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Irene Adler is the beautiful opera singer who bested the best detective in the world, the only woman to ever outwit Sherlock Holmes. She has spent years in self-imposed exile in Europe, in an attempt to reinvent herself and create a new life, because she cannot remember the old one. But now circumstances have forced this diva-turned-detective to investigate a past she doesn't remember--on her home ground. Daredevil reporter Nelly Bly has lured Irene, her faithful chronicler and British show more parson's daughter Nell Huxleigh, and Holmes himself to America, offering information regarding Irene's parentage. New York City in 1889 proved to be both fascinating and perilous for Irene, and Nelly Bly's information was more harmful than helpful. Because now Irene and her allies--and enemies--must race to follow a deadly trail of hidden personal and political history back in time to the days of the California gold rush, thirty years earlier. They are pursuing the complex and contradictory life story of one of the most notorious women of the nineteenth century, and before the intrigue-ridden quest is over, Irene and Nell will uncover murderous international political conspiracies, lost treasure, and finally... the full, shocking secret of Irene's birth. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Irene Adler Norton, along with Nell Huxleigh, is in New York to pursue the mystery of who Irene's mother was. Clues point to Mrs. Eliza Guilbert being the infamous Lola Montez. Sherlock Holmes is also in New York, with a case from the Vanderbilts. How do the two intertwine? Can they follow thirty-year-old clues to resolve it all?
So, I have come to the end of the series, and I am immensely sad that there is to be no more. I love this interpretation of Irene Adler. I will miss her and Nell, and the mysteries they solve around Holmes. They both grew through the series.
I think my favorite part of this was them keeping Nellie Bly from knowing what they were doing. I would have been happier if that annoying character had been kept from the show more story altogether, but seeing her suspecting she was being kept from the truth was just as much fun.
In parts, the story does drag and it definitely is not my favorite of the series. It was otherwise full of details and enjoyable.
A fine end to one of my favorite book series. show less
So, I have come to the end of the series, and I am immensely sad that there is to be no more. I love this interpretation of Irene Adler. I will miss her and Nell, and the mysteries they solve around Holmes. They both grew through the series.
I think my favorite part of this was them keeping Nellie Bly from knowing what they were doing. I would have been happier if that annoying character had been kept from the show more story altogether, but seeing her suspecting she was being kept from the truth was just as much fun.
In parts, the story does drag and it definitely is not my favorite of the series. It was otherwise full of details and enjoyable.
A fine end to one of my favorite book series. show less
Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler — working against each other or with each other?
Irene Adler and her companion, Nel Huxleigh, are visiting America, searching for her parentage. She has spent her life never having memories of her childhood or family. Nelly Bly, the American newswoman, had contacted Irene claiming she knew of Irene’s parentage.
Sherlock Holmes is visiting America and has been enlisted by William K. Vanderbilt to solve the mystery of the murdered man found on Vanderbilt’s billiard table. It’s to be done without police or publicity.
A lead that Irene and Nel are tracking is regarding Lola Montez and the Lady In Black. Are they one and the same? Both figures have racy pasts and royal connections and both with references show more that applied to Irene’s mother.
The trails Adler and Holmes are tracking cross with possible connections. The two are wary of each other due to previous dealings. Yet both recognize the abilities they share that could benefit their cases. There is also a possibility of attraction to each other.
Set in 1889 New York, it is a good visit to another time with some interesting characters and plots. show less
Irene Adler and her companion, Nel Huxleigh, are visiting America, searching for her parentage. She has spent her life never having memories of her childhood or family. Nelly Bly, the American newswoman, had contacted Irene claiming she knew of Irene’s parentage.
Sherlock Holmes is visiting America and has been enlisted by William K. Vanderbilt to solve the mystery of the murdered man found on Vanderbilt’s billiard table. It’s to be done without police or publicity.
A lead that Irene and Nel are tracking is regarding Lola Montez and the Lady In Black. Are they one and the same? Both figures have racy pasts and royal connections and both with references show more that applied to Irene’s mother.
The trails Adler and Holmes are tracking cross with possible connections. The two are wary of each other due to previous dealings. Yet both recognize the abilities they share that could benefit their cases. There is also a possibility of attraction to each other.
Set in 1889 New York, it is a good visit to another time with some interesting characters and plots. show less
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Author Information
88+ Works 10,251 Members
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.
Some Editions
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Spider Dance
- Original title
- Spider Dance
- Alternate titles
- Spider Dance: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Irene Adler and Sherlock Holmes
- Original publication date
- 2004
- People/Characters
- Irene Adler; Nellie Bly; Nell Huxleigh; Sherlock Holmes; Lola Montez; Quentin Stanhope (show all 10); John H. Watson; Godfrey Norton; Penelope 'Nell' Huxleigh; Baron Alphonse de Rothschild
- Epigraph
- To all the men and women
of every land
who are not afraid of themselves,
who trust so much in their own souls that
they dare to stand up to the might of their
own individuality
to meet the tida... (show all)l currents of the world.
—DEDICATION TO THE ARTS OF BEAUTY - Dedication
- For the many loyal readers
who've asked for, supported, and enjoyed the further adventures of
Irene Adler and company - First words
- They drag me in from the balcony, kicking and screaming and brandishing my pistol.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)But we would always wonder, and in that way alone Lola lived on.
- Publisher's editor
- Eddy, Claire
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 177
- Popularity
- 184,534
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.98)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 4
