INTERVIEW Laurie R. King

CREATING new works based on an iconic fictional character who’s been around for over a century can be a minefield for an author.

- Andrew F. Gulli

The attempt is often fraught with backlash from purists who feel that nothing compares to the originals and contemporary authors would do better to concentrate their efforts elsewhere. However, in 1994, when Laurie R. King introduced a retired Sussex-secluded Sherlock Holmes to the young, fiercely independent-minded Mary Russell in The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, the public immediately embraced the novel. And in the years since, even the strictest purists have delighted in this atmospheric series casting Holmes in a very different light, adding another dimension to one of literature’s most beloved characters.