A Monstrous Regiment of Women : a Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes

Locations
Call Number: Mystery / King, Laurie, Adult Book / Fiction / Mystery / Historical / King, Laurie R.
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Mystery / King, Laurie	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Mystery / Historical / King, Laurie R.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Mystery / Historical / King, Laurie R.	4-week checkout	On Shelf

A Monstrous Regiment of Women continues Mary Russell's adventures as a worthy student of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and as an ever more skilled sleuth in her own right. Looking for respite in London after a stupefying visit from relatives, Mary encounters a friend from Oxford. The young woman introduces Mary to her current enthusiasm, a strange and enigmatic woman named Margery Childe, who leads something called "The New Temple of God." It seems to be a charismatic sect involved in the post-World War I suffrage movement, with a feminist slant on Christianity. Mary is curious about the woman, and intrigued. Is the New Temple a front for something more sinister? When a series of murders claims members of the movement's wealthy young female volunteers and principal contributors, Mary, with Holmes in the background, begins to investigate. Things become more desperate than either of them expected as Mary's search plunges her into the worst danger she has yet faced.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

standard mystery submitted by carr1_e on July 24, 2011, 8:02am This is more like a standard mystery, without the magic of the first book in the series.

Lacks what I enjoy about the original Holmes submitted by eilusk on June 12, 2023, 8:03pm I didn't know anything about this book going in besides what was on the cover. I was expecting it to be much more focused on hunting for clues and reasoning out answers to mysteries, like the original Holmes stories, but it was much more focused on the main character's emotional journey and romance. So, I went in expecting a historical fiction mystery, and instead got a historical fiction drama.

I felt like the storytelling was kind of weirdly disjointed - something about all the threads just didn't flow smoothly to me. The "monstrous regiment" of the title was very interesting, but I felt that plotline just kind of fizzled out and used contemporary women's rights movements as a backdrop rather than engaging with them in any substantial way.

At the end of the novel, the main character's relationship with Holmes becomes romantic. They met when he was a grown man and she was a teenage orphan, and he originally was a mentor and even father figure. The novel isn't really critical of this romance and it is supposed to be a good thing within the narrative. For me personally, I can't enjoy a romance or forgive characters that cross that kind of ethical line.

I really didn't enjoy this book, but I'm not sure how much that's a matter of personal taste.