Garment of Shadows

A Novel of Suspense Featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, Book 12

By: Laurie R. King

Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin, Robert Ian Mackenzie

Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

In a strange room in Morocco, Mary Russell is trying to solve a pressing mystery: Who am I? She has awakened with shadows in her mind, blood on her hands, and soldiers pounding on the door. Out in the hivelike streets, she discovers herself strangely adept in the skills of the underworld, escaping through alleys and rooftops, picking pockets and locks. She is clothed like a man, and armed only with her wits and a scrap of paper containing a mysterious Arabic phrase. Overhead, warplanes pass ominously north.

Meanwhile, Holmes is pulled by two old friends and a distant relation into the growing war between France, Spain, and the Rif Revolt led by Emir Abd el-Krim—who may be a Robin Hood or a power mad tribesman. The shadows of war are drawing over the ancient city of Fez, and Holmes badly wants the wisdom and courage of his wife, whom he’s learned, to his horror, has gone missing. As Holmes searches for her, and Russell searches for herself, each tries to crack deadly parallel puzzles before it’s too late for them, for Africa, and for the peace of Europe.

©2012 Laurie R. King (P)2012 Recorded Books

Dual Voice? Why-oh-why?

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Probably not. I would recommend the series but this isn't representative of King's best work.

If you’ve listened to books by Laurie R. King before, how does this one compare?

The story got bogged down early on in a travel guide style of unending descriptions. The sense of place is often a powerful part of King's novels but in this case she went overboard with place and left the story hanging while we toured the city. The remnants of The Pirate King that were included just served to remind us of the previous book which was really off the beam for King.

What didn’t you like about Jenny Sterlin and Robert Ian McKenzie ’s performance?

I've listened to all of the Russell/Holmes books and enjoy Jenny Sterlin's performances immensely. Her voices are clear, nuanced and distinctive. McKenzie's Holmes isn't the supercilious and wonderful Holmes we've had with Sterlin. His voices are all pretty much the same. His performance seemed flat and was often irritating with the guttural sounding Arabic accents. Very disappointing. Why go to a dual narration when the original narrator is so exceptional? If it continues this way I'll be checking the book out from the library instead of listening.

Do you think Garment of Shadows needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No. I barely made it through this one so a follow-up would hold zero interest. Particularly if it is then recorded with the dual narration.

Any additional comments?

Laurie R. King's creation of Russel and Holmes has been brilliant, diverse, engaging and addictive. Jenny Sterlin's performance brings the characters to vivid life. I have high hopes that the series will get back on track with the excellent story telling we've enjoyed in the past.

Disappointing book

I have listened to almost all of the Mary and Sherlock's adventures and enjoyed them. However, this book was more of a history/travelogue than mystery. It is very long and here is no action at all for at least the first half of the book and even when things began to happen, it was so overwoven with historical information that it was not exciting. I hope the next one is better.

Definitely not road trip material

I downloaded this book to take on a 12 hour road trip. I don't recommend it for this kind of listening, and I'm not sure I could recommend it at all. It seemed to me that it went way over the top with long, convoluted political discussions, and most of the action is described after the fact by the characters, i.e. it doesn't happen "live."

And although I'm all for woman power, this got kind of ridiculous in several places, notably when Mary manages to knock out 3 armed men, each with a single blow. Give me a break.

I actually took an active dislike to the book toward the end, and only finished it because my travel companion, who had slept through most of it, wanted to hear the last part.

Change in format

The format was changed for this audiobook and resulted in quite a disappointment. Love Jenny Sterlin's narration in all past books. Nothing wrong with the male narrator that took on Sherlock's parts in this book - he did an okay job -- but it really impacted the book reading in a negative way (very negative) to make this change. Should have somehow adapted it to allow Jenny Sterlin to narrate the entire book.

Narration change

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I have enjoyed Jenny Sterlin's voicing of both the Holmes' and others throughout this series. I found the addition of a male voice jolting and distracting. Especially one who added a Scottish, or was it Irish, accent to Holmes proper and rye English comments, not to mention the middle eastern characters throughout this story.
Aware that I am coming to the end of a series I have throughly enjoyed, I have been carefully pacing myself so as to make it last. Imagine my disappointment when I finally treated myself to this title and found the familiar voice of Holmes totally out of character. However, I found the book one of the best in the series and look forward to the the next. I sincerely hope I will not have to continue to mentally substitute Ms Sterlin's voicing of Sherlock for Mr Machenzie's in order to better enjoy the dry humor and understated observations Mrs King has written for him.

Love Jenny Sterling not too fond of Robert Ian

I totally understand the need for a different narrator in portions of this book but I'm thankful it wasn't the majority of the book because Robert wasn't easy to listen too. His variations on the characters wasn't distinct and at times I wasn't sure who was speaking.

Garment of Shadows

Another GEM by Laurie K. I hope we meet Mac-mood and Ali again. Mary and Holmes need to partner up again. Excellent story great narration.

Good Installment

I have always enjoyed this series and this one was classic Mary Russel. A bit of a twist as she had to deal with a bit of “fog” in the beginning. Overall, the story held together well. The end was s little over thought...but it eventually came to a complex conclusion. If you like the series, you should like this book.

King is back!

Ignore the hiccup that is the pirate book previous to this one and maybe even consider registering to O Jerusalem and Justice Hall, then listen to this one as it continues the saga and gives a nice ending to the story.

Historical Mysteries at Their Best

I absolutely love this series. They are so much more than simply mysteries. The settings, the sense of time and place, are incredible. The way the author weaves in real people and events is not only interesting but also informative and endlessly encourage me to pop over to Wikipedia to follow up on an interesting tidbit, whether to see a Celtic triskelion or land giants and standing stones within the British landscape or the history and geography of North Africa and the Levant or the particulars of beekeeping and hive behavior or the devastation of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake or the machinations of politics and propaganda... An endless array of interesting information and insights have been added to my worldview while simultaneously enjoying a really good story. The author exhibits prodigious historical scholarship, insight and wisdom on the human experience, and a bard's gift for the tale. I rank Mary Russell alongside Amelia Peabody, Sebastian St. Cyr, Armand Gamache, Maisie Dobbs, Dr. Siri Paiboun, Flavia de Luce, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Vish Puri, Kamil Pasha, Rev. Clare Ferguson... as great literary sleuths whom I've also learned from and would love to have as real friends around the dinner table! These books are treasures!