Customer Reviews

Good Night, Mr. Holmes

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3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Whoever thought that Irene Adler, subject of only one Holmesian short story, would cause such a stir among fans? Now Carole Nelson Douglas at last brings to life a character that had only been mentioned save for her one famous line in "A Scandal in Bohemia": "Good night, Mr Holmes." From the inspiration of _the_ woman comes this fantastic first in a series that gets better and better. Not only are the books exciting, but they're refreshingly _funny_, filled with subtle wit and humor. Appearances by famed historical personages (Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, and later on the Divine Sarah Bernhardt) and famed fictional personages, Holmes and Watson themselves, make this series both realistic and amusing to read.

The characters in the Irene Adler series are complex: after reading the first three books, I still can't figure out whether or not I love or hate the character of Irene herself. Irene is the ultimate diva-detective, solving mysteries for the sake of curing her own boredom, and approaches everything with an impish enthusiasm. Impossibly radiant and beautiful, she eclipses the series' true heroine, the "Watson" to Irene, Penelope Huxleigh: a plain and proper parson's daughter who gets mixed up in Irene's life by mistake, in a very similar way that Watson met Holmes. Nell is the most intriguing character in the series, and easiest to identify with, even if she comes off as a prude at times. Anyone who has felt a "third wheel," or has been left in the shadows because of a more attractive friend, will relate to Nell. Barrister Godfrey Norton makes up the third of this main-character trio, who is astonishingly likeable - he adds a definite spark to the series that would surely be lost without him.

_Good Night, Mr. Holmes_ and the books that follow it (two or three of which are out of print and hard to find at present) will probably best liked by women, because it very accurately (and bemusedly) presents a female version of the Victorian era - one from a "modern" woman and one more subdued and conformist, and two different feminine views (from Irene and Nell) of Sherlock Holmes himself. It's very interesting to see Holmes as a minor character and adversary - and don't worry, Holmes fans: Nelson writes Holmes and Watson well.

I strongly recommend reading "A Scandal in Bohemia" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (found in _The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes_) before turning to the Irene Adler series, in order to get acquainted with the characters and see the Watsonian point of view on the case portrayed in _Good Night, Mr. Holmes_.

Ms. Douglas is a talented and practiced writer. This book and the others of this series show how well she has honed her craft.

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.

If you are a fan of Holmes and know the story of Irene Adler and the "Scandal in Bohemia", this book will whet your Sherlockian appetite for more. Douglas writes in a style quite similar to Conan Doyle and makes Adler come alive as an irresistable heroine and a formidable sleuth as well. Unlike other Conan Doyle copycats, Douglas shows respect for the canon and a true knowledge of Holmesian lore. Can't wait for the next book in the series.

Carol Nelson Douglas has created a series of detective novels based on Irene Adler, a character from Arthur Conan Doyle's short story A Scandal In Bohemia. Adler is a feminist alternative to the pipe-smoking Sherlock Holmes, complete with a female sidekick, Penelope Huxleigh, who documents her exploits as Dr. Watson did for Holmes.

In Good Night, Mr. Holmes, the first novel of the series, Ms. Douglas has written a prequel to A Scandal In Bohemia in which we learn how Irene and Penelope met and how they got caught up in the scandal that introduces Sherlock Holmes to their lives.

The pairing of the ultra-respectable Penelope, the country parson's daughter, with Irene, the convention breaking American singer, provides for entertaining situations that liven up the investigative plot. Historic details are handled competently and many famous personages of the time make cameo appearances in the story. Overall, this is a delightful introduction to a great series of entertaining historic mystery novels.

I'm far from a Sherlock Holmes scholar, but I fell headlong into Laurie King's Mary Russell series, in which King posits a middle-aged Holmes doing his sleuthing with a brilliant young woman. I finished every book in King's repertoire, and am wishing that she'd hurry up with the next one, please. However, during a book signing, Laurie King discussed *other* fictional treatments of Holmes, and this one in particular: A Scandal in Bohemia, told from the viewpoint of "The Woman," Irene Adler -- the only person to (in Doyle's universe) beat Holmes at his own game. How could I resist?

"Good Night, Mr. Holmes" is a marvelous standalone story, and I think it easily could be read by someone who never read the original Sherlock Holmes short story or whose memory of it is somewhat vague. (But really, you'll want to (re-)read "A Scandal in Bohemia" afterward, just for comparison; I did.) Irene Adler is a beautiful and brilliant American woman who is serious about her opera career and bound-and-determined to succeed independently -- quite a challenge for a woman in Victorian England. Her "Dr Watson" is Penelope Huxleigh, a prissy parson's daughter who chronicles Irene's (and her own) adventures, from their interactions with famous people of the era (such as Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker) to Adler's own detective sleuthing to the background tale in which we see the Holmes short story from another's eyes: Adler's relationship with the King of Bohemia. It works solo; it's also impressive in a "weave the events into the Doyle story" way.

This is great rainy-afternoon, popcorn-munching fiction, and I highly recommend it even if you never got into the Sherlock Holmes canon.

It is, however, somewhat different in mood from the Laurie King novels. This Irene Adler story is primarily a light adventure story, with intellectual swashbuckling and a few giggly moments. The Mary Russell novels are much... well, I don't want to say *darker*, but King is relentless about putting her heroine in painful situations and then seeing what ELSE she can do to her character. If you like one series, I think you'll like the other. They're both great, in different ways.

Irene Adler is mentioned in only one Sherlock Holmes story, but in that story "A Scandal in Bohemia", she manages to get the better of the great Holmes. Ms. Douglas has started to build a series around Irene Adler with this book. She takes the whole "Scandal in Bohemia" story and puts a whole new twist on it, as well as building up a history and a past for Ms. Adler. And she does this quite well. Holmes even appears in certain sections of the book, and references are made to the Dr. Watson story throughout. The book is a long one, but it kept me turning pages well into the night. And Miss Penelope Huxley is a grand narrator. I look forward to reading more of the mysterious Ms. Adler.

I've read other "Holmes" fiction by Laurie R. King and was always disappointed that those books didn't have the essence of Holmes pairing him up (in marriage no less!) with a teenage girl.
But this book was a breathe of fresh Sherlock Holmes air. It starts out slowly and was a bit hard to get into, but it really spins along at the end and you can't put it down! I really enjoyed the way the whole story played out. I was most fond of Miss Penelope Huxleigh and Godrey Norton...even more than Irene.

I've never read any of the short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but have always been intrigued by the detective who missed nothing, and his sidekick Watson.

This is Sherlock Holmes from a woman's perspective and follows the narrative of a plain, law abiding, careful woman whose unfortunate bad luck leads to an encounter and solid friendship with Irene Adler. Much like Watson to Holmes, Penelope "Nell" Huxleigh narrates this first in series about her adventures with the socially improper Irene, which add excitement and drama to her otherwise dull existence.

Carole Nelson Douglas proves to be a strong, likable writer whose story telling and plots far surpass those of better known writers of the same genre. For those who find Holmes' view on women to be unacceptable, you will love Douglas' spin-off of the timeless tales of Holmes and Watson.

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 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.

As an avid reader of any and all things Sherlockian, I very happily picked up this book with all its great reviews; however, I was disappointed. The book was only mildly entertaining. The characters felt like paper cutouts. Irene was the shocking, emancipated woman; Godfrey was her dashing, good-natured suitor (In the back of my edition, the author explains that she cast Godfrey in the dull, decorative role usually occupied by women; thereby, creating a perfectly dull and purely decorative character herself. Congratulations?). The narrator, Nell (female Watson without a pistol), had a life-like spark about her; unfortunately, it was a dull one. I was also exasperated with the author's CONSTANT name dropping. Every five pages some character mentions having read Balzac or Dumas or Milton; it felt as though the author was nudging me and saying: "Aren't I clever to know who all these authors are? Aren't I well read? Haven't I done some cracking research?" Her historical characters are nothing short of laughable-her Oscar Wilde is a Punch cartoon brought to life, and Bram Stoker is in the story so little he might as well not be mentioned at all. Disappointingly, Holmes and Watson are also fringe characters.

To add insult to injury, the novel treads old ground in the world of Sherlockiana. I offer this short list of recommended reading to illustrate my point:
1) The West End Horror-Nicholas Meyer (a traditional pastiche featuring more historical figures than you can shake a stick at, including Wilde, Stoker, Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, Bernard Shaw, etc. Part of a series of three.)
2) My Dearest Holmes - Rohase Piercy (Looking for an alternative view of the Holmes universe? Forget that old feminine twist-try a gay Watson. :) Also features Oscar Wilde.)
3) The Beekeeper's Apprentice-Laurie R. King (A Sherlockian pastiche featuring a great female narrator; the first book in strong series. I have really enjoyed most of these books. )
4) The Final Solution-Michael Chabon (Like Good Night, Mr. Holmes, this remarkable gem of a book prominently features a parrot with an unusual vocabulary. I can't recommend this one enough. Winner of the Paris Review's 2004 Aga Khan prize for fiction)

In short, there are too many good Holmes pastiches to waste time reading this one.