2022/46: Dreaming Spies -- Laurie R. King

‘Allowing the world to think I am a character in some stories is the only way to obtain a degree of freedom. Fame is a sword with two edges: it permits a man to cut through the inconveniences of bureaucracy, but it also threatens to open one’s life to the world. [p. 146]

I enjoyed this rather more than Garment of Shadows, perhaps because much of it is set in Imperial Japan, a location I found fascinating. The first part of the novel is set in spring 1924, following the events of The Game and preceding those of Locked Rooms: this means that some of the weightier plot threads of the series are yet to come, though their shadow is evident in later chapters.

The novel opens with Russell and Holmes embarking on a steamer bound for California. This is not where they end up, due to the presence onboard of (a) the Earl of Darley (possibly a blackmailer) and (b) a young Japanese woman known as Haruki San, who is not what she appears. Diverting to Japan, Holmes and Russell become involved in an attempt to prevent blackmail causing an international incident: but after their return to England -- the second half of the novel, set after Garment of Shadows -- it becomes apparent that their efforts may not have resolved the matter as conclusively as they'd hoped. Haruki San reappears in, of all places, Oxford, where Mary Russell maintains a house: taking pity on the young woman, who seems to be out of her depth, Russell ends up investigating forgery, more blackmail and a soupçon of sexual deviance.

I was reminded, at various points, of Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody: Mary Russell makes a number of self-justifying utterances that had a familiar tone. I did find this an engaging read, though: Haruki's shipboard lectures on Japanese culture were extremely interesting -- even if they're a form of infodump -- and Holmes and Russell's decision to avoid the tourist trail in Japan gave King (an excellent researcher) the opportunity to explore everyday life as well as the glitter of the Imperial court. She avoids exoticising the Japanese, though makes it clear that Russell and Holmes are oblivious to the context and subtext of some of the events they observe: and in Haruki she creates another excellent and strong-willed female character, of whom I hope to see more.