Laurie R King is the New York Times bestselling author of 30 novels and other works, including the Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes stories, beginning with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (named “One of the 20th Century’s Best Crime Novels” by the IMBA.)  She has won the Agatha, Anthony, Edgar, Lambda, Wolfe, Macavity, Creasey dagger, and Romantic Times Career Achievement awards, has an honorary doctorate in theology, and has been guest of honor at several mystery conventions. The author says she became a writer because she loves and has been nurtured by books. King never took a course in creative writing, took seven years to finish her undergrad degree, and didn’t start writing her own stories until she was in her thirties. Her language is crisp; she probes into period thought, manners, dress, and behavior but still manages to defy convention. I love that Mary Russell is a beautiful Jewish woman in whom an aging Sherlock Holmes has finally met his match.