Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Touchstone (Harris Stuyvesant #1)

by Laurie R. King (Goodreads Author)

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 1,398 ratings · 244 reviews

Hailed for her rich and powerful works of psychological suspense as well as her New York Times bestselling mysteries, Laurie R. King now takes us to a remote cottage in Cornwall where a gripping tale of intrigue, terrorism, and explosive passions begins with a visit to a recluse upon whom the fate of an entire nation may rest—a man code-named . . .

It’s eight years after...more

ebook, 0 pages

Published December 26th 2007 by Bantam

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 2,159)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jun 26, 2008 WK rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: lrk

Like all of Laurie’s work it is finely weaved and very well told.

I was able to pick up most of the breadcrumb trail as to “who” and marvel at Laurie’s talent for sculpting that character so well that the “why” is not only believable but could even be considered admirable.

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 10, 2008 Celia Powell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, historical-fiction

It took me a little while to get into this political thriller - a stand alone book from King, whom I love for her excellent series. Set in the 1920s, in an England torn between unions and a conservative government, an American agent arrives seeking a terrorist suspect. Secret agents and terrorists aren't really my favourite sort of books, so it took me a little while to get past that, after which I really enjoyed this.

It's not your average secret-agent-terrorist-plot book, of course - there's th...more

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 01, 2008 Andrea LeClair rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: itallwentwrong

I normally adore Laurie King, but the shifting point of view in this book drove me crazy, to the point where I got so angry I didn't want to finish the book. It was written in 3rd person omniscient, so we could leap between people's heads, but it was so jarring every time, I felt like I never got the chance to care for anyone (or hate the bad guys.) Maybe I'll try it again sometime, but it just troubled me.

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 12, 2008 Robin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've been a Laurie King fan since I read her first book in the Holmes/Russell series, The Beekeeper's Apprentice. Before Touchstone I'd never really been able to get into what I think of as her stand alone titles, rather than those that build into a series, but this one really sucked me in.

I admit, I'm always intrigued by novels set during and around World War I, perahps because it was such an awful landmark for modern warfare, and its affect on both the world and individuals dealing with mechan...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 21, 2008 megan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was WAITING for this book. It came out on Boxing Day, but I didn't get to the bookstore over and over, and every now and then I'd think: there's a new Laurie R. King mystery out; reading will be good. Because LRK writes some of my favourite mysteries. Her Holmes is infinitely more likeable, more sympathetic, more apt to fallibility and therefore, more believable than most of Holmes in Conan Doyle. She puts Sherlock Holmes in San Francisco (twice!), with Kipling's Kim, and in Jerusalem.

Touchst...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 27, 2008 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, supernatural

This was a haunting book that carefully toed the line between supernatural fiction and mystery. Laurie King is the author of several excellent series (the Holmes/Russell books are among my all-time favorites) and this was definitely closer to the suspense/thriller side of mystery than her others. The story involves an FBI agent tracking down a terrorist in the 1920's, who gets pulled into a creepy organization built around a man with a very disturbing ability. The whole book has an air of melanc...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jun 10, 2008 Laura Dugan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A break from the various series King pens, this book introduces Harris Stuyvesant, an FBI man (although at the time the FBI isn't called the FBI) from the 1920s. Stuyvesant is in England at a time of strife: miners are close to striking, war still looms on the minds of many, and communism is a great fear. Stuyvesant's goal is to atone for the death of an innocent woman and the life-altering injury of his brother. Along the way, he encounters many people who may be friend or foe, including the sc...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 13, 2008 Bette Ammon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Laurie King’s newest historical novel is titled Touchstone and it is amazingly good. Set in England, post World War I, the intricate story revolves around union organizers, conspiracy, and the class struggle in Britain. The main character is a charming renegade American FBI agent named Harris Stuyvesant who is tenacious when it comes to tracking down the culprit who set bombs in the United States (one injured Stuyvesant’s brother). King is a terrific writer, particularly when it comes to histori...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 11, 2012 Shannon Martinson added it · review of another edition

(this review is from December, 2009, when I read the book.)

I started reading Laurie R. King's work with "The Beekeeper's Apprentice," less than a year ago, when it caught my eye at the bookstore, and quickly read all of the Mary Russell series, and then the Kate Martinelli series, and enjoyed both. So when I found Touchstone at Half Price Books the other day, I decided to give it a try.

The book is set in 1926 London, against a backdrop of tension between the working class and the wealthy, specif...more (this review is from December, 2009, when I read the book.)

I started reading Laurie R. King's work with "The Beekeeper's Apprentice," less than a year ago, when it caught my eye at the bookstore, and quickly read all of the Mary Russell series, and then the Kate Martinelli series, and enjoyed both. So when I found Touchstone at Half Price Books the other day, I decided to give it a try.

The book is set in 1926 London, against a backdrop of tension between the working class and the wealthy, specifically in the time leading up to a strike by coal miners. An American Bureau of Investigation officer is in London, quasi-officially investigating a rising star in England's political scene whom he suspects of traveling to America to set off several bombs, one of which left his brother little more than a vegetable. He finds himself in the company of a WWI veteran who developed an almost psychic ability after a serious war wound, spending a weekend in a country house belonging to one of the oldest aristocratic families in England, watching the Prime Minister play charades, and trying to figure out what his very disturbing liaison in the British government is really using him for.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, although not as much as King's Mary Russell series. When I first started reading it, it reminded me of some of P.D. James' books, although I'm not exactly sure why, other than it just felt similar. Because of the various plots and counterplots and everyone seemingly using someone for one reason or another, I was never entirely sure who was really the bad guy as I was reading. I kept wondering if maybe there would be a major plot twist that would turn everything on its head. There was, but not the one I'd been half expecting throughout the book. I was a little disappointed at the end, which felt anticlimactic, although I suppose that is at least testament to King's ability to keep up the tension throughout the book and keep readers wondering what will happen next. I'd recommend this book to those who like historical mysteries or who are fans of King's work already, but if you haven't read any of her books before, I'm not sure this would be the best introduction to her work. (less)

like · see review

Apr 20, 2010 Joyce Lagow rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

Laurie King is one of my favorite authors; her Mary Russell series continues to charm. Set primarily in the post World War I era, the series has given King a solid background in the era. She uses this expertise in Touchstone, a stand-alone thriller set in England in 1926.[return][return]At that time, there was a great deal of political unrest, much of it labor-related, in both England and the US. This was the time of the Wobblies, Emma Goldberg, and the anarchists. Sacco and Vanzetti had just be...more Laurie King is one of my favorite authors; her Mary Russell series continues to charm. Set primarily in the post World War I era, the series has given King a solid background in the era. She uses this expertise in Touchstone, a stand-alone thriller set in England in 1926.[return][return]At that time, there was a great deal of political unrest, much of it labor-related, in both England and the US. This was the time of the Wobblies, Emma Goldberg, and the anarchists. Sacco and Vanzetti had just been unjustly arrested (and would be callously executed) for political crimes they did not commit, thanks to the rising hysteria in the US about political terrorism. Harris Stuyvesant, an agent of the relatively young US Bureau of Investigation (newly headed by J. Edgar Hoover), has been involved in political investigations for some time. In the past year or so, three seemingly unconnected cases of cleverly-placed bombs have absorbed his attention, especially since one of them, and the ensuing riot, was the cause of his younger brother Tim� s severe brain damage and resulting loss of memory and ability to function. Stuyvesant believes that there is an English connection� that the bomber came from England. Faced with skeptical superiors, he travels to England on his own to see if he can track down this elusive terrorist. [return][return]The story takes place over a few weeks in April. The cast of characters is a rich and varied one, from the members of the one of the most blue-blooded families in England to a shadowy sadistic � Major� in Intelligence to another member of the aristocracy, Bennett Grey, whose war injury has left him with a peculiar and terrifying hypersensitivity to sensations and to people, to the point in which he is a veritable Truth Tester, able to tell instantly whether or not a person is lying.[return][return]King centers the plot just before the Miner� s Strike and General Strike in England in 1926. She weaves a great deal of information on labor troubles and political repression in England into the plot, as well as interesting facts about political investigations in the US at that time, too. She also gives a very fine view of the aristocracy� not all inbred, empty-headed chuckleheads by any means� and in particular of those upper-class women who dedicated themselves to assisting the poor. I found this particularly interesting, as I had completed, not long before, His Family, the 1918 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction by Ernest Poole, one of whose major characters is exactly such a woman in the US. King writes in a much easier fashion, but the parallels are there and are striking.[return][return]This should have been one of King� s finest books, but except for the last 30 pages� which are as thrilling and page-turning as any she has written� the book just didn� t quite hit it off for me. Maybe my expectations were too high. But I have the feeling it was the characters� they just didn� t seem to come off. I could not get under the skin of the protagonist, Stuyvesant, and too many of her English characters seemed mechanical. In particular, Bennett Grey was just plain unbelievable for me.[return][return]Yet King� s prose is as good as ever and the matrix of the plot� the political and labor unrest in England� is very well done� not intrusive in any way but a very vital part of the story. There are some polemical speeches, but deliberately so, and King makes us aware of this in her characters. So even that way of imparting information is part of the plot.[return][return]I think King� s finest novels are her stand-alones. A Darker Place is my all-time favorite, one that I reread every so often. Touchstone is good, but in my opinion is one of her second-tier books.(less)

like · see review

Jan 01, 2009 Eva Mitnick rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

American FBI agent Harris Stuyvesant travels to England in 1926 to conduct an undercover investigation of a Labor leader whom Harris suspects has set off several bombs in the U.S. He meets a nasty piece of work named Carstairs who has been conducting experiments using a WWI vet named Bennett Gray who, as a result of his injuries, is so sensitive that he is essentially a human lie detector (lies and deceit cause him unbearable agony) - Harris soon befriends Gray, is invited to a country weekend a...more

1 like · like · see review

May 20, 2013 Clay rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One next installment I won’t be waiting for, or reading, will be the sequel to “Touchstone” (Tor, $25.99, 363 pages). First, there is no hint anywhere on the book jacket that “Touchstone” is the first of a series, and that alone is enough to annoy me. A reader who puts down $25.99 of her hard-earned cash for a book has every right to know that this is only the beginning of her investment. It looks like Melanie Rawn will carry this through at least three books, but it’s simply greed for Tor, or a...more

like · see review

Sep 27, 2010 Teresa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Touchstone is perhaps King� s most ambitious novel yet. It takes place between the World Wars, which is not a new period for King� most of the Russell books take place in the 1920s� but the characters are new, and the plot felt more complex than is typical of her books. [return][return]King has a wonderful ability to craft mysteries that keep you on the edge of your seat but that also make you think about more substantial questions. I really enjoyed how in this book she could make me feel sympat...more

like · see review

Jun 02, 2010 Margaret rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, mystery, authors-kl

This is a stand-alone novel, not related to either of her series. It's 1926, and FBI agent Harris Stuyvesant has come to London in search of a bomber; for help, he's sent to Englishman Bennett Grey, whose experiences in World War I have left him with an unearthly sensitivity to other people's thoughts and who has been hiding in Cornwall for years. Almost against his will, Grey agrees to help Stuyvesant by gaining him entry into an elite milieu which includes Lady Laura Hurleigh, who is devoting...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 11, 2010 Shannon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Touchstone does what any good historical fiction should: it took me to a time and place other than my own and taught me something in the process. Touchstone is set in post-WWI England and revolves around an American there to find a terrorist (Harris Stuyvesant), a former English soldier damaged irreparably by the War (Bennet Grey), one of England's most storied families (the Hurleighs) and one of the most fascinatingly manipulative characters I've ever encountered (Aldous Carstairs).

One of the m...more Touchstone does what any good historical fiction should: it took me to a time and place other than my own and taught me something in the process. Touchstone is set in post-WWI England and revolves around an American there to find a terrorist (Harris Stuyvesant), a former English soldier damaged irreparably by the War (Bennet Grey), one of England's most storied families (the Hurleighs) and one of the most fascinatingly manipulative characters I've ever encountered (Aldous Carstairs).

One of the many things I enjoyed about this book was the setting. I've read many books set in London during or immediately following WWII, but knew little about the bubbling pot of tension that it was in the early 1920s. It enhanced my experience as a reader for one of the characters to be an American transplanted to England. It not only took me back to my junior year of college (spent in Leeds, England), it gave me a character who was also not quite of this world we were in. Like me, Harris was an outsider who was occasionally confused by the small differences in American English and The Queen's English (calling vs. phoning). These details helped me more fully enter the world.

I am always impressed when an author can convincingly write a novel that is primarily from the point of view of the opposite gender and I felt King knocked it out of the park with Harris Stuyvesant. He was believable, fully conceived and true to himself throughout the book. If I had read this book without knowing the author's gender, I don't think I ever would have guessed it was written by a female. This is the first book of King's that I've read with a male main character, so I was thrilled to find she can not only write from the point of view of a modern day detective and a colleague of Sherlock Holmes, but a man who would have lived nearly a century ago.

In fact, I was able to fully visualize all of the characters populating this book. From Harris' ability to morph himself into who he needed to be in many situations, to Carstairs' impenetrable iciness, to Grey's push-pull to be a part of the world, but need to be apart from it. Because I felt like I knew these characters, I had definite opinions about what I wanted to happen to them. I wanted no good thing for Carstairs and almost immediately fell slightly in love with Grey. Like any good book, my desires for the characters weren't completely met. After all, how many of us never have to see someone we love go through difficulties? But I did feel like the book left me satisfied with where each character ended. And if the ending wasn't exactly a happy one, I was left with exactly the right amount of hope to nurture my own imagination for where these characters found themselves five or ten years down the road.

My one caution to potential readers is that this book is a deceptively slow read. It took me far longer than I anticipated to finish it. I'm not sure whether this was a result of the writing style, the novel's pacing or my own attention span. So read this book, but do so when you don't have another book sitting on your shelf that needs to be returned to the library in a few days.(less)

like · see review

Jan 08, 2008 Vicki rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A brilliant historical thriller set against the turmoil of England's 1926 general strike. In it, an FBI agent crosses the Atlantic on the track of a bomber who could push England into outright revolution. He joins forces with a human "touchstone," a shattered WWI veteran with an uncanny knack for discerning the truth, to avert disaster. There is a bevy of fascinating characters and a gobstopper of an ending that will occupy your thoughts long after you finish the book.

1 like · like · see review

Mar 26, 2013 Sara rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Good mystery mixed with just a touch of the supernatural. I liked the writing style of seeng the story from different points of view. I severely disliked how slow-moving and occasionally repetitive the narration was. I did not need to be told repeatedly that Carstairs really enjoyed Machiavelli's methods and that he truly did not want to rule in the public eye. I felt that this novel suffered severely from the tell-instead-of-show syndrome.
I loved Harris. An arch-typical American hero; with cou...more

like · see review

Feb 25, 2013 Jean Doolittle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My knowledge of world history did not include an extensive understanding of the period between the wars in Europe, but I've recently expanding my knowledge significantly through some good books of fiction, particular the Maisie Dobbs mysteries, and now this dense, intriguing and detailed mystery by Laurie R. King. Of course fiction may "change the course of history" to accommodate its own internal narrative,but King's work reflects such attention to detail and nuance that I feel I'm getting an a...more

like · see review

Jul 05, 2009 Shannon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

good plot; nice mystery; neat idea (result of being shelled is ability to recognize internal dissonance in others. I missed one of the things I generally like about Laurie King, however, and that was lack of depth of character - although characters are fully realized (enough background to make them interesting), their thinking and responses to each other are faded in color.

But still King impresses; I haven't read anything worth quoting in a long time, but I was fascinated with this:

"in New York...more

like · see review

Sep 27, 2012 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, mystery

Laurie King is such a fantastic author. Every book is a complex design of interwoven plots and counterplots, meticulously constructed and carefully and smoothly revealed, step by step. (n.b. This is a stand-alone work, not in the Holmes/Russell or the Martinelli series.) This is the second time that I have read this book, because it made such a fascinating impression the first time. Ms. King's books even make me pay attention to historical politics ;-) because she does such a good job of reducin...more

like · see review

Aug 25, 2008 Agathafrye rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: historic fiction fans

Shelves: mysteries-thrillers

Touchstone took a little while to get to the punch, but it ended up being a very well researched and suspenseful look into life in England during the 1926 strikes. King always does a really great job of describing settings and characters in great detail. I learned quite a bit about the political and societal atmosphere in 1920's England by reading this book. The ending almost surprised me, but not quite.

1 like · like · see review

Sep 16, 2011 Lisa H. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, historical-alt-history

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It took me a little while to warm up to the main character, Harris Stuyvesant, a US federal agent on the trail of Richard Bunsen, an up-and-coming figure in the English labor movement, whom he believes to be responsible for a series of bombings in the US, one of which left Stuyvesant's beloved younger brother permanently brain-damaged, and another killed the woman he loved.

Contrary to the wishes of his director, none other than J. Edgar Hoover, he follows his suspect to England, where in the spr...more It took me a little while to warm up to the main character, Harris Stuyvesant, a US federal agent on the trail of Richard Bunsen, an up-and-coming figure in the English labor movement, whom he believes to be responsible for a series of bombings in the US, one of which left Stuyvesant's beloved younger brother permanently brain-damaged, and another killed the woman he loved.

Contrary to the wishes of his director, none other than J. Edgar Hoover, he follows his suspect to England, where in the spring of 1926 an imminent mass work stoppage has the powers-that-be in an uproar. There Stuyvesant manages to insert himself into the lives of a family of eccentric bluebloods, one of whom is both romantically and politically involved with Bunsen.

Along the way he meets Aldous Carstairs, a shadowy, Macchiavelian power broker, and Bennett Grey, a former soldier whose war injuries have left him hypersensitive to falseness of any kind, making him an alluring possible tool for Carstairs, who wants to use Grey as a kind of human lie detector when grilling suspects. Allying himself with Carstairs to get closer to his target, Stuyvesant finds himself unable to willingly put Grey back in the hands of the man who once drove Grey nearly mad, and at the same time falls in love with Grey's sister.

My main quarrel with King's book is that Stuyvesant is too much tailor-made for the tasks at hand - every time an obstacle presents itself, it turns out he has some background or experience that allows him to handle the problem with ease. For example, when he needs to get closer to Bunsen, he reveals both a past encounter (while undercover in the guise of a union member) with radical legend Emma Goldman, which lends him legitimacy in Bunsen's world, and experience acting as bodyguard for a well-known union organizer, which sets him up to be asked to fill in for Bunsen's driver just when Bunsen may be planning on planting another bomb at a secret meeting of union and management representatives. His cover identity, that of a former auto mechanic who has risen with the Ford company to the rank of salesman, gives him further credibility with both the blue collar and white collar types at the meeting, so no one blinks at his inclusion in this super-secret and potentially headline-making meeting. He also shows a nearly superhuman ability to judge a situation and arrive at the proper action at the exact moment it is needed. Just all a little too convenient for my taste. To be honest, I would have preferred if King had left his character a little less sympathetic, as I found him at the beginning of the book.

I had anticipated the climax of the book to some degree, but I got the person wrong, which was a nice surprise. I was really torn as to the rating I wanted to give the book, but ended up with 4 stars because it introduced me to a period of history - England between the wars - that I was previously unfamiliar with, and which was intriguing. (less)

like · see review

Aug 25, 2010 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As a great fan of Laurie R. King, Touchstone was a very interesting read. It was the first stand-alone of hers that I've read and, to be quite honest, I prefer her Kate Martinelli and Mary Russell books.
Touchstone is a well-developed story with quite a lot of information about Communism and anarchy in the 1920s both from the point of view of an American and from the British aristocracy. It's quite fascinating information, but it seems as though more emphasis is put on the development of the pol...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 27, 2009 Jennifer Klenz rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of Mary Russell mysteries

An interesting new set of characters for Laurie King. I liked learning more about the tensions at the time of labour uprisings in post WWI Britain and the sweeping changes in world order or British World Order wraught by WWI. Bennett Grey, having been metaphorically dipped in acid to make him overwhelmingly sensitive to the thoughts of others was a perfectly extreme survivor of WWI trenches. Coincidentally there is a brilliant "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episode about the same thing where Buffy c...more

like · see review

Apr 19, 2010 Bondama rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book sheds a light on a mostly forgotten part of the "modern age" -- The setting is post WWI (roughly 8 yrs) England. An American agent, employed by the newly established FBI, travels to England in disgust, tracking a bomber. He's disgusted primarily because the new Head of the FBI, J. Edgar Guess Who, has diverted most of the FBI's resources into tracing rumrunners (The Volstead Act - Prohibition) is in force, and the protagonist of this book is far more interested in catching anarchists o...more

like · see review

Jun 02, 2009 Skip Maloney rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I see that Ms. King has recently published the latest in her Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell series (can't remember its name) but when I went looking for it on my library shelves, it was not immediately available. I did see this one - Touchstone - though, and picked itup. It had been a while since I'd read a King novel and I've always liked her.
This one is set in the mid-1920s and has an FBI agent travelling to London to track down a bomber wreaking havoc in the US. It's got a character in it named...more

like · see review

Mar 23, 2009 Liz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, books-read-in-2009

The beginning of this book finds Harris Stuyvesant, hard-boiled agent of the U.S. Justice Department, landing on British soil to investigate a man who he believes is the culprit in a series of tragic bombings that have occurred in several American cities in recent months. However, he soon encounters nothing but dead ends, as all authorities in London are preoccupied by the threat of the General Strike of 1926 looming on the horizon. Then he meets Aldous Carstairs, a non-descript government offic...more The beginning of this book finds Harris Stuyvesant, hard-boiled agent of the U.S. Justice Department, landing on British soil to investigate a man who he believes is the culprit in a series of tragic bombings that have occurred in several American cities in recent months. However, he soon encounters nothing but dead ends, as all authorities in London are preoccupied by the threat of the General Strike of 1926 looming on the horizon. Then he meets Aldous Carstairs, a non-descript government official who strikes Harris as being singularly sinister and untrustworthy, but it seems he is the only person willing to aid in his investigation. Carstairs, as with most of the general public, is familiar with Stuyvesant's suspect, one Richard Bunsen. Unfortunately for Harris, Bunsen is a prominent figurehead of the Labour Party, who is up to his neck in the politics of the Strike. Carstairs suggests that Harris seek out the enigmatic Bennett Grey for help. After being struck by an artillery shell in the first World War, Grey was left with a unique brand of shellshock: abilities that defy any attempt at scientific explanation. He is capable of sensing a person's innermost conflicts, the things they wish to hide from those around them, and can act as a sort of human lie-detector. Soon Harris finds himself entangled in a web of politics and dangerous schemes, in which everyone seems to have their own sinister agenda, at the heart of which is one of the most noble and respected families in all of England.

I've been wanting to read this ever since it came out, and I was excited to finally get the chance to. This book seems to have gotten mixed reviews, and honestly I can see why it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. This is a book that you have to be patient with, there's a lot of set-up and a lot of waiting for things to develop, and the part of the story where the action really starts to take off is considerably shorter than I would have liked. However, I really enjoyed the depth of the characters and the richness of the settings they're placed into. As far as characters go, by far Bennett Grey is the most intriguing of the lot, and I really wish we would have seen more of him. I also have to confess that the lead character, Harris Stuyvesant, surprised me greatly. When I first started the book, I didn't like him much. I thought to myself: "Here's your typical 1920s tough-cop type", but as the story progresses we find that there is so much more than the archetype lurking below the surface. Overall I found that I enjoyed this book, though perhaps not as much as some of the author's other works.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Apr 23, 2013 E.L. rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: new-to-me-for-2013

I decided to write a review now, immediately after finishing the book, because the more I think about it, the more stars I want to drop off, and that's not really fair.

It's a well-written book. The attention to historical detail is fantastic, and the characters are all three-dimensional, none of them static or plastic.

It also left me wanting to scrub my mind clean once I finished reading it. Which is fairly impressive for a book that also almost put me to sleep several times while reading it. Ho...more

like · see review

Feb 15, 2008 Aunty Sarah rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I like Laurie King and was excited that she wrote a nice, thick book. I was so bored with this book, but I kept reading hoping it would get better. No luck. Her other books I recommend (they are mysteries) but don't bother with this one. BOOOOORRRIING!

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 14, 2009 Diane rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Laurie R. King is one of my favorite authors. This book involves new characters and takes place in 1926 at the historic home of a duke and duchess just outside of Cornwall. Rich characters and dark motives make this a very readable book.

1 like · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 71 72 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Q&A with Laur...: Touchstone	4	112	Sep 09, 2012 07:54am
Laurie R. King Vi...: 1926 General Strike/Touchstone	1	17	May 11, 2012 08:49am

combine
Other Editions (10)

More editions...

Genres

Mystery

111 users

Historical Fiction

32 users

Thriller

10 users

Suspense

7 users

Thriller > Mystery Thriller

7 users

Mystery > Historical Mystery

5 users

Mystery > Crime

5 users

Mystery > Detective

3 users

Adult Fiction

3 users

European Literature > British Literature

3 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Laurie R. King

Edgar-winning mystery writer Laurie R. King writes series and standalone novels. Her official forum, the LRK Virtual Book Club, is here on Goodreads, so please check there to join in the book-discussing fun.

King's next novel The Bones of Paris, will be out in September 2013, seeing Touchstone's Harris Stuyvesant and Bennett Grey find the darkness beneath the light of 1929 Paris. In the Russell se ...more

More about Laurie R. King...

Books by Laurie R. King

The Beekeeper's Apprentice (Mary Russell, #1)

A Monstrous Regiment of Women (Mary Russell, #2)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Touchstone

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Touchstone
avg rating	preview: Touchstone Goodreads rating: 3.81 (1398 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7091178-touchstone?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1267232270l/7091178.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7091178-touchstone?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Touchstone by Laurie R. King[/url]

Touchstone (Harris Stuyvesant #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website