The mystery genre is almost an oxymoron. The setup is deceptively simple: problem, solver, solution. The execution is anything but simple, and in the literary combination of these opposing qualities lies the pleasure of reading. With The Lantern’s Dance, the eighteenth book in the Holmes-Russell series, Laurie R. King embraces her metafictional notions and characters, offering readers an exponential multiplication of genre, complexity, and flat-out fun. The Lantern’s Dance is a rip-roaring historical mystery that levels up as readers realize the Great Detective himself is one of the problems requiring a solution.
The story spins out in three streams. Russell and Holmes arrive at the scene of a crime. The victim is Holmes’ son Damian. Damian’s origins are themselves quite handily imagined in previous novels of the series and effectively explained here. Holmes takes Damian and his family to safety, and follows clues away from the scene of the crime. Russell, lightly injured, remains behind, where she finds a journal with lots of cryptic, critical information. As Holmes, Russell, and the journal tell their tales, the stories twine together. Historical explorations and backdrops are created with telling detail. The plot plunges forward and backward in time. Complex character arcs play out with enormous satisfaction. King lets the narrative characters drive the novel, and reading is resoundingly effortless.
The upshot is that The Lantern’s Dance is a joyous reading experience. It’s fast, often funny, and emotionally resonant. It’s smart in a manner one experiences after finishing, when you have time and space to think back on what you read and realize just how crafty crafty can be.
In our conversation, Laurie R. King and I managed to illuminate and discuss many a part of the novel while keeping the whole quite pleasantly misty. Take a tour of the internal moor by downloading this link, or listen for clues below.
Narrative Species 