Thanks, Alex; I was hoping this would bring up some memories for people. And thanks for the pic of a wideawake hat! It's what I think of as an old-timey parson's hat.

You said, Kipling and/or Laurie R. King, although I am uncertain of the connection. ; I said,
Laurie R. King's writing, I snapped up her latest paperback* as soon as I learned it was available. This was another in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series; it takes place primarily in India, and in it there are many references to "Kim",

I learned so much more about India from these two books than I had ever known; in "Kim", about life there, and for ex. in Ms. King's book (called "The Game", another reference to "Kim") that England didn't exactly control all of India--that there were some states, at least at that time, still under the rule of their princes.

As far as I'm concerned, you might as well start with "Kim"; it just takes you right along. As to Laurie King, she has 3 different series (although one of these "series" consists of only two books as yet). The ones about the island and the ones with detective Kate Martinelli get somewhat graphic, gore-wise; there is almost none whatsoever in the Russell/Holmes series, the first (and in my opinion, best) of which is "The Beekeeper's Apprentice". This series is based on one of the neatest...premises, I guess...I've ever come across. The author prefaces it with a story about how she had been a struggling writer for so long, and out of the blue one day she gets a delivery of a very old and well-traveled trunk. In it are many odd artifacts and a manuscript. The manuscript is written--in tiny, precise handwriting--by a Mary Russell, who tells how she and Sherlock Holmes met late in his life, and of their adventures together. The author then goes on to say that she will let Ms. Russell's telling stand on its own, and that any time Ms. Russell wants to come forward and take credit, she is welcome to do so. Now, is that the coolest thing, or what? It's a good thing I'm not a writer--never could I have come up with something as imaginative as that!