ARC Review: The Lantern's Dance by Laurie R. King

The Lantern's Dance
Author: Laurie R. King
Series: Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes (Book 18)
Publication: Bantam (February 13, 2024)

Description: Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, hoping for a respite in the French countryside, are instead caught up in a case that turns both bewildering and intensely personal.

After their recent adventures in Transylvania, Russell and Holmes look forward to spending time with Holmes’ son, the famous artist Damian Adler, and his family. But when they arrive at Damian’s house, they discover that the Adlers have fled from a mysterious threat.

Holmes rushes after Damian while Russell, slowed down by a recent injury, stays behind to search the empty house. In Damian’s studio, she discovers four crates packed with memorabilia related to Holmes’ granduncle, the artist Horace Vernet. It’s an odd mix of treasures and clutter, including a tarnished silver lamp with a rotating shade: an antique yet sophisticated form of zoetrope, fitted with strips of paper whose images dance with the lantern’s spin.

In the same crate is an old journal written in a nearly impenetrable code. Intrigued, Russell sets about deciphering the intricate cryptograph, slowly realizing that each entry is built around an image—the first of which is a child, bundled into a carriage by an abductor, watching her mother recede from view.

Russell is troubled, then entranced, but each entry she decodes brings more questions. Who is the young Indian woman who created this elaborate puzzle? What does she have to do with Damian, or the Vernets—or the threat hovering over the house?

The secrets of the past appear to be reaching into the present. And it seems increasingly urgent that Russell figure out how the journal and lantern are related to Damian—and possibly to Sherlock Holmes himself.

Could there be things about his own history that even the master detective does not perceive?

My Thoughts: The eighteenth adventure of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes has them making a visit to the home of Sherlock's son Damian Adler who is an artist. When they arrive at Damian's home, they discover that the family - Damian, his young daughter Estelle, and his fiancee Dr. Aileen Henning - have left abruptly leaving behind their shotgun-carrying handyman.

Apparently, a middle of the night intruder bearing a machete has caused the family to flee. Luckily, the handyman has instructions for when Russell and Holmes arrive. Holmes fears that the intruder was someone from the cult he and Russell had exposed and who might have a reason to seek revenge on Damian. He determines to go to his son and family and find them a safe place before he returns to discover who the intruder was.  

Meanwhile, Mary who has a badly sprained ankle will remain behind and explore some boxes that Damian recently retrieved from the French art institute that were left there until claimed by someone named Adler or Holmes. 

Mary discovers that the crates contain a variety of detritus including a number of paintings by various Vernets - a family of French artists with a connection to Sherlock. Among the contents of the chests is a journal written in code which, if uncoded, will tell a lot about the past, Sherlock's history, and even what is causing the current troubles. 

This was an excellent and engaging episode in this long-running series. I loved learning more about Sherlock's past. I loved Mary's determination to decode that journal and follow the clues. Anything more about her discoveries in the journals would be a spoiler and I don't want to do that. I loved the way the story slowly unfolded until its rather surprising ending. 

Favorite Quote:

This book of images is by way of a memoir, and an explanation. Perhaps also a request for forgiveness, although I cannot see what I might have done with my life other than what I did. For any harm this has brought, I am sorry. Nonetheless, I swear it is nothing to the harm that would have been done had I chosen another path.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.