Point of View

The story is written in first person from the perspective of Mary Russell. Known as "Russell" throughout the story, she's a fictional character but presented as the author of the book. Russell is a self-confident woman who is the wife of Sherlock Holmes. She wants to be more self-reliant than she actually is and this could lead her to be less than honest about her feelings sometimes. However, she remains truthful, admitting that she's glad to have Holmes nearby when she's feeling frightened or uncomfortable. When Russell has to pull a body from a lake, she does so, but is later horrified by having touched the body. She admits this feeling to Holmes as well. The use of first-person is an interesting perspective in that the character is fictional and refers freely to another fictional character. The fact that Russell's life is so completely enmeshed with...