Laurie R. King

Award-winning, bestselling, thought-provoking mysteries

LAURIE'S NEWSLETTER

Trumpets & Confetti; Russell & Holmes

by 107 Comments

Got your trumpets polished?

Champagne on ice? Confetti on hand?

 

 

 

 

Good—because it’s time to announce that….

coming to a screen near you…

will be (all fingers crossed)…

The MARY RUSSELL SERIES

featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes

!

Well, no, it’s not real yet. Don’t get our your popcorn quite this early. But I’m headed off for Left Coast Crime tomorrow morning and we just just JUST signed the papers and so I wanted to tell you before I go that we’ve sold the rights to an English production company, one that is just bursting with excitement and ideas and that seems to get the whole idea of Russell & Holmes!!

Here’s the official take on it:

New York Times bestselling author Laurie R. King’s “Mary Russell Series” is now under option to be developed as a television series with King as an active consultant.  This beloved series is now comprised of 16 books and counting—King will begin writing a new novel in the series later this summer. More information about the production company optioning the series and their plans will be announced in an updated release later this spring.

More (YES!) to come.

But, do I have your permission to have a glass of champagne at LCC? Or maybe (it being in Honolulu) a MaiTai?

Comments

  2. Congratulations!!! Yes! We are so happy for you, Mary & Sherlock! We will wait impatiently for the fruition of this wonderful news.

    Reply

  7. Please, keep as much creative control as you can! If you do, we know it will be a high quality program we can all be proud of!!!

    For example, currently there is a TV series based on Lev Goodman’s book series “The Magicians” that handles the book-to-TV transition in a non-literal fashion – and this has purist fans in an uproar. However, the author has been directly involved in the TV series, and so far the series has kept the basic framework, the major plot points, and most importantly the SPIRIT of the books intact.

    You well know that you can’t please everyone, but as long as you can keep the TV series true to the characters, it will be a success!!!

    Reply

  9. Congratulations on a job well done with your Russell &. Holmes books. I have no doubt that the TV series will be a great success.

    You deserve the trumpets & confetti.

    Reply

    • This would make a great contest. Who should play Russell and Holmes. David Tennant if he wasn’t busy with Broadchurch.. i can almost see Keira Knightly. If Honeysuckle Weeks was younger.

      Reply

    • No idea for Mary, but maybe…
      Peter Capaldi for Holmes
      and I know it would be from the second book, but…
      Gillian Anderson for Margery Childe. I just finished re-re-re-reading it 🙂 and the description fits her so well!

      I’ll have to keep searching for a *really* good “Mary”!

      Reply

      • I was looking at Dakota Fanning, but she’s only 5’4″ – then I saw that Elle Fanning is 5′ 9″, is near-sighted, is currently 20 years old, and has a multi-national family heritage. Not to mention that she is an accomplished actress with tons of experience, an established name (which helps sell a series), and she’s even blond! I can definitely see her as Mary!

        Reply

  15. Oooooo – Yippeeeeee – Something really lovely to look forward to. I would say you have most certainly earned a glass or two of champagne.

    Now – as Betsy suggested – Fantasy casting – hmmmmmm – my choices would be-

    Emma Watson as Mary?
    Liam Neeson as Sherlock?
    Emma Thompson as Mrs. Hudson?
    don’t know for Dr. Watson

    Yes, yes, I know, terrible premature, but still fun to play. Who would you choose?

    Reply

  17. Absolutely you must celebrate (although I believe a Mai Tai would be too sweet for Mary’s tastes) and we all will join in the merriment and glee! Let’s just ensure that we Americans will have ready access to the productions in a timely fashion.

    Reply

  19. Congratulations! I cannot think of a movie series I would enjoy more than Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. A couple friends and I will toast you with a glass of bubbly as well. Looking forward to the developments….

    Reply

  20. I asked the question about the possibility of a Mary Russell movie series to Laurie when she was promoted the “Bones of Parks”. In Pasadena, CA on a rainy Sunday morning a couple of years ago. She handled the question as deftly as any polished politician, saying a couple of lines about it being hard to cast before “the pivot” onto a completely different subject!

    Reply

  23. I’ve been waiting! Gosh, I hope its a cross between Foyals War and the Jeremy Brett Series -true to the stories, great atmosphere and amazing acting. Congratulations!

    Reply

  26. Yes, enjoy a celebratory Mai Tai and know that you’ve made a lot of people very happy with this wonderful news! Thank you and have a great time at LCC.

    Reply

  27. Congratulations! I’ll be looking forward to watching. I’d go for the MaiTai. On the beach. Add some pupus and enjoy the whole experience!

    Reply

  31. Hallelujah and congratulations Laurie! It is long overdue! Crossing fingers and toes it comes to fruition.

    Dream cast??? My vote would be on Keira Knightley as Russell (blue contacts firmly in place) and Jeremy Irons (if he were a tad younger) or the lovely Rufus Sewell as Holmes.

    Cheers to that Mai Tai!

    Reply

  35. Great congratulations and have two glasses of bubbly! I am, however, always a bit uncertain as to whether or not I want to see my favorite books, of which yours certainly are, on film/TV, as I hate to have my images of what the characters look like changed. 🙂 That being said, I shall wait to see the outcome and once again, congratulations!

    janet

    Reply

  41. Drink whatever your little heart desires! With the possible demise of the Sherlock/Freeman/Cumberbatch’s/Gatiss series, a new series would be more than welcome. Many, many congratulations! And now, we wait. 😀

    Reply

  42. Yes, Well done you. I was thinking of this and hoping for a long time. Now I wonder, if like the Harry Potter series will the players be as I have imagined them, aside from the characters that have already portrayed Sherlock anyway. Will you have a contest and let your readers make suggestions? For Sherlock, of course English, of design tall and refined, but maybe as we have found out, a little bit of a romantic, nurturer with maybe just maybe a little (under the covers Casanovaish secret weapon?? (or whomever the English Equivalent was/is) no was. And Mary should hopefully be an unknown, someone more cunning then “Anne of Green Gables” but as beautiful as Megan Fellow or Jenny Seagrove (?? ) or better.

    Reply

  43. This is terrific news.congratulations, Laurie! Even though it will be a British series, I believe that one way or another, we Americans will see this series. We just CAN’T be shut out! I am brimming over with excitement!

    Reply

  44. This is brilliant news, let’s hope the production keeps close enough to the books to translate the wonderful stories.

    Bit out of left field, but how about Peter Capaldi as Holmes…..?

    Reply

    • I can definitely see Capaldi as Holmes. This is wonderful news!

      She’s too old, but the person who first sprang to mind for Mary was Tilda Swinton. Is that too far out in left field? You need someone who looks strong and determined, not just pretty-pretty.

      Reply

  45. I was just wondering why the Mary Russell/Holmes stories have never been picked up. This is marvelous news. Congratulations! Now we can speculate on who will play Mary.

    Reply

  46. My husband and I used to cast this series many years ago! These were fun and serious discussions! I couldn’t be happier for you.

    Reply

  49. Yahoo! It’s about time. I see Emma Watson as Russell and Holmes to be decided later. Whomever they choose, it will be terrific because the stories are so rich and varied. Congratulations, Laurie!

    Reply

    • Brilliant news, congratulations! Can’t wait!
      Yes! Emma Watson and Allan Cummings might work very nicely.

      Reply

  53. Congratulations and God bless you. It will be an exciting experience with, I hope, more ups than downs. I am so looking forward to watching Russell and Watson on the screen. I’m sure it will be well done. You deserve a toast of champagne or mai tai to celebrate this new venture. I am so happy for you.

    Reply

  54. Congratulations! And I agree with some of the others; please make sure you retain creative control. I notice some people have been assuming a British production will be more faithful than an American one. But I saw what the BBC did to Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley series (i.e. turned the plots and even some of the characters topsy-turvy) and know that a British production doesn’t always guarantee respect for the author’s creation. Make sure they don’t do that to you!

    Reply

  56. I LOVE these books and can’t wait to be able to watch a production of them. This is wonderful news. The British series on PBS and BBC are great!

    Reply

  58. This is great news Laurie. I need to get reading ! I’m only on book 4—the Moor. By all means have a glass of champagne.

    Reply

  63. Oh, Laurie, have an extra glass of Champagne for me! I only hope it airs on broadcast t.v. since we don’t have cable. My popcorn sets ready to be popped.

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  64. Congratulations! My first reaction was an intense longing – “Oh! I’m in England! I wonder if I could get involved!” This is truely something to look forward to. AND a new story in the series! 2017 is redeemed 🙂

    Reply

  66. An actress in the role of Mary Russell must be convincing when disguised as a young man. Thinking….

    Reply

  70. This would make a great contest. Who should play Russell and Holmes. David Tennant if he wasn’t busy with Broadchurch.. i can almost see Keira Knightly. If Honeysuckle Weeks was younger.

    Reply

  71. so very pleased to hear of this magnificent event..I have loved reading the books and am rereading them..again and again.. and will be watching.. as others have said please try to capture the characters that we love in your well written books..I love that she is a very, very intelligent woman..

    Reply

  72. Hooray for Russell and Holmes but – please – NOT Keira Knightly! The actress needs to be someone who is YOUNG, (early 20s at the latest but still looks like she’s in her teens), TALL, and thin with a mass of blonde curly hair. Blue contacts aren’t enough to do it. And, hopefully, someone who can act with a modicum of gravitas. If only the series had been done years ago when Marta Dusseldorp were younger….

    Reply

  73. I’m super-late to this party, but…

    Grace Gummer as Mary
    Peter Capaldi as Sherlock
    Toni Collette as Mrs. Hudson (though she’d have to be aged up)

    Reply

  74. Can you give us any more news yet about the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes television show. I am now listening to your books (again) as I try to get 10,000 steps in each day. What wonderful scenes your words create in my imagination!

    Reply

      • Thank you for the update, and the good work that you do 🙂 I’ve been reading the Russell/Holmes series since it came out in ’94 (when I was 14! the first book was a gift from my father), and have also enjoyed your other books. I’m very much looking forward to seeing Mary on the screen, and hope it happens sooner rather than later! Keep us posted!

        Reply

  75. I have been out of the loop for awhile – family matters and such. While i’ve been gone you all have been busy! Very well excited to learn about a Russell and Holmes series in the future. A treat to look forward to. Please All aye Gods of television: cast it perfectly and let me he author be your guide!

    Reply

  78. Hi! Have there been any updates since? Is the project still simmering or is it on hold for now? Hope life is treating you well these days 🙂

    Reply

    • It’s been a long and tumultuous few years…resulting in us going our separate ways. So no, we’re starting again, I’m afraid.

      Reply

      • In bocca al lupo!
        A well-done series based on Russell Holmes would be a gigantic hit.
        Meanwhile, I sincerely hope another Russell/Holmes book is under consideration. I just (re-) listened to Locked Rooms, while stuck in unfamiliar SF for much longer than planned, caring for the dogs of family members with the plague. I found myself, serendipitously, walking through neighborhoods in which Russell or Holmes were chasing the crooks and shadows. The miles and hours flew by. Everyone recovered. Thank you!!

        Reply

Trackbacks

  1. […] Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes series has been optioned by a British tele…, the author announced on Monday. She will be an active consultant. It’s not clear whether it’s for a series or miniseries, but YAY! (Please, please, please let them get it right!) Also, King plans to start the next book in the series this summer, so possibly a 2018 or 2019 release date for that. […]

    Reply

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