The Beekeeper's Apprentice (original 1994; edition 1996)

by Laurie R. King

Series: Mary Russell (1), Mary Russell: Chronological Order (1915-1919)

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6,096	295	1,744	(4.06)	485
A chance meeting with a Sussex beekeeper turns into a pivotal, personal transformation when fifteen-year-old Mary Russell discovers that the beekeeper is the reclusive, retired detective Sherlock Holmes, who soon takes on the role of mentor and teacher.

▾Book information

Member:	ElizabethPotter
Title:	The Beekeeper's Apprentice
Authors:	Laurie R. King
Info:	Bantam (1996), Edition: First Thus, Paperback, 448 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
Tags:	pub now, end of 20th century

Work Information

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King (1994)

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130
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (clif_hiker, 47degreesnorth)
47degreesnorth: Younger heroine and more precocious but similar
70
A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King (catpal1)
catpal1: All of the books in this series are wonderful. It's such a fresh take on the Sherlock Holmes fiction: the give-and-take reminds me of the old Kate Hepburn/Spencer Tracy pairings.
60
Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (Sally604)
Sally604: Mysteries set in the same era with a female detective - lots of fun to read.
50
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution by Nicholas Meyer (markusnenadovus)
50
A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley (47degreesnorth)
30
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley (47degreesnorth)
47degreesnorth: No Holmes but younger more precocious heroine with a thirst to solve the case.
30
Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal (yonitdm)
yonitdm: They both feature brilliant, strong women as main characters, plus mystery, intrigue, and many, many cups of tea.
20
The Final Solution: A Story of Detection by Michael Chabon (laytonwoman3rd)
laytonwoman3rd: This book also features an elderly beekeeper who does some detecting, and who we are meant to understand to be Sherlock Holmes, although his name is not mentioned.
20
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Martin Harry Greenberg (Othemts)
10
Chalice by Robin McKinley (MyriadBooks)
MyriadBooks: To continue a bit of the bee theme.
00
Sherlock Holmes and the Red Demon by Larry Millett (Othemts)
00
A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin (Othemts)
01
Holmes on the Range (Holmes on the Range Mysteries) by Steve Hockensmith (clif_hiker)
01
And Only to Deceive by Tasha Alexander (nessreader)

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English (291) Swedish (1) Piratical (1) French (1) All languages (294)

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Showing 1-5 of 291 (next | show all)

A fine tribute to Doyle's hero. Thoroughly enjoyable. (

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nclithing | Oct 8, 2024 |

This is a wonderful series. Can't wait to read the rest. (

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Eiketske1004 | Sep 18, 2024 |

I loved this twist on Sherlock Holmes with a female teen apprentice. The daughter of Moriarty figures strongly in this book. Hard to put this one down!

sbuttry | Sep 15, 2024 |

I enjoyed this book, though not as much as I had hoped to. I’m not sure I will be continuing with the series; while I did enjoy the book, it also wasn’t quite what I had expected (or wanted) from the tone, and up until the last third or so of the book I didn’t really get to a “must pick this book back up” state. I may revisit more of the series at some point, but I’m not sure yet.

The plot was interesting, and it was a reminder to myself that I should trust my mystery book instincts more... I had a hunch about the whodunnit, but since the characters weren't considering that angle at all, I let myself forget about it.

I guess I just never got hooked on the characters as presented in this book. I didn't connect with Mary Russell in a way that compelled me to keep reading, and Holmes and Watson both felt close enough to their original versions that there was nothing "new" there for me to discover. (Perhaps in later books I would connect more with the characters, but that hasn't happened yet.) (

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ca.bookwyrm | Jul 1, 2024 |

1) On the plus side: This is very well-written.

2) On the minus side: This is fan-fiction of the worst kind, the kind with a Mary-Sue original character who is the author's avatar, who is perfect and lovable and wonderful beyond all measure. The character who inspired the fan-fiction only gets the role of fawning and gushing about how wonderful the Mary-Sue character is.

I might have been able to forgive point 2 because of point 1. However, point 3 kills this one for me:

3) On the minus side: Dr. Watson. At the very heart of the Sherlock Holmes canon is his friendship with Watson. Sure, he is not as brilliant as Holmes (who is?... well, Mary Russell is, apparently), but he is a loyal and valued companion, honest, brave and full of integrity, whose friendship makes Holmes a better man. Holmes and Watson care about each other, and that is shown in the canon many times, specially at moments of danger. Here there's only room for Mary Russell, and Sherlock needs to be completely devoted to admiring how perfect Mary Russell is. There's no room for Watson in that game, so the writer gets rid of him in the worst possible way. When the author remembers him he is treated as a bumbling idiot whom Holmes and Mary Russell openly despise. Mary Russell comes across as a conceited idiot, and Holmes is so out of character that there's no way to salvage this. (

)

jcm790 | May 26, 2024 |

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▾Published reviews

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thingScore 75

But at the heart of the novel is not the historical accuracy or the gender commentary; rather, the core of the story is the partnership between Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. It's a partnership between equals, of two keen minds, two clever, stubborn, and formidable people who nevertheless feel the psychological weight of the profession they have chosen to follow. Moreover, there's none of that tired and overdone sexual tension that one might expect from a story with two protagonists of the opposite gender. There are no romantic interludes, tense moments, or pensive fantasizing. Instead, rather like the recent adaptation Elementary, the story does something remarkable: portray a friendship and a relationship between two unique characters of opposite genders without going down the tired, old, (and, in the case of Holmesian adaptations, particularly overdone) path of romance.

added by andrewv128 | editSeattle Post-Intelligencer, Anastasia Klimchynskaya (Aug 23, 2014)

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (8 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Laurie R. King	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Sterlin, Jenny	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Series

Mary Russell (1)

Mary Russell: Chronological Order (1915-1919)

Is contained in

Mary Russell Mysteries: Books 1,7,8 by Laurie R. King

Mary Russell Mysteries: Books 1-4,6,8 by Laurie R. King

Mary Russell Mysteries: Books 1-4 by Laurie R. King

Was inspired by

The Return of Sherlock Holmes / The Hound of the Baskervilles / The Valley of Fear / His Last Bow / The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Has as a commentary on the text

Laurie R. Kings "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" als Neufassung von Arthur Conan Doyles Detektiverzählungen. Eine intertextuelle Untersuchung by Hendrikje Schulze

Has as a student's study guide

The Beekeeper's Apprentice, or, on the Segregation of the Queen by Laurie R. King Summary & Study Guide by BookRags

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Agatha Award (Nominee – Novel – 1994)

Notable Lists

ALA Outstanding Books for the College Bound (Fiction – 1999)

Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection – 1995)

IMBA's 100 Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century

Tayshas High School Reading List (1997)

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

The Beekeeper's Apprentice

Original title

The Beekeeper's Apprentice

Alternative titles

The Beekeeper's Apprentice, or, On the Segregation of the Queen

Original publication date

1994

People/Characters

Mary Russell

Sherlock Holmes

John H. Watson (M.D.)

Important places

Important events

World War I (1914 | 1918)

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

For another M.R., my mother, Mary Richardson

First words

I was fifteen when I first met Sherlock Holmes, fifteen years old with my nose in a book as I walked the Sussex Downs, and I nearly stepped on him.

Quotations

He said nothing. Very sarcastically.

My main passions were becoming theoretical Mathematics and the complexities of Rabbinic Judaism, two topics which are dissimilar only on the surface.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

English

Canonical DDC/MDS

813.54

Canonical LCC

PS3561.I4813

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (2)

File:Beekeeper's Apprentice.jpg

The Beekeeper's Apprentice

▾Book descriptions

A chance meeting with a Sussex beekeeper turns into a pivotal, personal transformation when fifteen-year-old Mary Russell discovers that the beekeeper is the reclusive, retired detective Sherlock Holmes, who soon takes on the role of mentor and teacher.

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

U raskošnoj galeriji likova koju je za sobom ostavio Arthur Conan Doyle gdje središnje mjesto zauzima portret Sherlocka Holmesa, pored njega, osim slike dr. Watsona, ostao je prazan okvir savršeno podoban da udomi prkosni profil jedne gospođice.
Američka književnica Laurie R. King, dobitnica dviju prestižnih nagrada za najbolji kriminalistički roman godine, odvažno je odlučila ispuniti taj okvir likom mlade Mary Russell.
Jednog sunčanog dana u travnju 1915. nedaleko od svoje kuće u Sussexu Mary Russell umalo je nagazila na pognuta pedesetogodišnjaka potpuno zaokupljena promatranjem pčela. Drska i načitana, petnaestogodišnjakinja briljantna uma i zadivljujuće sposobnosti dedukcije, izmamit će od inače ženama nesklonog Holmesa iznenađen komentar. “Pa to zna razmišljati!”
Tako će početi naukovanje Mary Russell, buduće suradnice djelomično umirovljenog slavnog detektiva Sherlocka Holmesa. Njihove zajedničke avanture zabilježene su u pet dosad objavljenih romana i zacijelo predstavljaju najvjerniji nastavak književnog rada Arthura Conana Doylea.
Laurie R. King u svojim je djelima uspjela vjerodostojno dočarati ton, ugođaj i duh vremena, zadržavši izvornu cjelovitost Holmesova karaktera i pritom kao ravnopravnu protutežu stvorila potpuno samostalan, oštrouman, duhovit i zanosan ženski lik.
Roman Pčelareva naučnica Laurie R. King s engleskoga je, u ukradenom vremenu između dvije Patricije Cornwell, prevela Martina Gračanin, a ilustraciju na naslovnici izradio je Igor Kordej, uz napomenu da su oba crna lovca namjerno naslikana na bijelim poljima jer negativci uvijek igraju prljavo.

Haiku summary

Old Holmes meets his match
She's his child-bride and partner
Together they sleuth
(pickupsticks)