shadowfireflame | Book Rec: Justice Hall

Woot, more of the Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King about a female genius who is also the wife of Sherlock Holmes. Justice Hall is the sixth book and features characters from the previous book, O Jerusalem (which remains my favorite of the series).

Thematically, though, I feel that this one is closest to the fourth, The Moor, with its focus on huge drafty manor homes and the privileged, old-money families that inhabit them. But while I found that book to be rather cold and remote (largely, I admit, because of the location), this one was charming and engaging—and, I’ll admit, rather moving at times with its tragic subplot about WWI executions. And despite the title, it’s all due to the focus on the characters who inhabit the hall instead of on the hall itself.

In O Jerusalem, I was intrigued by two of Mycroft’s men that Russell and Holmes collaborate with in Jerusalem, Mahmoud and Ali Hazr. Justice Hall is really about them reacting to being trapped in an altered setting that does not come naturally to them: the seat of their family’s ancestral home and title of the book. We discover that they are actually cousins named Marsh and Alistair Hughenfort. In my review of the previous book, I posited that they were gay and posing as brothers, and I’m sorry to say that my suspicions were neither confirmed nor denied. (Shut up, I can ship incesty pairings if I want to!) However, I was pleased that there were two gay characters mentioned here, one of whom (Iris Sutherland), flat out tells Russell that she’s a lesbian in a loving but non-sexual marriage to Marsh, her good friend, and she’s on good terms with Alistair as well. (Aaand cue the Iris/Marsh/Alistair threesome shipping bells.)

The plot is that Marsh Hughenfort’s older brother, the previous duke, has died, leaving Marsh to inherit. Marsh has no children and doesn’t want to live at Justice Hall, but for some reason refuses to return with Alistair to Palestine, where everyone knows they both belong and want to be. Russell and Holmes agree to investigate and help their friend by unraveling deeply-buried family secrets, deceptions, and attempts to clear the line of succession.

My favorite moment in the entire book was when Alistair and Russell initially tour Justice Hall and are confronted with Lenore and Walter Darling, two very young family members who like to spy on people in the hall. Russell suggests that instead of being annoyed at them, Alistair should give them pointers in the family business of spying. And he does! So cute. That moment and Russell’s love for libraries (a sentiment I wholeheartedly echo), as when she sees Justice Hall’s glorious “green library” (82):

I felt instantly at home, and wanted only to dismiss Alistair, along with the rest of Justice Hall, that I might have a closer look at the shelves. I had to content myself instead with a strolling perusal, my hands locked together behind my back to keep them from reaching out for Le Morte d’Arthur, Caxton 1485 or the delicious little red-and-gilt Bestiary, MS Circa 1250 or...If I took one down, I should be lost. So I looked, like a hungry child in a sweet shop, and trailed out on my guide’s heels with one longing backward glance.

I completely empathize. :)

While I very much enjoyed the novel with its significant development of characters I care about, I do have two complaints, other than my ever-present demand for more Mycroft in this series.

The first is that the unraveling of the mystery at the end felt a bit too neat, even with its little complications. In general with this series, the pacing tends to have some excitement at the very start, lag in the middle, and then race at a breakneck speed towards the end. Is this a facet of all long mystery stories, perhaps? Or maybe I just get bored with descriptions of places instead of people.

My second complaint, and my only major one, is King’s penchant for often having Sherlock investigating offscreen or far away. This echoes ACD canon, I’m afraid, so I will blame him. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I can’t possibly love Holmes any more than I already do. I’m really in this series for the Russell/Holmes shipping, and I wanted more here because the two are frequently separated (by countries and even continents at times!).

But when they’re together, there are some adorable moments, like this one where Holmes has a Sherlockian “round and round the garden like a teddy bear” moment (171):

“Birds in their little nest agree,” he startled me by chanting in a sing-song voice as he tugged at the feathers, “it is a shameful sight, when children of one family, fall out and chide and fight...”

Clearly he approves of having a closer, more civil relationship with Mycroft in this iteration. Indeed, when Mycroft (briefly) appears and collaborates with Sherlock to get Russell to undertake a long mission, Russell gets a taste of what John must feel like when confronted with the Holmes brothers: “I felt like a rat cornered by two determined terriers; I was not going down without a fight. And I did not. Go without a fight, that is, although in the end, go I did, and on the Friday boat as Mycroft had said” (249). LOL!

So while I enjoyed this book and its characters (particularly Iris, Marsh, and Alistair with that electric OT3 dynamic), the previous, O Jerusalem, is still my favorite with its depiction of ever-present danger in an unfamiliar and exciting location.

For more, please see:
—Brief Review of Book One, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice
—Review of Book Two, A Monstrous Regiment of Women
—Review of Book Three, A Letter of Mary
—Review of Book Four, The Moor
—Review of Book Five, O Jerusalem
—Review of Book Seven, The Game
—Review of Radio Drama, a radio adaptation of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice