Susan L. (Suzieleigh) reviewed on 9/12/2013

In the eighth novel, set in San Francisco in 1924, Russell undertakes a far more personal investigation. Since she began her journey back to her hometownostensibly to deal with her father's estateRussell has been tormented by strange dreams, one of which involves the "locked rooms" of the title, and the sight of her San Francisco childhood home opens a flood of memories and emotions, most of which she's loathe to allow into her mind. When someone takes a shot at her, Holmes enlists the help of Pinkerton agent Dashiell Hammett and Russell tries to unlock her past, in particular the "accident" that killed her family and left her an orphan in 1914. King's re-creation of San Francisco, especially the backstory during the devastating 1906 earthquake, is superb, and it's a pleasure to see the unusually competent Russell struggling with her own psyche.

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