KING, Laurie R.

Born 19 September 1952, Oakland, California

Daughter of Roger R. and Mary Dickson Richardson; married Noel A. King, 1977; children : Nathanael, Zoe

Laurie R. King is an acclaimed mystery writer who won both the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe award and the British John Creasey award for her debut book, A Grave Talent (1993). Her two primary series—one consisting of three psychological thrillers starring K.C. (Kate) Martinelli, a present-day lesbian detective, and the other of four historical mysteries centering on Mary Russell, who matches wits with and ultimately marries a retired Sherlock Holmes—are very different in setting and tone.

Despite their dissimilarities, the two series have many attributes in common. These include their focus on strong, multifaceted female protagonists, their attention to detail, and their realistic treatment of complex relationships. Both are also distinguished by the author's compassion for characters that would often be written as two-dimensional villains.

King's father was a furniture restorer and her mother a librarian and curator. In addition to receiving a B.A. from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1977 and a 1984 postgraduate degree from the same institution's Graduate Theological Union, King raised two children, worked as a coffee roaster, and held several volunteer positions. She launched her writing career in 1987, at age thirty-five, as her second child entered preschool.

A Grave Talent introduced Martinelli, a San Francisco police inspector who grows professionally and emotionally from book to book. It's not until page 180 of this work that readers discover Kate is a lesbian (whose lover is a paraplegic psychotherapist). In addition to a page-turning mystery, the book focuses on Kate's relationship with her older, male partner and the trust that gradually grows between them. Although a Publisher's Weekly reviewer pointed out cracks in the plot and felt the two main characters were less developed than they should be, the book garnered primarily positive reviews (as did future King works). For example, Library Journal wrote of A Grave Talent, "King's intricate plotting, intriguing characters, and eye for detail make this an outstanding mystery and a great start to the series."

The second title in the Martinelli series is To Play the Fool (1995), in which the detective enlists the help of the dean of King's real-life alma mater, the Graduate Theological Union. Critics applauded the book's sharply drawn characters, particularly the homeless Brother Erasmus, who speaks only in scripture and literary allusions. Publishers Weekly 's stated, "Like the holy fools whose purposes frame her latest modern mystery, King practices her own magic here, conjuring up, after a slowish start, an indelibly affecting narrative from unexpected material." The third Martinelli book, With Child (1996), again highlights the protagonist's compassion, as well as her intelligence.

Mary Russell, a scholarly, young, would-be detective growing up in World War I England, is introduced as a 15-year-old in The Beekeeper's Apprentice; or On the Segregation of the Queen (1994). Although written before A Grave Talent, its publication was delayed, in part due to copyright issues involving Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation. Russell meets the retired detective, who is busy keeping bees, and becomes his apprentice, matching him in intelligence and temperament as they solve the case of a U.S. senator's kidnapped daughter. According to Booklist, "Every-thing about this book rings true, from the ambience of World War I England to the intriguing relationship between Holmes and Mary to the surprising final confrontation between Holmes and Moriarty's daughter."

In the second Mary Russell mystery, A Monstrous Regiment of Women (1995), Russell and Holmes fall in love, and in A Letter of Mary (1996) they become husband and wife. While the New York Times Book Review called the latter a "smartly researched and thoroughly enjoyable historical mystery," many reviewers were most taken with the relationship between the two characters. As Publisher's Weekly noted, "King's achievement is her depiction of the complex relationship between two individualists."

In 1997 came The Moor, a retelling of the classic Holmes story The Hound of the Baskervilles, in which Holmes and Russell revisit the case 20 years after Holmes' first encounter. The work expertly combines the evolving relationship between the two characters and key elements of the original story, while adding historical figures such as the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould into the mix. Publishers Weekly called it a "captivating story" and King "a fluent writer," although the publication also noted that "this effort is slightly hobbled by the slow coalescence of its subplots." The fifth Russell and Holmes adventure, O Jerusalem (1999) takes the couple back to 1919, revisiting occupied Palestine where they had visited in The Beekeeper's Apprentice.

King introduced a new protagonist, Anne Waverly, in A Darker Place (1998). A university professor and FBI operative, her involvement with a cult nearly two decades ago cost her her husband and young daughter. In this psychological suspense novel, her experiences give her unique insight as she infiltrates a religious cult called Change, but also cause personal complications. The story is typical of King in that it deals with difficult emotional issues and intricate characters evenhandedly and compassionately. "King presents Change's leaders as neither simplistic opportunists nor frenzied maniacs, but rather as methodical true believers who inhabit an ambiguous and dangerous middle ground," wrote Publishers Weekly. "Anne is equally hard to pigeonhole, a feisty, independent woman whose guilt about her family tragedy leads to a misplaced sense of responsibility toward two of the commune's young wards." From this description, it can be seen that Anne shares many of the attributes of King's previous heroines.

Bibliography:

Reference Works:

CA 140 (1993). CANR 63 (1998). SATA 88 (1997).

Other references:

Booklist (1 Feb. 1993, 1 Feb. 1994). LJ (Jan. 1993, 15 May 1994, Jan. 1997). NYTBR (19 Feb. 1995, 17 Sept. 1995, 5 Jan. 1997, 23 Nov. 1997). PW (28 Dec. 1992, 2 May 1994, 12 Dec. 1994, 18 Nov. 1996, 17 Nov. 1997, 21 Dec. 1998). School Library Journal (June 1997).

—KAREN RAUGUST