The Art of Detection

I really love both the Martinelli and Russell/Homes series, but I found the last Martinelli outing disappointing. It was a great pleasure to see Kate back in grand form, with the added deliciousness of the Russell/Holmes tie-in. I love watching Kate deal with the peculiarities of reenactors and the "is it real or is it fake" manuscript market -- a nice change from more typical urban violence While I agree that the pace is slower in this plot than is typical for this series, I didn't find that the narrative dragged. Moreover, the reasons for the slow-down were laid out explicitly and are the kinds of issues investigators encounter when they aren't forced to solve their cases before the next show comes on: confused jurisdiction; uncertainty as to whether a homicide has occurred; no indication that the public at large is endangered; no close relatives or friends to interview (or to hassle the police). The pace also allows for exposition of Kate's personal life to flow through the story without holding it up. King has done her usual brilliant job of juxtaposing lives, cultural/historical attitudes, and personal quirks to illuminate the sadness and waste of a needless tragedy. (She also does a GREAT job showing the investigators and the criminal making use of the same tech trail.) Her social commentary manages to be explicit without being preachy and is an essential thread in the plot.

I am an "aficionado" of L. King. I had read most of her books but then somehow forgot to follow up. The Art of Detction brought me back. I love it. I am amazed how she can continue to weave her hero (S. H.) so beautifully and convincingly into her stories. (The also "manages" to present a "homosexual family" in a very pleasing way.) Keep me informed about her next titles.

I can not believe that this is the first Laurie R. King novel that I've read. I wouldn't have known King had a dyke detective series if I hadn't been on a queer girl book bender, which makes me wonder - how on earth do you market to queer girls like me? How could King have written five books in the Kate Martinelli series before I came across it? I love classic police procedurals, and I love dyke detectives (who doesn't!), so I really should have been reading this series from the beginning. But what a pleasure it will be to catch up now that I've discovered it. The Art of Detection is an intelligent crime novel. King keeps the pace up while she flips the narrative between the modern day crime and the story-within-a-story, which is a previously undiscovered Sherlock Holmes story. The Sherlock Holmes story is beautifully written, and surprisingly moving. King layers meaning into the modern day crime, the Sherlock Holmes story, and Kate's home life. King plays with theme and subplot easily - this obviously isn't a debut novel. The final scene is a lovely gay-affirming twist. Girlfriend enjoyed this book too. She said that King "dealt with difficult issues with grace and ease and humanity". And she told me to order up on King's backlist.

Ms. King's writing is excellent as always. Personally I would have loved the book to be 10 times as long and focus exclusively on Kate and Lee's personal life. But just because that's a personal fantasy of mine it would be unfair to judge the book negatively because the author followed her usual modus operandi and actually included a mystery and focused on the plot. Anyone who has been following the series knows Ms. King titillates her readers with poignant but alas brief glimpses into the characters private lives and she focuses on the plot. I can't wait for the next entry in the Martinelli saga. Kudos and my heartfelt thanks to the author.

Fans of Laurie R King should cheer for this long-awaited Kate Martinelli book. Once again, King has captured the reality of police investigation: sometimes drudgery, sometimes frustrating but always necessary. In this book (set in modern San Francisco) King has seamlessly woven threads from her marvelous Mary Russell series into the Martinelli mystery. The murder of dedicated Sherlockian Philip Gilbert has Kate (and partner Al Hawkin) investigating not only all over San Francisco proper, but in the Marin headlands as well. In the course of the investigation an old manuscript surfaces: collector Gilbert thought it an original Conan Doyle story of Holmes in San Francisco. The release of this manuscript could turn the literary world on it's ear if authentic. Is it motive enough for murder? The motive question gets answered handily, The authenticity one does not. Fortunately, no fan of the Russell series needs it to be. One page into the manuscript tells us all we need to know about its origins. King has again presented us with honest, human three-dimensional characters with real lives, real concerns and real joys. Run, don't walk, to the bookstore for this one!