Good Night, Mr. Holmes: An Irene Adler Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Much as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead turned Hamlet on its head, this interesting story brings Adler to the fore and relegates Holmes to an occasional visitor to the story. In the course of the narrative we also meet Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker, as well as some familiar fictional characters.

I agree with another reviewer that it will enhance your pleasure if you read A Scandal in Bohemia before reading this fun book. Douglas has done a great job of creating a convincing backstory to the original, and she writes very well.

Now, on to this book. It answers all the questions that Doyle (Watson) could not or would not address in the all too brief "A Scandel In Bohemia"

#1 How Irene and the Crown Prince, latter King met

#2 How Irene felt he wronged her (no surprise there, considering the Royal House of England at the moment!)

#3 How Irene got AWAY with the imcriminating photograph

#4 How Irene met and fell in love with Godfrey Norton

#5 Why Holmes would take such a sorid case for such an odious client

#6 Irene's death, reports of which are greatly exaggerated.

Good show, Carole Douglas! Quoth the Raven...

This is a deeper look at Irene Adler who was a character in Doyle's, "A Scandal in Bohemia". She was one of the few people and the only woman to outwit Sherlock Holmes. The book retells the story from Adler's viewpoint and goes on to solve some other puzzles. Irene Adler, as she appears in the Douglas books, is truly an amazing woman. One would be hard pressed not to have admiration for her and her enormous abilities. She is shown as a virtuous, honest, married woman in this book instead of the "fallen woman" she is portrayed to be in the Doyle book.
All the narrative is done from the supposed diary of Penelope Huxley (Adler's Doctor Watson). Ms. Huxley is a dedicated spinster who apparently is meant to be the conscience of Victorian London. Some of her straight laced, over done morals are a bit trying but she is probably representative of the outlook of "proper" Victorian England. Penelope is a whiz at taking notes, much as Archie Goodwin is a supposed human tape recorder (Nero Wolfe series). It's very convenient to have someone on hand to do nothing but observe and record, thereby giving more credence to the story. There is much name dropping in this and all the other books of the series. Famous characters appear here and there for no apparent reason except to give added spice to the book. I think anyone who likes the Holmes series or who likes to boost the status of women in general will enjoy this book and the ones following it.