For over 10 years, I've enjoyed reading King's novels because of her incredible dedication to research, unfailing ear for dialogue and fantastic use of detail. However, in this book, the most recent in her Mary Russell series, all three of those staples are missing. Even for a series that posits that Holmes is some 10 years younger than generally accepted and married to a woman half his age, this addition strains credulity. Set in the mid-1920s on the moving set of a silent film about pirates, Mary is hired as a secretary/production assistant and is quickly thrown into the lunacy of film-making amidst the foreign culture of first Portugal, and the Morocco. However, unlike previous novels, Russell doesn't know the language and doesn't take pains to learn any of it, so she reduced to guessing (GUESSING!) at what the bad guys are saying! And, little mention is made of the political tumult of either location, as the plot quickly spirals toward a ridiculous white slavery storyline. Holmes is rarely present, and when he does make an appearance, he is reduced to a chiding, supercilious old man. Mary doesn't seem herself either, as her dialogue is too fast and too fatuous to seem genuine. All in all, makes me miss the first few books in the series, and hopes that King takes a break to do better research!