Customer Reviews

Chapel Noir: A Novel of Suspense featuring Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler, and Jack the Ripper

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have eagerly anticipated another Irene Adler book from Carole Nelson Douglas for several years now. I learned about "Chapel Noir" several months ago and eagerly rushed to the bookstore as soon as my copy arrived in the store. That said, I can admit I am a fan, albeit a slightly disappointed one.

No, I do not mind that the book is darker than the previous ones in the series. It fits the story. I love the growth and development of the characteters, so no complaints there. I can even handle a cliffhanger as much as I personally detest them. I hate waiting at least a year for a resolution in books I read primarily for entertainment.

What I didn't like was the constant change of narrator in the book. Yes, I understand it was necessary, considering the inevitable cliffhanger. Yes, I even like Pink (or whatever you want to call her). But although she is vastly different in personality from Nell, her narrative voice is not sufficiently different. I kept having to keep the narrative clues straight as to who was speaking, since the voices were all too similar. It's not that I was confused, but I had to work too hard to read the book just to keep the narrators straight, let alone the clues and story developments. It was horrific when I had to put the book down for a break and come back and figure out who was speaking before I could become immersed in the story. The narrative clues are dense, actually, and also slowed the flow of the story. It was as if the editor knew the voices were not different enough so we were peppered with narrative clues, not mystery clues, since the conceit had to be maintained to obtain the ending.

Still, Irene is back, and so is Nell. If you love them, reread the other books and venture onto this one. If you haven't read the former books, please start with them. Nell is a jewel, a Dr. Watson and an Archie Goodwin rolled all into a Victorian woman. Don't miss her. I love her. I just wish the book had been more about her again than Irene. Irene is wonderful, but Nell is the true heroine. Nell humanizes Irene's perfections.

If you also enjoy Holmes tempered with a strong female character, I highly recommend Laurie R. King's "The Beekeeper's Apprentice."

I have to admit that I have not been a fan of Carole Nelson Douglas. I dislike cats; therefore, I do not read mystery books which feature crime-solving felines. The only reason I read her Irene Adler series was to catch brief glimpses of Sherlock Holmes here and there. Honestly, I found nothing all that remarkable about her Irene Adler series--until now.

I have been converted. This past week, I picked up Chapel Noir planning to quickly flip through the pages searching for Holmes. Boy, was I in for a pleasant surprise! The riveting plot: it would appear that Jack the Ripper is in Paris, and seems to have picked up where he left off back in Whitechapel. Irene and her Watsonian sidekick Nell are summoned in the middle of the night to investigate the crime. Famous personages pop up throughout the book a la any historical mystery, but rather than crowding up the storyline, they simply make their appearance and exit stage left.

By the way, for all you Sherlockians, there is enough Sherlock Holmes here for your enjoyment, but what caught my attention is that Douglas' pen seems to have found new life in this series. This book is far darker and more complex than its predecessors, but it sure makes for a far more engrossing read.

Sherlock Holmes stays for a bit longer in this book than he does in all the previous Irene Adler books combined (which is a plus!). The interplay between the two are especially fun to read, and Huxleigh's observations of them are just flat-out hilarious!

Chapel Noir, the latest and in my humble opinion, the greatest installment in this series, is a must-read mystery novel! And oh, the ending! Talk about a cliffhanger! I can hardly wait for the the sequel to come out in August 2002!

A number of authors have attempted to follow Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes' tales with new exploits of their own devising. Some have succeeded and some have failed. Chapel Noir is an example of a failure. Although the book focuses on Irene Adler and only tangently includes Mr Holmes, it attempts to use the famous detective as a lure to bring in unsuspecting readers. I was intrigued at the thought of a story including Mr Holmes, Irene Adler (the woman), and Jack the Ripper. What I found was a story that was repetative and boring. I can only read so many times about the wardrobe of Irene Adler or the manner in which Mr Holmes and Doctor Watson misunderstood her. Repeating the same information yet using different words is still the same information. This was a 450+ page book that could have easily been tailored down to half the size. If you are looking for a book with action, this is not it. If you are looking for a book with solid dialogue between parties, this is not it. I felt this was a waste of my time.

I even wrote to CND and told her that I thought Chapel Noir was fabulous. (She wrote back!!!) I loved the character interactions and the more personal views of Nell, Pink, and of course, "the Master." I thought that the plot was very well-written. And SHerlock Holmes and Irene Adler match wits. What more can a reader want? Of course, the cliff hanger ending left me wanting more and I can't wait until Castle Rouge. Irene seems so mature in this book, which is great. And Nell's unreasonable animosity towards Holmes is really comic relief.

The other critics said that this book was much darker than all the others and some didn't like that. I say, "No, duh!" The darkness was a necessary part because the book was about "Jack the Ripper," crimes against women, and a conspiracy against a whole race. Obviously, the novel was going to dark. And what are you doing reading murder mysteries if you can't stand a little darkness?? Mysteries are designed to show the evil in men's natures.

Brava Mrs. Douglas.

Wow. I got this book at 4:00 PM, and read it straight through. It was wonderful, but a warning - it is darker than the other Irene Adler mysteries have been, and has a "cliff-hanger" ending that frustrated me no end. Don't expect a cozy mystery, or easy answers.

It is wonderful to see Nell grow and change from the naive spinster. Oh, don't worry, she still sticks to her moral ideals, but in this outing, she shows her strength. She even faces down Sherlock Holmes!

Irene and Nell are called in when two "ladies of the evening" are found murdered at a French brothel. They are pulled into a dark world of madness that they have never visualized. Along with a "soiled dove" named Pink, they search out a monstrous killer. Is it Jack the Ripper, come over from London, or is there a even more horrifying explanation?

Let's hope that Carole Nelson Douglas gets the sequel out soon, before her readers die of the suspence.

Irene Adler, heroine of "Good Night, Mr. Holmes" and other novels, returns in this great addition to the series. Sherlock Holmes fans will recall that Holmes always referred to her as "the Woman" after she outwits him in "A Scandal in Bohemia". Irene, along with her sidekick Nell and her husband Godfrey, ably carries her own series. I heartily recommend all of the Irene Adler books to any lover of mysteries.

"Chapel Noir" finds Irene and Nell embroiled in a hunt for a demented killer. The year is 1889. Jack the Ripper--aka "Saucy Jack"--prowled the streets of London's East End only the previous fall. No arrests were ever made in the Ripper murders. Could the Ripper have moved his operation to Paris? With the able assistance of Pink, a young American woman, Irene and Nell pursue the killer through the streets and catacombs of Paris.

I have only one quibble with this book: because the story will be continued in the next volume, the cliff-hanger ending leaves the reader hanging. But this unsatisfying climax only whets the reader's appetite for more.

I was very disappointed with this novel, as I have really enjoyed all the previous Irene Adler books by CND (though I don't read the cat books.) It was much more grisly than the previous books. It took a long time to plow through, and the switches to journals other than Nell's in some chapters were often confusing. I finally finished it last night, only to find that it didn't really end-you have to wait until the next book to find the resolution. I was annoyed. I wish I had read some of the other warnings from reviewers.

I loved the previous Irene Adler books and bought them as gifts for people, so I was seriously disappointed when I read this one. I would never buy it for anyone. I am dismayed by an author and a publisher who would sell a book that is incomplete and ends with a cliffhanger. Who needs the aggravation? Furthermore, there is no pleasure in reading the book - it is tough slogging the whole way. If I wanted to put that much effort into my leisure reading, I'd get a physics textbook or something equally interesting. At least I'd be learning something.

For inveterate readers of Holmesian pastiches, this will rank fairly low on the list, and it's certainly a disappointment after the previous installments in Douglas's otherwise fine Irene Adler series. The main plot element - Holmes meets Jack the Ripper - is a tired and overdone cliche. The book moves along too slowly and is overburdened with endless descriptions of clothing and other distractions. The plot devices seem overly contrived, and settings like the wax museum and the exposition seem gratuitous. And the "you will buy the sequel" cliffhanger ending feels like a ripoff.

In 1889 American Irene Adler Norton resides in Paris with her beloved British husband Godfrey. At first the social swirl provides Irene with much distraction, but that quickly turns boring for the only known female to outwit and out-deduce the great Sherlock Holmes.

Thus, when the police, acting at the direction of a higher up, ask her to assist with the inquiries into the murders of prostitutes, Irene jumps at the opportunity. Upon seeing the brutalized corpse of the latest victim, a horrified Irene immediately thinks of London and Ripper. Unable to resist full involvement, Irene begins to investigate the grisly homicides only to find that once again she competes with the internationally renowned Holmes.

Anyone who enjoys the full Holmes pantheon (not just Doyle’s prime piece of heaven) will want to read the first Irene Adler novel released in several years. The story line is exciting as Victorian Paris comes to life through the eyes of Irene and her shocked companion Nell. Holmes also plays a secondary but important role. The who-done-it is cleverly designed so that it is elementary to Dr. Watson that this novel is quite appealing. Fans of Holmes will want to read CHAPEL NOIR, Carole Nelson Douglas previous Adler novels and demand a shorter gap for her next appearance.

<P{>Harriet Klausner