Pirate King (2011) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 4 stars

“I read the first in this series and then none until now, however I do enjoy Russell and like that King keeps Sherlock's presence to a minimum, especially in this installment. I listened to the audio version of this and the narrator Jenny Sterlin is excellent!”

• Rated 2 stars

“This book was a disappointment. A not very interesting plot based on Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance. Holmes didn't show up til half way through and then it became marginally more interesting. ”

• Rated 2 stars

“I like most of King's work but this one was just underwhelming. The plot development moved at a snail's pace with most of the action happening in the last fifty pages. ”

• Rated 0 stars

“The WORST book in the series. Cannot even believe this great author wrote this poor excuse of a book.”

• Rated 2 stars

“This has been the slowest book so far in the series. Putting Mary Russell into a house with 21 blonde, dumb, British actresses has been a painful read for me to endure. I just didn't like this one as much as I liked the other 10.”

• Rated 0 stars

“Book 11 - like this series and have read them all. This was a little odder than others in the series, but still good.”

• Rated 3 stars

“I was a bit disappointed with this Russell, especially after the drama and suspense in the previous two books, The Language of Bees and The God of the Hive. The first half of the book is a bit dull, but the pace picks up near the end.”

• Rated 5 stars

“Delightful book that is a story within a show based on the filming of The Pirates of Penzance. Russell is the star of this book, with Holmes making only a few appearances. ”

• Rated 3 stars

“In general, I love this series and all books by Laurie King. I didn't find this book very compelling and found it hard to care about the story or the characters. I think it's because you never got to know any of them very well. ”

• Rated 1 stars

“This was absolutely dreadful. I wonder if this novel was Laurie King's effort at a lighter Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell adventure? After all the last few novels in this series have been extremely serious. This novel fails on every level-if I had not read previous books by King I would not have even finished it. The plot is daft, Russell (normally the most stalwart of women) is a whining dilettante and Holmes is not even present for the greater part of the book. I am so glad I got this from my local library-I saved a ton of money that way, and hopefully you, Constant Reader, can do the same, by totally skipping this abysmal farce. ”