The Art of Series Blending

Author Laurie R. King is so good at creating unforgettable characters from the past (I’ve mentioned her flawless standalone, Touchstone, several times, along with her stunning Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series), that her Kate Martinelli books, about a lesbian cop in present-day San Francisco, California, tend not to receive the attention they deserve. However, in 2007’s The Art of Detection, which I’m reading for inspiration as I pound away at my first “senile detective” serial novel, Forget About It, she really demonstrates her talents, combining her two series into a compelling, heartbreaking personal story that stands on its own lovely legs in both periods.

I’ll try to post a full review of The Art of Detection at some later date. But for right now, let me just say that it’s about a visit by someone (Arthur Conan Doyle? Sherlock Holmes his own self?) to San Francisco in 1924--which leads to a mysterious and possibly tremendously valuable manuscript and the murder of an eminent, inscrutable Sherlockian named Philip Gilbert, a character Conan Doyle might well have enjoyed.

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While I have your attention, I should also mention that I’ve posted the seventh and eight chapters of Forget About It. To read them, click here and then scroll down to the bottom of the page.