The Beekeeper's Apprentice

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice is the first historical mystery in Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. It centers around Sherlock Holmes, who’s now a beekeeper enjoying retirement from detective work, and a girl who helps him solve a local crime. The book was first published in 1994 and was nominated for the Agatha Best Novel Award that same year. It was also named a Notable Young Adult Novel by the American Library Association. King is an award-winning mystery writer most famous for her unique take on Sherlock Holmes.

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice is set in England in 1915. The protagonist is a fifteen-year-old Jewish-American girl called Mary Russell. Tragically, she lost her parents in an automobile crash in California, and she now lives with her aunt in the Sussex Downs, England. She’s bored and smart, and she’s always looking for diversions.

The once-famous detective Sherlock Holmes is now in his fifties and retired from work. He’s moved from London to the Sussex Downs to pursue new hobbies and enjoy the rest of his life. He keeps bees, which he finds calming and meaningful. He enjoys the peace and quiet, even if he sometimes misses his old occupation.



The novel opens with Mary engrossed in a book. She’s wandering down the path, paying no attention to where she’s going, at which point she walks into Sherlock. They have a slight altercation about her carelessness, which angers Mary because Sherlock’s the adult and should be more careful. She notices that he’s watching bees and tells him to avoid ones with certain marks on them because they belong to a local beekeeper. Sherlock wonders how she knows this, but he tries to seem unimpressed.

Things get worse when Sherlock mistakes Mary for a boy, which causes her grave offense. After another altercation, she realises who the man is and feels terrible for squabbling with him. He asks her questions about bees and humans, and she shows how much she knows. Intrigued and keen to encourage a young, curious mind, Sherlock wants to get to know her better.

What Sherlock realises is that Mary has a talent for the method of deduction, which would make her a great detective. He’s glad to see she’s applying herself to her studies—she’s planning on taking both theology and chemistry at Oxford University. She declares herself a “modern feminist,” and she wants to prove how smart and gifted women can be.



Sherlock had almost given up hope of finding someone worthy of his tuition before he moved to Sussex. He believes he’s found his intellectual equal in Mary. He offers to teach her the art of sleuthing, and she graciously accepts his instruction.

At first, Sherlock works through puzzles with her. Then, they work in his laboratory and study natural science. As Mary spends more time with Sherlock, he becomes a father to her—a figure she’s been lacking for a long time. She gets on with her aunt well enough, but they’re not close, and Mary doesn’t feel she can talk to her.

Sherlock lets Mary help on a case he’s working, and she loves it. When someone robs the local inn, she’s confident enough to solve the case on her own, and Sherlock is very proud. However, when she’s accepted into Oxford and her studies begin, it’s harder to find the time to work cases with him.



While Mary’s at school, there’s a murder attempt on Sherlock’s life. Aware that someone very dangerous has a grudge against her mentor, she returns home during a break in her studies and decides to leave London with Sherlock to take him somewhere safe. In the meantime, other detectives are working the case.

While outside London, the pair end up embroiled in another case. They wear disguises and plan a ruse to solve this case, and it’s the first time Mary realises how dangerous the job can be. The ruse works in unexpected ways—they discover the identity of Sherlock’s attempted murderer. The enemy is a woman called Miss Donleavy, the daughter of Moriarty, Sherlock’s mortal adversary. She taught Mary math and discovered Sherlock’s whereabouts from Mary.

To catch Donleavy, Mary and Sherlock lure her to his laboratory. Donleavy demands that Sherlock write a suicide note. She promises a clean, quick death if he does and says she won’t hurt Mary. Sherlock refuses, and Donleavy tries to shoot him. Mary tackles Donleavy, and the bullet meant for Sherlock goes through her shoulder and strikes Donleavy’s heart.



The altercation ends with Donleavy dead and Mary very badly wounded. Sherlock gets her help, and she lives. Mary moves into his house while she’s healing. She plans to continue her studies at Oxford while helping Sherlock with his sleuthing work—which he just can’t leave behind.