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Winner of the American Mystery Award for Best Novel of Romantic Suspense, and the Romantic Times BookClub Award for Best Historical Mystery Miss Irene Adler, the beautiful American opera singer who once outwitted Sherlock Holmes, is here given an unexpected talent: she is a superb detective, as Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker can attest. Even Holmes himself must admit--albeit grudgingly--that she acquits herself competently. But in matters of the heart she encounters difficulty. The Crown Prince show more of Bohemia--tall, blonde, and handsome--proves to be a cad. Will dashing barrister Godfrey Norton be able to convince Irene that not all handsome men are cut from the same broadcloth? show lessTags
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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 show more 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. show less
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 show more 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. show less
Let me start by admitting that I enjoy Sherlock Holmes, but I am not a Holmesian. I think the actual canon is pretty good, occasionally great, and that Doyle showed rather too plainly his growing dissatisfaction with the series. What Doyle DID do right was create an unforgettable character, an icon, one that writers today would KILL for. Holmes is a character that has survived numerous movie and TV shows, including a cartoon, and inspired literally hundreds of writers to try their hand at a new spin on the old stories. (One of my favorites from last year was Sherlock Holmes Through Time and Space for the amazing creativity it contained.)
I loved the IDEA for this book. Take The Woman, Irene Adler from "A Scandal in Bohemia," the one show more female Holmes seemed to consider a worthy adversary, and tell her story. The trouble is that the story the writer tells is just not up to the idea. Irene is unconventional, brave, intelligent, and resourceful. So why is she wasted in this romantic meandering that only occasionally involves any real mystery and treats Holmes as a bit player? The idea seemed to be to present Irene as a female counterpart to Holmes. To that end, she has a mysterious past, like his, that same ability to 'deduce' from the clues at hand, an urge to solve mysteries, and a stuffy, conventional sidekick. (I may be doing Watson a disservice here. Penelope Huxleigh is amazingly insipid and uninteresting. At least Watson had something of a life.)
I kept at it, waiting for the fatal meeting between the two, but wound up embroiled in Bohemia, where Irene is protecting her virtue by declining an offer to be the new king's mistress. Come on. Not buying it. So I gave up and never got to see what happened when Adler and Holmes finally met.
What really bugs me is that this series means that someone else can't use the same great idea - the story of Irene Adler - and turn it into something really WORTH reading. Don't bother. show less
I loved the IDEA for this book. Take The Woman, Irene Adler from "A Scandal in Bohemia," the one show more female Holmes seemed to consider a worthy adversary, and tell her story. The trouble is that the story the writer tells is just not up to the idea. Irene is unconventional, brave, intelligent, and resourceful. So why is she wasted in this romantic meandering that only occasionally involves any real mystery and treats Holmes as a bit player? The idea seemed to be to present Irene as a female counterpart to Holmes. To that end, she has a mysterious past, like his, that same ability to 'deduce' from the clues at hand, an urge to solve mysteries, and a stuffy, conventional sidekick. (I may be doing Watson a disservice here. Penelope Huxleigh is amazingly insipid and uninteresting. At least Watson had something of a life.)
I kept at it, waiting for the fatal meeting between the two, but wound up embroiled in Bohemia, where Irene is protecting her virtue by declining an offer to be the new king's mistress. Come on. Not buying it. So I gave up and never got to see what happened when Adler and Holmes finally met.
What really bugs me is that this series means that someone else can't use the same great idea - the story of Irene Adler - and turn it into something really WORTH reading. Don't bother. show less
I've been a Sherlock Holmes fan as long as I can remember - devoured the Conan Doyle tales, several times over, in my tweens and teens. I particularly like that the characters and stories he created have an ongoing life, in film and television (most all of which I've enjoyed / become addicted to) and in many more stories.
The written stories - pastiche or sequel, serious or spoof* - are a fairly uneven lot. There're a lot that bore me, but the ones that work are a delight. Carole Nelson Douglas is in the delightful group. She clearly knows the source material, referencing dialog, style, story and character traits, but making a whole new world.
Though the book starts with a short chapter in the Watson-Holmes conversation format, as soon show more as we jump to that new world, it takes off. Irene Adler - the most intriguing female character** created by Conan Doyle) becomes more of a match for Holmes and it is, after all, her story here. She takes on a partner (in crime) in Penelope, a seeming-opposite type. A lot of backstory woven in and out of Irene's and Nell's adventures combined with real people (Oscar Wilde notably) lead to mesh quite well with the original story, 'A Scandal in Bohemia.'
It all comes together at the end, quite satisfactorily, and sets up what are presumably more adventures (with this one called Irene Adler #1). A quick, enjoyable read. Well done.
* the best parody on film is by Hillywood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArdWL2uKf7k
** in the most recent BBC television series, Sherlock, creators/writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss reinvent the female characters -Irene Adler, Mary Watson, Mrs Hudson- brilliantly, and add a new one, Molly Hooper. And even though the male characters are outstanding, it's the women who become the heart and soul of the series. show less
The written stories - pastiche or sequel, serious or spoof* - are a fairly uneven lot. There're a lot that bore me, but the ones that work are a delight. Carole Nelson Douglas is in the delightful group. She clearly knows the source material, referencing dialog, style, story and character traits, but making a whole new world.
Though the book starts with a short chapter in the Watson-Holmes conversation format, as soon show more as we jump to that new world, it takes off. Irene Adler - the most intriguing female character** created by Conan Doyle) becomes more of a match for Holmes and it is, after all, her story here. She takes on a partner (in crime) in Penelope, a seeming-opposite type. A lot of backstory woven in and out of Irene's and Nell's adventures combined with real people (Oscar Wilde notably) lead to mesh quite well with the original story, 'A Scandal in Bohemia.'
It all comes together at the end, quite satisfactorily, and sets up what are presumably more adventures (with this one called Irene Adler #1). A quick, enjoyable read. Well done.
* the best parody on film is by Hillywood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArdWL2uKf7k
** in the most recent BBC television series, Sherlock, creators/writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss reinvent the female characters -Irene Adler, Mary Watson, Mrs Hudson- brilliantly, and add a new one, Molly Hooper. And even though the male characters are outstanding, it's the women who become the heart and soul of the series. show less
This amused me mostly because the two female characters (Irene Adler and her Watson, Nell) really reminded me of two of my good friends. One's a singer and the other a serious-minded literature student, haha. So that's close enough to a parson's prudish daughter, right? Very entertaining fleshing out of "Scandal in Bohemia," quite fluffy but that's exactly what it wants to be, what am I to complain that is exactly what it puts itself out to be? The characters felt like truly Victorian ladies instead of just... modern women in steampunk clothing, which isn't bad but sometimes I don't wanna read that much of an AU, ykwim. Lots of descriptions of Victorian clothes, drooooooool.
Irene Adler was the one woman who ever duped Holmes. Douglas links Adler's adventures with information about her in Doyle's "A Scandal in Bohemia." This lively story establishes Adler's sleuthing skills as she solves cases that involve Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker, among others. The novel presents an original perspective of the one whom Holmes himself dubbed "the woman." She's a superior woman and this book is thoroughly enjoyable.
Though the plot was slightly underwhelming, the characterization in this novel was pitch-perfect.
This was very good and is continued in Good Morning Irene. I had to reread A Scandal in Bohemia to remember the Holmes’ version of the story. In this one, the King has led Irene to believe that he will make her queen, when his only intention is to make her a kept mistress. She runs away in secret as the King’s henchmen chase her down. While in Bohemia, Nell stays behind in the employ of Godfrey Norton the barrister whom Irene eventually marries.
They are first brought together when she investigates the missing zone of diamonds, last seen in the possession of Godfrey’s disreputable and mad father. She finds obscure clues and at last finds the zone and because Godfrey has risen in her esteem, gives it to him. Because he is some kind show more of saint, he splits the take 3 ways between himself, Irene and Nell. Irene marries him because he is a stout believer and advocate of women’s independence. His mother had to leave his father when he was very young because he was a bully and a jerk to her. She writes several successful novels and the husband sues her for the proceeds and of course he wins. Godfrey thinks this is outrageous and has become a barrister partly to change the way women are viewed by the law.
Irene is the woman alright. show less
They are first brought together when she investigates the missing zone of diamonds, last seen in the possession of Godfrey’s disreputable and mad father. She finds obscure clues and at last finds the zone and because Godfrey has risen in her esteem, gives it to him. Because he is some kind show more of saint, he splits the take 3 ways between himself, Irene and Nell. Irene marries him because he is a stout believer and advocate of women’s independence. His mother had to leave his father when he was very young because he was a bully and a jerk to her. She writes several successful novels and the husband sues her for the proceeds and of course he wins. Godfrey thinks this is outrageous and has become a barrister partly to change the way women are viewed by the law.
Irene is the woman alright. show less
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Bestselling author Carole Nelson Douglas was born on November 5, 1944. She majored in theater and English literature in college and was an award-winning journalist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press until she moved to Texas in 1984, where she began writing fiction full time. She is the author of over fifty novels in genres including mystery, fantasy, show more science fiction, and romance fiction. Douglas seeks to create strong female protagonists in her works and is best known for two popular series, the Irene Adler mysteries and the Midnight Louie mystery series. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Carole Nelson Douglas is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.
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Is a retelling of
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Good Night, Mr. Holmes
- Original title
- Goodnight, Mr. Holmes
- Alternate titles
- Good Night, Mr. Holmes: Irene Adler and Sherlock Holmes
- Original publication date
- 1990-10
- People/Characters
- Irene Adler; Sherlock Holmes; Nell Huxleigh; Godfrey Norton; Oscar Wilde; Constance Lloyd Wilde (show all 8); John H. Watson; Bram Stoker
- Important places
- 221B Baker Street, London, England, UK
- Dedication
- For S. H.
and the many hours
of delight and mystification he brought:
a heroine worthy of him. - First words
- "I see, Watson, by an old issue of the Strand magazine, which was lying about for some reason, that yet another narrative of one of my little problems — the Irene Adler affair — has reached the public," my friend S... (show all)herlock Holmes remarked over the remains of Mrs. Hudson's ample dinner one warm summer evening. (prologue)
By night, when gaslights glitter through the fog and the cobblestones gleam like bootblack, London seems a landscape glimpsed in some Arabian Nights tale. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"A toast, my dears: Good night, Mr. Sherlock Holmes - wherever you are."
- Blurbers
- Whitney, Phyllis A.; Hart, Carolyn G.; McCrumb, Sharyn
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- 618
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- 46,907
- Reviews
- 16
- Rating
- (3.72)
- Languages
- English, French, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 10
- ASINs
- 5
