Dreaming Spies (2015)

The story in Dreaming Spies begins with Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell arriving home after all the adventures in Morocco (Pirate King and Garments of Shadows) and finding a rock in their garden. This rock is just the beginning, or in a way the continuation of an old case that started around a year ago in Japan after Holmes and Russells adventure in India in The Game. 

I have been looking forward to reading this book for months and being approved for an ARC from Netgalley 4 months before the book is to be released was something that made me really really happy.

Anyway in this book we start off the story in Sussex and Oxford with the arrival of a rock and an old “friend” of Holmes and Russell. After that, we get to know what really happened in Japan before they arrived in America. Laurie R. King has as usual written a very describing and well-researched book. I felt that I was in Japan as I read and it was a wonderful treat to get to know the country and its culture throughout the story.

The only objection I have and that is that I felt a trifle impatient reading it sometimes. Because even though it was well written not so much happened, or, of course, things happened but alas so slowly. I wanted some more drive to the story. The story in Japan takes up 2/3 of the book and much of that was just to lay the groundwork for the story later on in Oxford. So even though I enjoyed the time on the ship from India to Japan and the time in Japan I liked the story best later on in Oxford when the game was afoot. This doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy the book. I loved reading it. It was a great book and I think that fans of Laurie R. Kings books will truly enjoy reading this book.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review! ( )

I really never expected that my selection of tags for these books would have to include "ninjas". I couldn't really get into this book, which I've found to be increasingly true of this series. The segments set around Oxford were the best parts to me. The travelogue of Japan was less interesting to me, and I did actually roll my eyes when the Japanese woman met "by chance" turns out to be a ninja, because of course she does. The mystery was also a touch obvious so that I was pretty sure I knew who the mastermind would turn out to be (and I was right). Not my favorite entry to this series. ( )

A perfectly good installment in the Holmes-Russell series, though it's a bit slow to get started and doesn't quite rise to the level of many of the other volumes. ( )

I had only read one book in this series previously, and for whatever reason had never picked up another, but I'm so glad that I was able to read this current installment. Not only is the mystery an excellent who-done-it, but the richness of the characters, settings, and historical details elevate the story to another level. ( )

Fabulous!

Love this series, and this is a great addition to the collection of Sherlock and Russell tales. Interesting background about Japanese ninjas. ( )