Riviera Gold

A Novel

By: Laurie R. King

Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin

Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes turn the Riviera upside down to crack their most captivating case yet in the New York Times bestselling series that Lee Child called “the most sustained feat of imagination in mystery fiction today.”

It’s summertime on the Riviera, and the Jazz Age has come to France’s once-sleepy beaches. From their music-filled terraces, American expatriates gaze along the coastline at the lights of Monte Carlo, where fortunes are won, lost, stolen, and sometimes hidden away. When Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes arrive, they find their partnership pulled between youthful pleasures and old sins, hot sun and cool jazz, new affections and enduring loyalties.

Russell falls into easy friendship with an enthralling American couple, Sara and Gerald Murphy, whose golden life on the Riviera has begun to attract famous writers and artists—and some of the scoundrels linked with Monte Carlo’s underworld. The Murphy set will go on to inspire everyone from F. Scott Fitzgerald to Pablo Picasso, but in this summer of 1925, their importance for Russell lies in one of their circle’s recent additions: the Holmeses’ former housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson, who hasn’t been seen since she fled England under a cloud of false murder accusations.

When a beautiful young man is found dead in Mrs. Hudson’s front room, she becomes the prime suspect in yet another murder. Russell is certain of Mrs. Hudson’s innocence; Holmes is not. But the old woman’s colorful past has been a source of tension between them before, and now the dangerous players who control Monte Carlo’s gilded casinos may stop at nothing to keep the pair away from what Mrs. Hudson’s youthful history could bring to light.

The Riviera is a place where treasure can be false, where love can destroy, and where life, as Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes will discover, can be cheap—even when it is made of solid gold.©2020 Laurie R. King (P)2020 Recorded Books

Mrs. Hudson... the rest of the story?

This was an enjoyable and necessary follow up on Mrs. Hudson's storyline. One is left thinking there is yet more to tell about this Clarissa of many talents. I can't wait until the next story, which promises to have something to do with vampires. I do wish for more interaction and conversation between Mary and Holmes; those are the "cream in the coffee" (or tea, in their case).

A Winner

As always, Jenny Sterling’s wonderful characters of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes do not disappoint.

Superb writing and historically fascinating

Absolutely adore Mary Russell and her developing character. Laurie King has got to be one of the greatest authors of all time!

Riveting,from first page to last

Laurie R king has done it yet again, if any series of books deserves to be a PBS mystery mini series this one does! From the first novel to this last, I have been captured by Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock Holmes. Long a fan of Sherlock Holmes mysteries this is a fresh and wonderful take on the life of Sherlock Holmes.

Mary Russell’s adventures never cease to hold me captivated and surprised. I only wish that One did not need to wait so long in anticipation for the next novel. But wait I will, with great anticipation knowing that each of Mary‘s adventures will be as good if not better than the last.

Kudos to author

I have come to enjoy following series with repeating characters. Many are good, some disappointing for lack of character development and formulaic plots. This series has been one of the best I have discovered. The first introduce the characters and continue through establishing facets of their development. The author then goes on to explore differing methods of story arcs, initially surprising this reader (or listener) with new transitional moments and historical answers, which fit seamlessly into MRH’s continued development. I now wait for these moments of transition to ‘flesh out’ the characters and their histories. A VERY good listen!! Fans of Sherlock should be satisfied with this author’s use of the Holmes canon. Enthusiasts of historical fiction should be pleased, especially if they enjoy their own historical enlightenment. And those that appreciate a good mystery will not be disappointed.