New York:: Bantam,, (2009.). SIGNED hardcover first edition -. Near fine in a very near fine dustjacket (crease to lower corner of front endpaper, fist 2 leaves).. First printing. Ninth mystery featuring young Mary Russell and the aging, but more human, Sherlock Holmes. SIGNED on the title page. 433 pp.

Synopsis

In a case that will push their relationship to the breaking point, Mary Russell must help reverse the greatest failure of her legendary husband's storied past--a painful and personal defeat that still has the power to sting...this time fatally.For Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, returning to the Sussex coast after seven months abroad was especially sweet. There was even a mystery to solve--the unexplained disappearance of an entire colony of bees from one of Holmes's beloved hives.But the anticipated sweetness of their homecoming is quickly tempered by a galling memory from her husband's past. Mary had met Damian Adler only once before, when the promising surrealist painter had been charged with--and exonerated from--murder. Now the talented and troubled young man was enlisting their help again, this time in a desperate search for his missing wife and child.When it comes to communal behavior, Russell has often observed that there are many kinds of madness. And before this case yields its shattering solution, she'll come into dangerous contact with a fair number of them. From suicides at Stonehenge to a bizarre religious cult, from the demimonde of the Cafe Royal at the heart of Bohemian London to the dark secrets of a young woman's past on the streets of Shanghai, Russell will find herself on the trail of a killer more dangerous than any she's ever faced--a killer Sherlock Holmes himself may be protecting for reasons near and dear to his heart.From the Hardcover edition.

Reviews

On Feb 7 2011, Pkentjones said:

This latest addition to the ‘Mary Russell’ story answers a few questions and poses many more. The author explains, by way of an off-hand comment, the appearance of Mrs. Turner in place of Mrs. Hudson in “A Scandal in Bohemia.” She also clears up the presence of Holmes “...in a laboratory at Montpelier...” as mentioned in “The Empty House” and casually passes along the fact that her husband was the detective cited in The Art of Detection. On the other hand, this tale introduces a mad murderer who leaves blood and bodies in the old, sacred places on days dedicated to the old gods and brings new intensity to the meaning of family.Both Holmes and Russell are forced to examine their pasts and their earlier mistakes and omissions and both must face the possibility of bloodshed within the family. This is not a gentle novel, nor is it a look at ‘family values.’ It is a mystery of blood and madness that binds the two more firmly together, both as professionals and as husband and wife.This tale begins when Holmes and Russell return to the Downs after their trip around the world that started with the search for Kimball O’Hara in The Game and ended with their departure after Locked Rooms (with a side venture through The Art of Detection, as noted.) Travel-weary and over-heated, they arrive home to find an unexpected guest from the past and an absent Mrs. Hudson as well as a small mystery. Needless to say, the mystery grows, the guest disppears and the travel must continue.New characters wander in and out and old characters toss in their penny’s worth and disappear. Mary and Holmes approach the problems, each from their own perspectives and meet unexpectedly in the strangest places. Mycroft’s rooms are raided by Lestrade and Mary and Sherlock are placed on the ‘wanted’ list, while the odd tourist or farm animal is ritually killed and their blood sprinkled on the Old Stones. Over all looms the possibility of unspeakable tragedy and the loss of a hive on the Downs provides a leit motif for the rest of the tale. It is a worrisome mystery as well as a tale of tragedy and hope that ends in even more questions along with the possibility of a bright future. Reviewed by: Philip K. Jones, December, 2009.

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Details

Bookseller: Bookfever.com, IOBA (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 82918
Title: THE LANGUAGE OF BEES.
Author: King, Laurie R
Format/Binding: SIGNED hardcover first edition -
Book Condition: Used - Near fine in a very near fine dustjacket (crease to lower corner of front endpaper, fist 2 leaves).
Jacket Condition: very near fine
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0553804545
ISBN 13: 9780553804546
Publisher: Bantam,
Place of Publication: New York:
Date Published: (2009.)
Keywords: sherlock holmes, historical mysteries, sherlockania,
Bookseller catalogs: Mysteries: historical;

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