I continue to adore the Mary Russell series, although A Letter to Mary turned out to be a weak link for me. Partly because the meaty, intellectual subject that Mary Russell chews on through the book is the historical Mary Magdalene's role in the early Christian church, and even though it's more interesting, more intelligent, more thorough here than in Dan Brown...the subject feels a little tired to me right now. What can I say, I'm not a fan of the Da Vinci Code and anything that reminds me of it is a turn off.

Now that I've got that off my chest...Lord Peter Wimsey has a cameo! A wonderful one! That was very exciting.

Watching the developing relationship between Holmes and Russell continues to be fascinating. Holmes is still, by a large margin, the more competent detective - is this because we are still so early on in the series, or because Holmes will always reign supreme? Something to watch in the next books. I love their relationship, not just the closeness they share but their separations, too, the way two largely solitary individuals navigate a companionship.

The other thing that sort of dampened my excitement about the plotting was a particular red herring that I thought went on too long.

All quibbles aside, I love this series and I've already bought the next book, which I will read with great relish.