Review: Pirate King by Laurie R. King

I finished this book probably two and a half weeks ago, and kind of forgot about writing a review of it.  Not that I didn't like it...I think I was just a little underwhelmed by it, so writing a review fell by the wayside.  It didn't help that it was a Kindle book - when I have a book to review, I put it by the computer, so I don't forget.  With a Kindle book, that really doesn't work so well.

ANYWAY - it was a Kindle book, which I bought myself from Amazon, probably with my Christmas Amazon money, which I get every year.

In this installment of Laurie R. King's Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series, Russell is sent along with a film crew making a movie about a group of actors putting on a presentation of The Pirates of Penzance.  Talk about a confusing premise.  She is sent to Portugal and Morocco with the film crew, to keep an eye out for any untoward behavior, as crime seems to follow Flytte Films around.  She plays nursemaid to the thirteen (!!!) young ladies who play the major-general's daughters kidnapped by the pirates.  Meanwhile, she is looking for clues to the unknown illegal behavior that she and Holmes are sure is involved with Flytte Films' pirate movie.

I didn't love this one.  Which is very disappointing, given how VERY MUCH I loved the last two books in this series.  This one was okay, maybe even good (because Laurie R. King at her very worst is way better than some other authors at their best), but it just didn't grab me the way the previous books have.  There wasn't enough action or something.  And my mom said the same thing when I told her what I was reading - it wasn't one of her favorites, either.  All in all, three out of five Whatevers.  Recommended for continuity purposes for those invested in the series, but don't start with this one if you're a newbie.

2013-7