This was a cute anthology. Some good and some neutral. I have a lot of trouble buying the Holmes as a father thing. Especially if the mother is Irene Adler. Ultimately, I have determined I have outgrown these books. It just did not hold my attention nearly as well as I thought it would. ( )

Fab! It was great fun to read (and listen) through this collection of short stories. ( )

I'm a huge fan of the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes books, so I found this collection interesting. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it otherwise, because it lacks the satisfying depth and intrigue of one of the full length books -- however, Mary Russell's Wedding had me laughing out loud.
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This is a collection of short stories centered around Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. In the first, we are introduced to Mary's disreputable Uncle Jake. In the second, we learn Mary's reactions when war is declared in 1914 and what happens when she suffers an unthinkable tragedy.

We see Mary's first meeting with Sherlock Holmes from his point of view. We see the story about the events surrounding their marriage. Mrs. Hudson even has a case of her own in this anthology.

We read how Mary comes to decide that Laurie King should be her biographer and why the stories were framed as fiction. That story is the only one I had trouble with in this books because, while I can believe that Mary lives to a healthy 92, I can't quite get around the idea of an active Holmes at 132.

This was a wonderful collection. I liked hearing Mary's voice and Sherlock's too. I liked the illustrations using period postcards. This anthology makes me want to reread the series. ( )

Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell’s War and Other Stories of Suspense collects ten short stories of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, with one previously unpublished. The stories appear roughly in the order they occur chronologically within the Mary Russell series with the first, “Mary’s Christmas,” telling a story of her childhood while the antepenultimate, “My Story, or The Case of the Ravening Sherlockians,” and the penultimate, “A Case in Correspondence,” take place shortly after the publication of King’s first books in the series, exploring how the series’ publication impacts the Russell and Holmes as real people in 1992. The three longest stories, “Mary Russell’s War,” “Beekeeping for Beginners,” and “The Marriage of Mary Russell,” offer the most in-depth character studies. The titular story explores Mary’s late adolescence and desire to contribute to the war effort in 1911 after a family tragedy. “Beekeeping for Beginners” offers an alternate take on Mary and Holmes’ initial meeting, as previously chronicled in The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, though this time from Holmes’ perspective. “The Marriage of Mary Russell,” taking place between the second and third novels, A Monstrous Regiment of Women and A Letter of Mary, and helps to further situate Mary Russell within Sherlockiana while offering a heartwarming character study. Finally, while King previously published most of these stories, “Stately Holmes,” the final story in this volume, appears for the first time here. Barbara Peters, owner of the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Arizona, prompted King to write it recalling the simple glad-hearted entertainment of Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Mazarin Stone.” The overall effect of Mary Russell’s War and Other Stories of Suspense is sure to delight fans of the series, though newcomers will want to familiarize themselves with at least a few of the other books first. ( )