Women’s dress: 1879 & 1925

A key date in The Murder of Mary Russell is 1879, when Sherlock Holmes and his future landlady meet. The other date is, of course, 1925, when Mary Russell…well. One thing that fascinated me is the difference in clothing between those two periods. Yes, Russell tends to wear her father’s old suits, but she couldn’t…

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A landlady’s joy

The Murder of Mary Russell: Mrs Hudson encounters the joys [sic] of the Baker Street house. ** The Murder of Mary Russell can be ordered as:      A signed US hardback from Bookshop Santa Cruz or Poisoned Pen Books      An unsigned hardback or ebook from B&N/Nook or Amazon/Kindle      A UK hardback from Waterstones, or hard/ebook from Amazon UK.

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Mr Holmes’ London

Out today: The Murder of Mary Russell, in which we meet a young Holmes, and also see a much older version of the Great Detective remembering those far-off days.  I hope you enjoy it. Key to The Murder of Mary Russell is the past of Sherlock Holmes, and especially the Victorian city through which he…

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Obits & headstones & hope, oh my! (contest winners)

Last month, I invited all Friends of Russell to speculate on that good woman’s death: was it in 1925, or recently—or in the future? How did her obituary in The Times of London read, or what did her headstone look like. (I really have to stop doing these contests: judging them just pulls me to…

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Murder in his eyes

The Murder.  Of Mary Russell. ** The Murder of Mary Russell can be ordered as:      A signed US hardback from Bookshop Santa Cruz or Poisoned Pen Books      An unsigned hardback or ebook from B&N/Nook or Amazon/Kindle      A UK hardback from Waterstones, or hard/ebook from Amazon UK.

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Mr Holmes introduces himself

  Tomorrow… ** The Murder of Mary Russell can be ordered as:      A signed US hardback from Bookshop Santa Cruz or Poisoned Pen Books      An unsigned hardback or ebook from B&N/Nook or Amazon/Kindle      A UK hardback from Waterstones, or hard/ebook from Amazon UK.

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London Entertainments: oh, the choices!

A while ago I posted a blog about a gorgeous old book I came across during research, where Charles Dickens (Jr—not riding on his father’s coat-tails or anything) writes about the city, particularly the Ratcliffe Hwy and opium dens. (The post is here.) The Dickens guide offers such an endless variety of entertainments, one is frankly torn. A…

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London Societies

Thinking of visiting London in 1879 (which is, according to The Murder of Mary Russell, the year Sherlock Holmes met Mrs Hudson)? You might want to take along some hand sanitizer (along with water purifier and a huge bottle of antibiotics and…) but other than health matters, you probably should keep an eye out for…

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