First in Laurie King's acclaimed Mary Russell crime series: ' Beguiling variation on Sherlock Holmes sequels...King's novel is civilized, ingenious and engrossing. Best of all, it has heart' -- Literary Review What would happen if typical Victorian man Sherlock Holmes came face to face with a twentieth-century female? And what if she grew to be a partner worthy of his legendary talents. In The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Laurie King tells the story of Mary Russell, who in 1914 meets a retired beekeeper on the Sussex Downs. His name is Sherlock Holmes. Pompous, smug and misogynistic, the Great Detective can still spot a fellow intellect, even in a fifteen-year-old woman. At first he takes Mary on as his apprentice on small, local cases, gradually working up to larger investigations. All the time Mary is developing as a detective in her own right, but then the sky opens on them, and Holmes and Mary find themselves the targets of a slippery, murderous and apparently all-knowing adversary. Together they devise a plan to trap their enemy -- a plan that may save their lives, but may also kill their relationship...