Name: Pirate King
ISBN: 9780750537780

Laurie R. King

In England's young silent-film industry, the megalomaniacal Randolph Fflytte is king. Nevertheless, Mary Russell is dispatched to investigate the criminal activities that surround Fflytte's popular movie studio. So Russell is travelling undercover to Portugal, along with the film crew that is gearing up to shoot a cinematic extravaganza. Pirate King. Based on Gilbert and Sullivan's The Pirates Of Penzance, the project will either set the standard for movie-making for a generation or sink a boatload of careers.

Pirate King

The latest adventure for the intrepid Mary Russell and her husband Sherlock Holmes takes readers into the frenetic world of silent films, where the pirates are real and the shooting isn’t all done with cameras. In England’s young silent-film industry, the megalomaniacal Randolph Fflytte is king. Nevertheless, Mary Russell is dispatched to investigate the criminal activities that surround Fflytte’s popular movie studio. So Russell is travelling undercover to Portugal, along with the film crew that is gearing up to shoot a cinematic extravaganza, Pirate King. Based on Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, the project will either set the standard for movie-making for a generation or sink a boatload of careers. Nothing seems amiss until the enormous company starts rehearsals in Lisbon, where the thirteen blonde-haired, blue-eyed actresses Mary is bemusedly chaperoning meet the swarm of real buccaneers Fflytte has recruited to provide authenticity. But when the crew embarks for Morocco and the actual filming, Russell feels a building storm of trouble: a derelict boat, a film crew with secrets, ominous currents between the pirates, decks awash with budding romance – and now the pirates are ignoring Fflytte and answering only to their dangerous outlaw leader, La Rocha. Plus, there’s a spy on board. Where can Sherlock Holmes be? As movie make-believe becomes true terror, Russell and Holmes themselves may experience a final fadeout.

Sarah Sammis

Gift from my Mom. 

My favorite of the series so far.

Pirate King by Laurie R King is the eleventh of the Mary Russell / Sherlock Holmes series. After a two part, rather dark thriller involving the collision of Holmes's past and present, Pirate King takes a much lighter tone, combining mystery with farce.

Mary is shanghaied into working as an assistant on the current Fflytte Films extravaganza, a metafilm that celebrates the Pirates of Penzance operetta. Mary, having no interest in either the operetta or flicks, is less than thrilled at the prospects. But there's a missing young woman and a string of shady events that seem to follow the production company around.

For me, this was the perfect mixture of details. I have a masters in film theory (with an emphasis on early film history) and have seen The Pirates of Penzance on the stage more times than I can count. So putting the two together with Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, and I was in my own personal cozy heaven. My husband can attest to my maniacal laughter produced while reading (and re-reading) favorites scenes in Pirate King.

Fans who enjoy the interaction between Russell and Holmes, might be disappointed. Holmes is really a minor character in this one. He's there but he appears late in the game and most of the adventure and heroism is Russell's.

Fans who want to read the book but aren't familiar with The Pirates of Penzance should probably at least listen to the song — or better — watch the operetta before reading the book. A basic knowledge of the play will help with the appreciation of the novel.

Kwan Ann Tan

Honestly the weakest of the entire series; I feel like King just wrote it so she could have a stepping stone to the next novel, & while I usually love her intertwining ideas throughout the series, this one was just absurd.