Sherlock Holmes is fending off a particularly dark mood as he roams the Sussex Downs, in search of wild bees. He is saved by an encounter with headstrong, young Mary Russell, who soon becomes the Master’s apprentice not only in beekeeping but in detection.

Holmes spots her remarkable ability, but his sharp eyes also see troubling problems. Is she herself the center of a mystery? These are questions that the great detective must answer quickly lest his protégée, and his own new lease on life, meet a sudden, tragic end.

“A fascinating and often moving account of a friendship so unusual and so compelling that one almost accepts it as being historically real.”