A Soul of Steel: An Irene Adler Novel (Irene Adler Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Carole Nelson Douglas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 28, 2006 | Series: Irene Adler Mysteries

Alive and well despite the widely published accounts of her death,  diva Irene Adler and her dashing husband Godfrey Norton are taking coffee with their friend Nell Huxleigh in a Parisian sidewalk café when a stranger dressed in Oriental garb falls at their feet.  It is not Irene's beauty that has felled him, but a dose of poison--and even more surprisingly, the friends learn as he recovers that he is an Englishman!  The mysterious young man informs them that he is seeking a Dr. Watson who tended his wounds at the disastrous battle of Maiwand, a man whose life he says is now in mortal danger.
 
The hunt is on and their search will lead them to a command performance for the Empress of all the Russias and to Sarah Bernhardt, into a channel steamer and at last to the doorstep of  221 Baker Street, where they will discover deadly secrets both past and present. 

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Irene at Large

 

"An absolutely ripping adventure!"--Anne Perry, author of Dark Assasin

 

"Douglas's plot ingenuity remains fresh and amusing, and for all its fanciful turns, the action never loses its jaunty, high-heeled pace."-- The New York Times

 

"Holmes and Irene do their most charming (if in Holmes's case, unwitting) work together."--Kirkus Reviews

 

"Douglas has made Adler a superb detective and invented a perfectly delightful--and perfectly puzzling--series of cases for her."--The Fort Worth Press

About the Author

Carole Nelson Douglas is the author of the historical suspense series featuring Irene Adler, the only woman ever to have "outwitted" Sherlock Holmes.  She is also the author of the bestselling Midnight Louie series, which includes Cat in a Quicksilver Caper, Cat in a Hot Pink Pursuit, Cat in a Neon Nightmare, and many more. She resides in Fort Worth, Texas.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 395 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books (November 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765347903
• ISBN-13: 978-0765347909
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #978,769 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #72 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Sherlock Holmes

More About the Author

With her home office a Twilight Zone landscape of mannequins in vintage dress, no wonder award-winning ex-journalist and novelist Carole Nelson Douglas's 55 novels range from historical and contemporary mystery and romance to science fiction thrillers to high and urban fantasy. They include two Las Vegas-set series: the Midnight Louie, feline PI, mysteries partially narrated by a "Sam Spade with hairballs" and the Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator, noir urban fantasies of werewolf mobsters and Silver Screen zombies in a paranormal Vegas.

Douglas was the first author of a Sherlockian series with a female protagonist, diva-detective Irene Alder, the only woman to outwit Holmes, debuting with the New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Good Night, Mr. Holmes. Rachel McAdams plays Irene in the Dec. 25 film with Robert Downey, Jr. as Sherlock. Douglas says if she has a literary muse, it's definitely feline: mysterious, wise, playful, and packing sharp shivs in velvet gloves.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reissue of Irene At Large, July 13, 2007

By 

Cecilia Roberts "cwr" (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Soul of Steel: An Irene Adler Novel (Irene Adler Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I loved this book, but just wanted to warn you that this is a reissue of the book "Irene At Large" with a different title. I bought it under both titles before I realized it was the same book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Another fine entry in the Irene Adler series, April 5, 2010

By 

Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL)) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Soul of Steel: An Irene Adler Novel (Irene Adler Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is my second work on Irene Adler, solver of mysteries and antagonist of Sherlock Holmes. Here, we have a tale of treachery in the English war in Afghanistan in the 1880s. A spy, "Cobra" (born Quentin Stanhope), discovers a double cross by his superior, "Tiger." A battle is lost as a result. And the plot thickens when, after he is injured, a "Dr. Watson" treats him before being shot in the shoulder.

Move to Paris some years later. Irene Adler, now married to Godfrey Norton (and now Mrs. Norton), lives with her confederate Penelope "Nell" Huxleigh. She and Godfrey have been declared dead because their names were on the list of passengers of a train that was destroyed in an accident.

"Cobra" enters their life and, just as mysteriously, leaves, wishing to find someone to help save Dr. Watson's life. Irene, clever as always, deduces that this Watson might be Sherlock Holmes' associate. And we are off to another adventure in this series of books.

Irene does her usual job in deception. We see historical figures enter the narrative (e.g., Sarah Bernhardt). Irene, Godfrey, and Nell head to England to try to protect Watson and solve a mystery. Their efforts intertwine with those of Holmes himself. The end result features cobras, mongooses, deception, and treachery.

A nice addition to the series, but the allure of this series has begun to wear off for me. However, this volume will be enjoyable for those who like historical mysteries.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun mysteries, January 19, 2007

By 

pinky2anne - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Soul of Steel: An Irene Adler Novel (Irene Adler Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I really liked this series of books. Sherlock Holmes has always annoyed me a bit, and I like the idea of a woman outwitting him. Irene Alder is a strong heroine and is easy to like. Penelope Huxleigh, the narrator, is not as easy to sympathize with, but she can be funny. The mysteries are interesting, exciting, and, for the most part, believable.