This is a book for kick-ass girls who are brilliant, defiant, and strong. It's one of my favorites and encouraged me to buy the whole series, most of which is uniformly excellent. Mary Russell is a delightfully feisty creature and she takes the irascible Sherlock Holmes and turns him into a figure of endearment. I adore stories in which the protagonists are somewhat unlovable due to their own personal failings, and yet with whom you become enamored by the end of the tale. A great read, again and again.