Russell & Holmes Day with Laurie R. King

 

It's the 30th anniversary of the beloved Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King. Laurie is celebrating with Russell and Holmes Days before major mystery conventions. I recently went to the Maryland edition and it was great fun. In addition to hearing from Laurie, we heard from a 1920s costume historian and Holmes expert Peter Blau. We were also treated to a knife throwing demonstration.  

I've been a big fan of the Mary Russell series starting with book number one, The Bee Keeper's Apprentice. The heroine, Mary Russell, is an intellectual match for Sherlock Holmes and the stories are great adventures. The time period and Mary's problem solving is always fun. 

Laurie's latest book is The Lantern's Dance. This mystery involves secrets involving Sherlock's son, Damian, and Sherlock's uncle. Lots of puzzles and mystery. 

The last Russell and Holmes Day is in Nashville at Bouchercon on Tuesday, August 27th. Russell fans won't want to miss this one. 

Speakers include:

Andrew Gulli has been the editor of the revived Strand Magazine since 1999. He has published hundreds of new and established mystery writers, and in his role as literary sleuth, has discovered and published previously unknown stories by masters ranging from Tennessee Williams, Ernest Hemingway, and John Steinbeck to James M. Cain and Joseph Heller. He uncovered fifteen previously unknown short stories by Dashiell Hammett, a J.M. Barrie play spoofing Sherlock Holmes, an H.G. Wells ghost story, and a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 

Ciciley Hoffman is an award-winning costume designer, wardrobe stylist, image consultant, and fashion editor who designs costumes for film, television, and music videos, advises for fashion brands, and consults with artists and recording artists, creating looks from rock to vintage, avant garde to country, haute couture to period, and everything in between.  She volunteers with Fashion Is for Every Body, committed to normalizing inclusion in life through the art of fashion. She is an embroiderer and vintage enthusiast with extensive knowledge of the history of fashion, clothing customs, and construction. She holds BA degrees from Oberlin College in Theatre and German Studies with Honors, with an enduring interest in cats and hats.

Honeytree Meadery of Nashville is both an apiary and a meadery: they keep bees, and they use the honey to make a series of fabulous and creative meads (honey wines.) What is so fascinating about bees? How does living with them teach us about our place in the world? Sherlock Holmes would know—and so our speakers from Honeytree. As they say, “At Honeytree Meadery, it starts with the bees and ends with a buzz.”