Book One: Chapter 1, Two Shabby Figures Summary

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King is the story of how a young girl becomes the apprentice to the great Sherlock Holmes. She is so engrossed in the book she is reading that she falls over him while out walking. Though at first she comes across as sassy and argumentative, Holmes immediately sees through her veneer. He recognizes that at long last, after he had given up entirely, he has finally found a person worthy of training as his apprentice. The knowledge that he has finally found someone who challenges and understands his analytical mind is invigorating and instills new life in the super sleuth who had retired to Sussex Downs and become cocaine dependent. With the challenge of mentoring young Mary, he finds new enthusiasm for life.

At the age of...