Overall, I found the novel to be a quick read. The beginning started off a little slow and at times I found myself wondering the value certain characters and events added to the storyline. It seems to be a good book for a young teen to read but I found it lacked something concrete to keep my interest. I probably would not read any other books in the series.

When we first meet Mary Russell, she is a 15-year-old orphan, walking the Sussex Downs near her farm in England. She nearly trips over an “old man,” and soon deduces that he is the retired detective Sherlock Holmes. Mary quickly impresses Holmes with her powers of deduction and a friendship begins. It isn’t long before there is a “minor” case of burglary in the area, which Mary is able to solve, and this cements their relationship and increases Holmes’s interest in taking her on formally as his apprentice.

This is a clever and interesting take-off on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works featuring Holmes and Dr Watson. Unlike Watson, Mary is close to Holmes’s equal in deductive reasoning and powers of observation. She is quick witted, intelligent, assertive, a good actress, and physically strong and agile. I like that King has this work span several years, allowing for some needed maturation of Mary before she is fully tested. I think she behaves in a manner consistent with her age, social standing, experience, and emotional growth. If I had any complaint with Doyle’s Sherlock it was his superior attitude, but seen through Mary’s eyes, I can more easily tolerate his “all-knowing” persona. It helps that in his “old age” Holmes misses a clue or two which Mary catches and points out to him. Way to go, Mary!

The action was a bit slow in places, but I think King needed time to set up her characters and their relationship, so I’m okay with that. It was relatively faithful to Doyle’s style, and, as it is written in first person (as Mary’s recollections), I would expect that kind of pacing and sentence structure. My only regret is that I waited so long to get to this book. I look forward to more of this series

King doesn't attempt to re-write Sherlock Holmes in "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" so don't go looking for the world Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created. The story she weaves together is a plausible extension of the character we know and love mixed in with the intelligence and wit of the teenage Mary Russell, and that's why our book club thought it worked. It moves slowly at first and there are a few sections in the middle that drag, but overall it's an engaging and intruiguing read that kept our interest to the exciting finish.

Learned a lot about Sherlock Holmes and loved the intrigue

I read this book about 3 months ago. Now I have finished 8 of the books in the series, am part-way through the 9th, and on the waiting list at the library for the other 2. It truly is an addictive series. More so if you enjoyed the original Sherlock Holmes series but felt that something was lacking, perhaps an infusion of feminine heart.

This first book just makes me want to see what are in the next dozen. Such an intriguing mix and true to the Sherlock we all love and know.