This is the latest in Laurie R. King‘s Mary Russell series. Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, are concluding a round-the-world journey with a trip to San Francisco, where Russell once lived and where she still owns property. She hasn’t been back since she left as a young girl, just after the tragic death of her parents and brother in a car wreck some distance down the coast. Of course, mysteries lie waiting; and perhaps the deepest of those mysteries lie in the depths of Russell’s own mind……

And with that, I’ve told you almost all you need to know about this book; Awful Secrets of Great Significance lurk in Russell’s own suppressed memories of her childhood, Awful Secrets which are the Key to the Mystery which confronts her…..If Only She Can Face Them.

But though it may be trite, King handles it pretty well. Russell and Holmes are always entertaining, and there are some nice evocations of San Francisco circa 1920 and 1906 (the earthquake, natch). There’s less here, I think, than in Russell’s previous outing, The Game; but on the other hand I think I had more fun reading it. All in all, not a bad outing, even if the premise is a little silly.