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Full review on my blog.

Dreaming Spies is the first book from author Laurie R King that I read. I’d been meaning to read Mary Russell’s adventures for a while, so when I saw this book and its praise as a novel of suspense, blackmail, fraud, conspiracy and espionage that included the wonderful Sherlock Holmes, I knew I had to read it. I also knew this wasn’t going to be a full Homes mystery, but I was excited to read how this dynamic duo behaved together.

Dreaming Spies is divided into 3 parts. It starts in Sussex and Oxford, then we take a trip from India to Japan where we stay for part 2 of the book and then we’re back to Oxford where it all ties up. In all honesty I think Book 1 could’ve been edited because nothing exciting happened. Book 2 was better than the first, more action and drama, but my favorite part was book 3, which is when we finally see the mystery unfold.

My problems with this book:
1.I had a hard time getting into the story.
2.It moved to lowly for my taste.
3.Too many redundant and endless descriptions that make you feel blasé.
4.The book focuses too much on the description and leaves the mystery to be solved and the interaction between Russell and Holmes in a second place.
(more about this on the full review on my blog.)

What I take from this book:
1. The Haikus at the beginning of each chapter.
2. The Holmes-Russell duo action.
3. Everything tied up well in the end.
(more about this on the full review on my blog.)

Having read Dreaming Spies, I don’t feel motivated to check out the other books in this series. So in terms of recommending it, I guess I can say that if you’re looking for an action packed, fast-paced, exciting mystery featuring Holmes and Russell, this is not the book for you. If you want to earn extensive knowledge of what it was like to travel by sea from India to Japan in the 1920’s, this is the book for you. If you want to learn about Japan, the Japanese culture, and ninjas, this is the book for you. And of course, if you are a fan of Laurie R King and her Mary Russell series, this is the book for you.

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DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

I received an Electronic copy of this book but was not financially compensated in any way nor obliged to review. The opinions expressed are my own and are based on my personal experience while reading it. This post contains affiliate links.