I have a longstanding fondness for Sherlock Holmes. And sometimes I find liking a popular thing makes me like it more, or at least think about it more, because there are all those adaptations and spinoffs and internet memes to remind me. And for Holmes in particular, it’s pretty much endless. I know some people are purists about this sort of thing, but I am not. It’s sort of fun to see what people do with Holmes and if I don’t like it, I can go back to the originals.
Laurie King’s Mary Russell books are yet another take on the Holmes story. Russell meets up with Holmes in the early 1900s and they team up to fight crime. Then, you know, mysteries and adventures. I haven’t read them all and don’t particularly plan to, but I picked up The Pirate King because I needed a train ride book and it served the purpose excellently.
In this episode, Russell is called upon to pose as an assistant on a film crew making a silent film about a film crew making a film about the Pirates of Penzance. While I can’t say the mystery really grabbed me (the film company may or may not be involved in something shady and the previous assistant vanished mysteriously, possibly on holiday) the premise is fun – old timey film and sailing ships. And mysterious secrets, of course.
Stitches & Marginalia 
Was it okay reading this out of order with the other books in the series? I haven’t picked these up (I read the first one only so far) because I’m daunted by the prospect of having to read so many books. I’m a completist but maybe I don’t need to be…
I think it was fine reading it out of order. I’m trying to overcome my compulsion to Always Read All the Books In Order because, yeah, that’s a lot of books. And they don’t all have pirates!
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