Customer Reviews

The Adventuress: An Irene Adler Novel

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Some people who use these review sites give low-star ratings to complain about some other matter than the content of the book. This book cover clearly lists the original title under the new one. You can't read it on the thumbnail, only on the enlarged cover image. Amazon should describe it as a "reissued edition" in the text, but that's not the book's fault. The Readers Guides explain why these new versions were retitled. Another publisher trespassed on the series titles, coming out with "Good Night, Irene," AFTER "Good Night, Mr. Holmes, "Good Morning, Irene," and "Irene at Large" were already out, causing a lot of confusion in distribution and even reviews. The retitled versions end the confusion. People who were misled by the thumbnail should write Amazon directly to rectify the listing. By the way, the book is very adventurous and amusing.

The Adventuress is the second in a series of mystery novels based on the career of Irene Adler Norton, a character from one of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. In Doyle's A Scandal In Bohemia Irene Adler outsmarts Holmes and wins his lasting admiration. Carol Nelson Douglas has taken this story as the basis for a series of delightful mystery novels that include Holmes and his companion Watson in mysteries that run parallel to the Holmes stories.

She has also created a framework for this continued series based on a current day historian Fiona Witherspoon who has supposedly discovered the diaries of Irene's companion Penelope "Nell" Huxleigh and unpublished memoirs of Holmes and Dr. Watson that she blends into the novels of the series.

This novel (which was originally published as Good Morning, Irene) takes an obscure reference in Doyle's story "The Sign of the Four" to Holmes going to France on a case involving a missing young woman as the basis for The Adventuress. Also worked into the plot is the 1889 marriage of Alice, Duchess of Richelieu to Prince Albert Grimaldi of Monaco. Anchored on these two points, Ms. Douglas spins a tale of lost treasure and a secret society of men marked with alphabetic tattoos who are drowning by jumping into rivers. The missing girl, Sarah Bernhardt, and Sherlock Holmes all help in solving the mystery of the drowning men and lost treasure.

The story is told through Nell's journals and her prudish country parson's daughter point of view. She is great at describing the details of Irene's lovely wardrobe and meticulously preserving the incidents of the case. A great read in a delightful series of novels. No prior knowledge of Sherlock Holmes is needed to enjoy this book.

I would not call this book a fraud, it is a reissue with new cover art and a brand new name, however as Good Morning, Irene (the name before the reissue) is out of print, the only people it hurts are people who haven't read the summery well enough to realize that its not new. This is great for newbies to the series as the reissue means its far easier to access than it was previously. I spent about two weeks of my life (which I will never get back) searching for this book before the reissue and ended up buying it on Amazon (...) HOORAY for reissues!!! Its a great book with fantastic dynamic characters, however this book should not be read until the first in the series is read; Goodnight, Mr. Holmes. :)

This little known series about Sherlock Holmes' arch-rival, Irene Adler is a gem. Ms. Douglas' writing is honest and she sets the stage for her books very well. This book is set in Paris and in Monaco in the late 1880's, and we see Irene, her husband Godfrey and their companian Penelope up to their eyes in secret societies, tattoos and sea adventures. And we actually have the great Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler meeting face to face. The solving of the mysteries becomes a race between these two great minds. The plot is tight, and the mystery is obscure enough to keep the reader guessing. And we even have buried treasure in the book to keep it interesting. I am really enjoying these stories of the mysterious Miss Adler.

I can't wait for the next book in the series, Chapel Noir, which is finally coming out. These books take Irene Adler, the only woman to outwit Sherlock Holmes, and make her the star of her own show. The historical research is top-notch, the writing is witty, and the stories are impossible to put down. This one features the first beautiful blonde American princess of Monaco (Grace was a late-comer!) in a plot that threatens a royal wedding and reveals an old and complex scheme to control a hidden fortune. It's an amusing and authentic spoof of Conan Doyle, yet captures the mood of the Victorian era even while referencing more modern events and interweaving details from the Holmes Canon. Historical and mystery fans, including serious Holmesians, will love this absorbing and delightful adventure.

For her heroine, Douglas has taken intriguing Irene Adler, a female from the Sherlock Holmes story "A Scandal in Bohemia," and made her her own. This lively chase of a story was originally titled "Good Morning, Irene," and is the second of eight in Douglas' Irene Adler series.

In "Adventuress," Irene, a prominent opera singer and amateur sleuth recently married to London barrister Godfrey Norton, is hiding out in Paris and Monte Carlo. She's on the run from the King of Bohemia because of her ownership of a potentially compromising photo. She also has eluded Sherlock Holmes, who is trying to retrieve the photo. When the body of a tattooed sailor surfaces from the waters of the Seine, Irene, and eventually Holmes, sets off on a marry chase to solve the curious puzzle involving his death.

Irene is a rule breaker who surrounds herself with other real life non-conventional types. In "Adventuress" they are her friend Sarah Berhardt and the detective writer Bram Stoker( Dracula). Offering the more traditional view of proper Victorian female behavior is her Watson-like sidekick, Nell Huxleigh. Nell, belonging to the more conventional lower class, most often is dismayed by Irene's audacious actions. Irene's husband, on the other hand, seems equal to his wife's free spirit, and the two match Holmes in their rapid-fire character changing disguises.

Some readers may find Irene's exploits over the top for a 19th century woman. But they certainly are fun! In the back, find an interview with Douglas, notes about the series.

This is a re-read--I read it in its previous incarnation as Good Morning, Irene. Having not having paid attention to the fact that it's a reprint (reissue? I always get those mixed up.), I took it as an excuse to reacquaint myself with Irene & co.

This is such a fun series. I thoroughly enjoy Irene, the unconventional singer who solves mysteries, her patient and clever husband Godfrey, and particularly Nell, the narrator, and Irene's strait-laced parson's daughter companion.

Nell's personality is a wonderful lens through which to view the action--she's a decidedly imperfect narrator, and it's entertaining to read between her lines. In a non-spoilery example, Nell comes up with reasons why Irene and Godfrey are so exhausted they need to take a mid-day nap.

In The Adventuress, Godfrey saves a young woman from drowning herself from the ruin of having been abducted and tatooed, only to find that two days later, she's missing, presumed dead, and her aunt is suspected of the murder.

The case leads the three to Monaco, and a decades-old story of shipwreck, hidden treasure, and a shadowy figure behind it all who wants the treasure all for himself. Irene may be the nominal star of the series, but the mystery wouldn't have been solved without the talents of Godfrey and Nell.

I'm glad I picked this one up. It's been too long since I've read this series.

I am hard to please when it comes to really good prose. The Adventuress by Carole Nelson Douglas exceeded my expectations. The mystery is great, the characters are so real you feel as though they can walk off the page and into your life, and the prose is engaging, interesting, filled with wit and humor, and draws you right in. There's no other way for me to describe it. Douglas's writing is just plain terrific. I felt as though I was in Paris and Monaco and seeing the sights and smelling the smells right along with the characters.

This book was my first introduction to this series, so I plan to go back and read the very first one, then continue on with the rest of the series.

I highly recommend this book to all fans of Victorian era murder mysteries, or murder mysteries in general. It doesn't contain any real blood, gore, or bad language, so in that sense, it's a bit of a cozy. But the writing is intelligent and the mystery is taut; it's not "fluffy" like some cozies tend to be.

I am not going to address the "reissue" debate. I'm actually going to tell you something about the book.

Who would like this book? Anyone that loves Victoriana, 19th century history, mysteries, Sherlock Holmes (especially us Sherlockians, I have to say), and/or romance novels. Douglas' "Irene Adler series" has all of these elements and more. It is extremely well written. I consider myself to be extraordinarily literate and I still have to look up some of the terms in this series on occasion. I learn, but I am also entertained. I highly recommend this book as well as all of the Irene Adler series.

This story is very much in the Doylist style. It has a very classic mystery format which put me to mind of the Sign of Four. Fast paced, interesting characters. The only flaws would be that Holmes presence tantalizes in its absence and everyone is way to good a makeup artist.