Carole Nelson Douglas (1944–2021)

It was a decent read. The story is primarily about Irene Adler in much the same way that Sherlock Holmes' stories are written. She has a friend/accomplice (Nell), who is also her biographer. Nell is very Victorian, almost to a fault and a lot of detail is given for the setting of each "scene", almost to a fault. In fact, I found the description of what everyone was wearing and how their hair was styled too much.

Irene, her husband Godfrey, and Nell are living in a "cottage" near Paris, incognito, when they encounter a person who looks like they have been living in the wilds of Afghanistan and India, recognizes Nell and is almost killed (poisoned). They take him in and therein starts a twisted tale of two apparently unrelated mysteries (one given to Sherlock and one in the hands of Irene Adler) that are indeed related. It takes them to London as Quentin is trying to protect Dr. Watson (yes, the very one) who saved him in Afghanistan, but unknowingly has some evidence of the killer's subterfuge in the Afghan wars. This involves Russia, England, France, India, Sherlock, Irene, and Capt. Moreau. It attempts to fill in some missing blanks in the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle canon (rather cleverly). All that on the positive.

On the negative, I found that the narrative dragged frequently, often getting mired down in the minutiae of who's wearing what, who is where, etc. I understand that you need details for stories like this, but it often took away from the flow of the story. And it didn't help to conceal any important clues and I often guessed what the reader was supposed to be surprised by in the next chapter or so. So, I found it a little predictable. Also, Sherlock is not portrayed in the most positive light, not by Nell's description or thoughts of him, which is understandable, but by how easily they thought they could fool him. Douglas leaves room here for allowing that Holmes may know all along, but Irene Adler should know better. As a result, I felt that they were trying to fool Sherlock Holmes in a way he could see through easily, but you never were sure that he knew and, if he did (which he should), you didn't know why he didn't reveal their subterfuge. Furthermore, the reason they wouldn't directly confront Sherlock and ask for his help directly was rather weak, in my opinion. Therefore, the interactions with Sherlock (and Watson) were pretty unsatisfying.

I give it 3 stars. An okay read.… (more)

I liked it enough that I will try the next in the series, but I didn't love it.

From the blurb, you know that this is a retelling of "A Scandal in Bohemia" from the perspective of Irene Adler. It fleshes out a lot of the backstory, both of Irene and her relationship with the king, and of the Mr. Godfrey Norton who is merely a name in the Doyle work. It also introduces Nell Huxleigh, who is Watson to Irene's Holmes. Like that original duo, Nell is both able assistant and a foil for Irene's peculiar character. I thought all of that was done well. The story has a bit of Graustarkian drama that blends perfectly with the original tale. The newcomers to the cast are enjoyable, and the glimpses of other prominent figures of that time and place lend color to the scenery.

I didn't love the book for two reasons: one character, one plot. The character reason is that I didn't particularly warm to Irene Adler. Of course, one doesn't "warm" to an aloof character like Sherlock Holmes, either. But in Irene's case, it was more that she came across as selfish rather than intellectual. I admit that there's no reason to expect that Irene would be a female counterpart of Holmes—an opera singer is not a consulting detective—and Doyle didn't suggest that was the case. Nonetheless, I wanted to like the two major characters, and I really only felt that way about Nell.

As for the plot, the story set itself up to have one clue leading to another via chains of deduction, but then failed to deliver. Only the final clue was of any value. The chest with the lead ingots, etc. were all useless and largely forgotten in the later plot.

Still, I'm intrigued enough by this addition to the Holmes universe, and Nell Huxleigh is enjoyable enough that I'll try the next in the series.… (more)