Reading order · 19 books · 1994 to 2025 · Set in various places
Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes Books in Order
Mary Russell is a brilliant, independent teenage orphan who meets the retired Sherlock Holmes on the Sussex Downs in 1915. She becomes his apprentice, then his partner and his wife. The books are told in her voice, with wit and a love of theology and history.
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Series facts
- Books
- 19
- Published
- 1994 to 2025
- First book
- The Beekeeper’s Apprentice
- Latest
- Knave of Diamonds (2025)
- Setting
- Set in various places
The reading order
Every Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
19 books · Set in various places
- 1The Beekeeper’s Apprentice1994With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesIn 1915, fifteen-year-old Mary Russell, an orphan with a fierce mind, stumbles over a man watching bees on the Sussex Downs.Buy on Amazon
- 2A Monstrous Regiment of Women1995With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesMary Russell, now a student at Oxford, is drawn to a charismatic woman preacher, and women around her begin to die.Buy on Amazon
- 3A Letter of Mary1997With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesAn archaeologist gives Russell an ancient letter that may have been written by Mary Magdalene, and is killed soon after.Buy on Amazon
- 4The Moor1998With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesHolmes and Russell go to Dartmoor to investigate reports of a ghostly coach and a hound.Buy on Amazon
- 5O Jerusalem1999With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesIn 1918, Holmes and Russell travel to Palestine on a mission for Mycroft, guided by two mysterious Arab agents, Mahmoud and Ali.Buy on Amazon
- 6Justice Hall2002With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesHolmes and Russell’s old friends from Palestine turn up with a problem: the succession to an ancient English dukedom.Buy on Amazon
- 7The Game2004With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesHolmes and Russell travel to India to find Kimball O’Hara, the hero of Kipling’s Kim, who has gone missing.Buy on Amazon
- 8Locked Rooms2005With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesRussell returns to San Francisco, where she lost her family as a girl, and buried memories begin to surface.Buy on Amazon
- 9The Language of Bees2009With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesHolmes’s grown son, Damian, an artist, asks for help finding his missing wife and daughter.Buy on Amazon
- 10The God of the Hive2010With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesHolmes and Russell, separated and on the run, face a powerful enemy.Buy on Amazon
- 11Pirate King2011With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesRussell goes undercover with a film crew making a movie of The Pirates of Penzance in Portugal and Morocco.Buy on Amazon
- 12Garment of Shadows2012With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesRussell wakes in a strange room in Morocco with no memory of who she is.Buy on Amazon
- 13Dreaming Spies2015With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesHolmes and Russell sail to Japan, and become involved in a case of blackmail.Buy on Amazon
- 14The Murder of Mary Russell2016With Mary Russell and Mrs HudsonA man arrives at the Sussex cottage claiming to be Mrs Hudson’s son, and her secret past comes to light.Buy on Amazon
- 15Island of the Mad2018With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesRussell searches for a missing woman who escaped from the Bedlam asylum, and the trail leads to Venice.Buy on Amazon
- 16Riviera Gold2020With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesMrs Hudson is in Monte Carlo, and Holmes and Russell follow her into trouble.Buy on Amazon
- 17Castle Shade2021With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesHolmes and Russell travel to Transylvania at the request of Queen Marie of Romania.Buy on Amazon
- 18The Lantern’s Dance2024With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesHolmes and Russell visit Damian and his family in France, and find an old journal with a mystery of its own.Buy on Amazon
- 19Knave of Diamonds2025With Mary Russell and Sherlock HolmesMary Russell’s long-lost uncle Jake reappears at her Sussex home and draws her into the unsolved theft of the Irish Crown Jewels, a case that may touch Mycroft Holmes himself.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Read in order, starting with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. O Jerusalem fills in a gap during the first book.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Mary Russell | Sherlock Holmes | Mrs Hudson | Mycroft Holmes | Mahmoud and Ali Hazr | Damian Adler |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 The Beekeeper’s Apprentice | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | ||
| 2 A Monstrous Regiment of Women | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | ||
| 3 A Letter of Mary | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | ||
| 4 The Moor | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | ||
| 5 O Jerusalem | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | |
| 6 Justice Hall | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | |
| 7 The Game | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | ||
| 8 Locked Rooms | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | ||
| 9 The Language of Bees | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | MMajor | MMajor | |
| 10 The God of the Hive | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | MMajor | MMajor | |
| 11 Pirate King | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | ||
| 12 Garment of Shadows | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | |
| 13 Dreaming Spies | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | ||
| 14 The Murder of Mary Russell | LLead | MMajor | LLead | ·Minor | ||
| 15 Island of the Mad | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | ||
| 16 Riviera Gold | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | ||
| 17 Castle Shade | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | ||
| 18 The Lantern’s Dance | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | MMajor | |
| 19 Knave of Diamonds | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor |
Characters in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes books
6 characters from Laurie R. King’s chart, with the number of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| Mary RussellOxford theology student turned detective, Holmes’s partner and wife | 19 | The Beekeeper’s Apprentice 1994 |
| Sherlock HolmesRetired detective keeping bees in Sussex | 19 | The Beekeeper’s Apprentice 1994 |
| Mrs HudsonHolmes’s housekeeper | 19 | The Beekeeper’s Apprentice 1994 |
| Mycroft HolmesSherlock’s brother | 19 | The Beekeeper’s Apprentice 1994 |
| Mahmoud and Ali HazrBritish agents in Palestine | 3 | O Jerusalem 1999 |
| Damian AdlerHolmes’s son, an artist | 3 | The Language of Bees 2009 |