so. Therefore, for Christians to call it their Sabbath is not a mistake. Russell could get away with this remark if she were merely Jewish, but she's a scholar of theology who appears to focus a great deal on Christian history and interpretation at Oxford. Was she simply being irritable, or surprisingly unthoughtful?)

Yes, I nitpick because I love this series and read it over and over. Even the books I like less, I still enjoy. So I can complain if I like.

But here's a neat little ironic historical tie-in and one of the reasons I love and enjoy Laurie R. King's work so much. (I like layers. Complex ones.) Why write Sherlock Holmes into the life of the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould? According to the Wikipedia entry on Sabine Baring Gould, one of Baring-Gould's grandsons, William Stuart Baring Gould, was "a noted Sherlock Holmes scholar who wrote a fictional biography of the great detective—in which, to make up for the lack of information about Holmes's early life, he based his account on the childhood of Sabine Baring-Gould." Laurie R. King, in turn, cheekily writes a fictional biography of S. Baring-Gould in which the great detective not only appears, but is supplied with a childhood--at least in part--in the revelation that the Reverend Baring-Gould is Sherlock Holmes' godfather. And thus the line between fiction and reality doubles over and blurs still more...

As Russell observes in her preface to The Beekeeper's Apprentice, "I do not remember when I first realised that the flesh-and-blood Sherlock Holmes I knew so well was to the rest of the world merely a figment of an out-of-work medical doctor's powerful imagination. What I do remember is how the realisation took my breath away, and how for several days my own self-awareness became slightly detached, tenuous, as if I too were in the process of transmuting into fiction, by contagion with Holmes."

Irony upon delicious irony.

...more

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Oct 20, 2010 Heather rated it liked it

If you haven't read Laurie R King before, don't start with this novel.

It is not as well paced, not as interesting, nor as well plotted as her others in the BRILLIANT Mary Russel/Holmes series. Let me be frank... I ADORE her books. Adore this series: am reading them and gushing over how breathtaking her grasp of theological and philosophical concepts, calling friends to tell them they MUST read these books, explaining to people how Ms. King's series has renewed my faith in the genre of Mystery a If you haven't read Laurie R King before, don't start with this novel.

It is not as well paced, not as interesting, nor as well plotted as her others in the BRILLIANT Mary Russel/Holmes series. Let me be frank... I ADORE her books. Adore this series: am reading them and gushing over how breathtaking her grasp of theological and philosophical concepts, calling friends to tell them they MUST read these books, explaining to people how Ms. King's series has renewed my faith in the genre of Mystery as Not being just "popcorn" books (mildly tasty, filling, but no substence).

This particular book, however, I not only figured out within a chapter or two, but the continual droning on and on about the moor-- while vaguely interesting to begin with-- became as monotonous as walking continually around in it must have been to the characters. Maybe that was the point (Man, the moor is big and flat and rocky and boooring. Yawn....) or maybe it was an homage to Baskerville and we were supposed to love it only for that. Whatever the reason, this book didn't work for me like the others did.

HOWEVER.... I pressed onward, and began O Jerusalem. TALK ABOUT REDEMPTION!!!! Beautiful, descriptive, breathtaking, filled with action and intrigue, markedly hard to figure out and deliciously filling out the characters' lives, as well as foreshadowing the next book.... well, it was everything that The Moor was NOT.

SO.... I know, you're probably in love with this series the same way I am. I know, you're probably trying to read the series in order, because they are so lovely that way. I know, you're probably starting this book and thinking- but Heather _said_ this series was great, why am I only liking this book, not adOring it. Press forward. It's not a waste of reading, it's just not revelatory like the previous books in the series. Read it, finish it, pick up O Jerusalem, and get back into the adventure.

That said, there are some interesting characters and scenes in Moor. Baring-gould is an interesting character, and reading the inital description of the moor itself will make you want to travel there. I loved the singing scene nearing the end, but I have a passion for singing and folksong in particular.
So finish it for the good bits, of which it has lees than King's usual, but still more than general Mysteries, and then move onto her other magnificent books..... (O Jerusalem is worth it, I promise) ...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Christopher J. rated it it was ok

This was by far the worst book of the Marry Russel series. King started off with such a great idea, discovering the reasons behind several legitimate sightings of a spectral coach carrying a cursed woman and her devilish dog on a dark moor. However the execution was tedious. King simply has a difficult time staying on topic with this book. She wrote so much on the geography of the land that the actual mystery itself seemed only to be a side plot in her summation of the landscape. There was very ...more

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Aug 06, 2013 Kribu rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, english-countryside, historical, may-december, read-in-2013

Perhaps a little weaker in imagination and general themes than the previous three books, but it held a certain charm for me - including those interminable ramblings across the moor.

I could have wished for a little more Holmes, once again, because I do like the moments of him and Russell working together, as partners, very much indeed (and I cherish the rare moments in which we are assured that as much as he can sometimes try her patience, their bond is as strong as ever and the affection still ...more

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Aug 29, 2007 Jen rated it it was ok

I ran out of books on my vacation and someone lent me this to read. I was definitely into the book. I thought the play on the well known Holmes and his relationship with his wife was intriguing. Mary Russell is a strong female character but at times seemed to fall into the submissive role. This made her more believable to me as a human.

The disappointment in this book was the ending. It seemed as if there was a huge climatic build up but that was not to be. Instead there was a confusing and jumb ...more

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Sep 08, 2009 Angie rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Fans of Sherlock Holmes, strong heroines, historical mysteries.

Wow, I really enjoyed this book. Read it in about five hours at a straight run with only a short pause for lunch. Mary remains a self-assured and interesting heroine/narrator, her relationship with husband Sherlock continues to amuse and entertain, and the historical figure of Sabine Baring-Gould was a great supporting character, fully fleshed out and three dimensional. King also does a great job making allusions to Conan Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles without relying too heavily on the story ...more

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Mar 14, 2016 Anna rated it it was amazing

Awesome as usual!

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Oct 24, 2016 Laura rated it liked it

The story was ok, but not a page turner. I would like to visit Dartmoor to see the landscape described in the book.

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Jan 14, 2016 Caidyn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sherlock, mystery-horror-thriller, historical-fiction

3.5

I didn't mean to take so long reading this. Honest, I didn't. I just couldn't get into the story no matter how hard I tried, not until over halfway through. With any other novel, I would have put it down and started a new one, however I love Mary Russell and Ms King's characterization of Holmes, so I stuck with it instead.

Happily, I wasn't disappointed.

The Hound of the Baskervilles is my absolute favorite Sherlock Holmes story. I loved the retelling of it from BBC's Sherlock, and I love ACD's ...more

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Jul 19, 2013 Meredith Taylor rated it it was amazing

Full disclosure (which will be pretty obvious): Laurie King is my favorite author. Well, at least the one who is still alive and breathing, with a few others who give her a run for her money.

And this is my favorite of her books, partly for idiosyncratic reasons. But if you, like me, fell madly in love with Sherlock Holmes in your childhood and were a little startled at the idea of him finding an apprentice and then wife, this may be the book for you.

I began with the idea "nah, she can't possibly ...more

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Oct 04, 2015 Teri-k rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, regional-flavor, historical-mystery

I loved HotB when I was young; it was my favorite Holmes book, so I'd been looking forward to this volume since I started the series. In the end I enjoyed it so much that I tried limiting how much I read each day to make it last longer, but failed miserably, finishing it off in three days.

The Moor won't appeal to those who need a tight plot, lots of action and all the usual mystery suspects. But honestly, if that's what you're looking for how did you get this far in the series? Instead it appeal ...more

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Jul 07, 2016 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, sherlock, 2016

Really enjoyed this one. You could cut the gothic atmosphere with a knife. The author really excelled in bringing me to Dartmoor with her descriptions.

Again, it was nice to see the dynamics of Holmes and Russell and though they work well together, every now again one does something that gets on the other's nerves. As it should be.

I found the mystery very interesting and did not guess the resolution. The climax of the story was pretty exciting and I wondered a few times if one of our investigati ...more

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Jun 06, 2008 Chris rated it liked it

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are investigating the case of strange sightings on the moor in southern England. There is a link to the Conan Doyle story "Hound of the Baskervilles". Although I have never read that tale, I don't think it took anything away from this book but it does make me want to go back and read that as well.

I did not enjoy this book as much as the earlier ones in the series. It could be because I listened to it as opposed to reading it. I was not crazy about the narrator. A ...more

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Sep 07, 2010 Rob rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Rob by: [email protected]

Shelves: mystery

Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock Holmes return to the Moor that was the scene of Holmes more sensational published cases some years before, the Hound of the Baskervilles. There has been a death, a spectral coach, and it appears a supernatural hound may once again have been spotted wandering the Moor. An old friend has asked Holmes for help. As usual Laurie R. King does a wonderful job with the characters of Russell and Holmes and is especially strong in evoking a sense of place in her depic ...more

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Sep 10, 2009 Ruth rated it liked it

Shelves: recently-read

This book is OK but doesn't stand out as excellent in this series. It felt a little halfhearted. Well before the end, one knows who is responsible for the nefarious deeds; the only remaining question is exactly why. A lot of info about the mysterious moor region is included, but there's not much emotional engagement anywhere. And I'm finding Sherlock's high-handedness with Mary more than slightly annoying.

We shall see whether O Jerusalem, which I'm reading now, shows more life . . .

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Jan 02, 2012 Kelly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is my favorite of this series to date. If I leave aside the insistent references to the physical relations between Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, it is a very good story. The language used to evoke the Moors is so vivid, I could feel the darkness and the fog surrounding me. And, as always, the story leaves you guessing until the very end. Excellent read. Highly recommended. I can't wait to read the next one!

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Oct 23, 2013 Ron rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, general-fiction, maps

Ah, King's additions to the Holmes mythos rest much better on the firm soil of Doyle's previous works--even if the bogs of Dathmoore.

Excellent interweaving of historical persons and places with Doyle's writing plus the excellent persona King is developing for Miss Mary Russell.

A very good read.

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Feb 04, 2011 Purlewe rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries, anglophile

I was enjoying this book, and its description of the Moor. I really love thinking about visiting England and seeing some of the beautiful spaces it has to offer. And the ending (while I knew it was coming) was all the sudden WEEE! BANG! DONE! Which isn't a bad thing in a mystery. I plan on reading all of these, I am just too caught up in the characters to abandon them.

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Jul 02, 2015 Catie rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery, historical-fiction, adult-fiction, suspense, thriller, read-2015, fiction, british-literature

Another fun novel in the Mary Russell series by Laurie King. A little predictable as to whom and what was the cause of the murders and sightings on The Moor. I wish Ms. King would have gone a little deeper into the myth and legend of the spectral coach and the phantom hound. But overall, a satisfactory read and excellent mystery.

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Oct 14, 2015 Judy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, mystery, fiction, suspense, romance, murder, favourite-authors, recommended, crime, holmes-pastiche

Another great Russell/Holmes collaboration revisiting the Dartmoor and Baskerville Hall of Conan Doyle's story. I absolutely loved the gruffness of Rector Sabine Baring-Gould and the determination of Holmes and Russell to help his old friend find out about the mysterious sightings on the Moor again. Deliciously dark and suspenseful and a colourful cast of supporting characters.

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Mar 13, 2010 Mila rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-in-2009, crime, historical-novels, uk-ireland

Ich bin schon seit dem ersten Band der Holmes/Russel Reihe ein Fan und frage mich warum es bisher nur von den ersten vier Büchern eine Deutsche Übersetzung gibt...-_-
Andererseits macht es eh mehr Sinn und Freude die Romane im Original zu lesen.

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Aug 13, 2013 Jean rated it really liked it

Clever how the author writes about Sherlock Holmes as if he existed and resented his portrayal by sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This volume takes from the hound of the Baskervilles and creates a new mystery set in the site of the original story.

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Jan 04, 2016 David rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery

Took a while to get going. King's description of the Moor is quite captivating but I was beginning to wonder if anything was ever going to happen.

Really liked it once things started happening, though.

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Oct 28, 2015 Lyssa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-mystery

This series continues to be excellent. Mary and Sherlock revisit the Baskerville case in book 4 and their sleuthing is quite awesome as usual.

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About Laurie R. King

Edgar-winning mystery writer Laurie R. King writes series and standalone novels. Her official forum is
THE LRK VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB here on Goodreads--please join us for book-discussing fun.

King's most recent novel, Dreaming Spies, sees Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes travel from Japan to Oxford, in a case with international players and personal meaning. The Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series foll ...more

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Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes (1 - 10 of 14 books)

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The Beekeeper's Apprentice (Mary Russell, #1)

A Monstrous Regiment of Women (Mary Russell, #2)

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