The Beekeeper's Apprentice

This was compelling enough that I let the kids stay up late so I could read the end, but lacking enough that I was ultimately a bit disappointed.

Anyone who likes Holmes and doesn't mind some tinkering with him should check it out. I think the main character is a little too much a Mary Sue, and could have used a few more realistic flaws in place of her Tragic Backstory, but just when I would think, “Mary is just too insufferable,” the author would make her look a bit foolish or awkward, and she'd become more sympathetic.

I had figured out the basics of whodunnit pretty early, and I'm not a great hand at that sort of thing, but the ride was pretty absorbing regardless. I appreciate the dual challenge of writing Holmes anew, while creating a character who's his match without being off-putting. In the end, I think Conan Doyle made the right choice to narrate through the approachable Watson, but Mary is fun in her own way too.

Sherlock Holmes, in retirement, meets a misfit teenage girl, Mary Russell, and takes her on as an apprentice. Before long they have cases to solve and things get complicated. I was skeptical about this, but I actually liked it. Mary is as much of an over the top character as Holmes in her own way, and I read the book as a kind of commentary on the original. The apprenticeship of Mary involves plenty of explanation of methods and convoluted exercises in detection (my favorite: Mary comes to visit Holmes at his cottage and finds a note that says “Find me. –SH”) I didn't like the book's dismissive attitude toward Dr. Watson and I thought Mycroft was portrayed as overly hospitable. The author has a disclaimer at the beginning saying that this is not Conan Doyle's Holmes, but I'd say he has enough in common with the original Holmes to make this a pretty satisfying entertainment.