(I ought perhaps to point out that none of my maps shows the precise location of the place Miss Russell calls “Khanpur.” Nor have I found it possible, after all this time, to determine which of the northern princely states she might have meant. An editor’s task is never easy.)

And as always, I thank my husband, Noel King, in this case for introducing me to his mad homeland, and for providing Russell with her Hindustani curses.

The Game may be read as a humble and profoundly felt homage to Rudyard Kipling’s Kim, one of the great novels of the English language. If you, the reader, do not know the book, please do not delay that acquaintance. If you read it in childhood and remember it as a juvenile adventure, may I suggest another read? Kim is a book for any age.

And for those skeptics in the audience, yes, Kipling did indeed begin to formulate the idea of Kim during that precise period when Sherlock Holmes was in India.

About the Author

LAURIE R. KING became the first novelist since Patricia Cornwell to win prizes for Best First Crime Novel on both sides of the Atlantic with the publication of her debut thriller, A Grave Talent. She is the bestselling author of four contemporary novels featuring Kate Martinelli, seven Mary Russell mysteries, and the bestselling novels A Darker Place and Folly. She lives in northern California.

Other Mystery Novels by Laurie R. King

Other Mystery Novels by

LAURIE R. KING

Mary Russell Novels

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice

A Monstrous Regiment of Women

A Letter of Mary

The Moor

O Jerusalem

Justice Hall

Kate Martinelli Novels

A Grave Talent

To Play the Fool

With Child

Night Work

And

A Darker Place

Folly

Keeping Watch

Copyright Page

THE GAME

A Bantam Book / March 2004

Published by Bantam Dell

A Division of Random House, Inc.

New York, New York

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2004 by Laurie R. King

Map by Laura Hartman Maestro

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

Bantam Books is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

King, Laurie R.

The game : a Mary Russell novel / by Laurie R. King.

p. cm.

eISBN 0-553-89876-0

1. Russell, Mary (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Holmes,

Sherlock (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 3. Women detectives—

India—Fiction. 4. Intelligence officers—Fiction. 5. British—

India—Fiction. 6. Missing persons—Fiction. 7. Married women—

Fiction. 8. India—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3561.I4813G36 2004

813'.54—dc22    2003055684

Published simultaneously in Canada

v1.0

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Title:

The Game

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