Femme Fatale: An Irene Adler Novel (Hardcover)

by Carole Nelson Douglas (Author) "Just now . . . when he could arrive any moment!..." (more)
Key Phrases: lonely orphan girl, wickedest woman, consulting detective, New York, Sherlock Holmes, Madame Restell (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Although Irene Adler appeared in only one of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories ("A Scandal in Bohemia"), this beautiful, intelligent and mysterious character, a Victorian woman well ahead of her time, has taken on a vivid new life in seven novels by the prolific Douglas (Good Night, Mr. Holmes, etc.). In this latest frolic, an alarming letter from Elizabeth Jane Cochrane (aka Nellie Bly), an American journalist who helped Irene pursue Jack the Ripper in her two previous adventures (Chapel Noir and Castle Rouge), is enough to lure Irene and her na‹ve companion, Nell Huxleigh, to New York City. The New York of 1889 provides new and fertile ground for the author's imagination, as Irene searches for clues to her dimly remembered childhood and hunts a serial killer who is rapidly eliminating everyone with knowledge of Irene's past. And where Irene goes, one can also expect to find her sometime ally, sometime adversary, Sherlock Holmes. Fans will relish the ornate, elliptical language Douglas employs for her Adler novels, as well as the discovery of fresh bits of her heroine's biography. Book groups will welcome the reader's guide at the end.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Irene Adler, the only woman ever to have outsmarted Sherlock Holmes, returns in another carefully constructed caper featuring a delightful array of well-known historical and fictional characters. Former opera diva-turned-detective Adler has always kept her own past carefully shrouded in mystery. When she receives a message from journalist Nellie Bly that someone is trying to murder her mother--a mother she denies any knowledge of--Irene must decide if she is willing to open up the door to her personal history that she deliberately shut years ago. Unable to resist a challenge, she travels back to the U.S. to solve a mystery, uncovering her own roots and crossing paths with rival Sherlock Holmes in the process. Douglas has penned another extraordinary adventure sure to entertain her legion of loyal fans. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 554 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; 1st edition (November 24, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765306824
• ISBN-13: 978-0765306821
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #516,975 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #43 in

  Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Authors, A-Z > ( D ) > Douglas, Carole Nelson

• This is item 7 in The Irene Adler Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tremendously satisfying!, December 3, 2003

By	Harrison Bergeron (Santa Clara, CA USA) - See all my reviews

I loved this book so much that I read it all in one sitting. The adventures of Irene Adler Norton and Nell Huxleigh take them to America where Nellie Bly, whom we met in Chapel Noir, lures Irene with a telegram telling her that someone is attempting to murder Irene's mother. But wherever Irene goes, Sherlock Holmes is not far behind as he is also invited by the devious Bly to investigate.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot because I think you ought to read this book for yourself and not let someone else spoil it for you!

This is the latest in Carole Nelson Douglas's Irene Adler series and I think it ranks right up there with Chapel Noir. This is the sixth book, and it features much more collaboration/competition/cooperation between Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler than any other book.

What a great series Ms. Douglas has, and for me, who has been reading it since Good Night, Mr. Holmes was published, I am thrilled at the direction the series is taking as well as the growing quality and length of each entry in the series. I can't not wait until the next book!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great historic mystery novel of late 19th century NYC, April 2, 2005

By	F. Orion Pozo "Orion Pozo" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Femme Fatale is the first book in a duology that ends with Spider Dancer.

In this volume the fictional detective Irene Adler Norton and her assistant Penelope Huxleigh travel to 1889 New York to solve a series of murders. the common thread is that each of the people knew Irene when she was a child in the theaters of New York. Can one of them hold the secret of who is Irene's parents? They must find the murderer to solve the mystery.

Told through the journals of Ms. Huxleigh and the notes of the real-life Nellie Bly and the fictional Sherlock Holmes, Douglas has found an intriguing way to relate a good story that mixes historical figures with fictional characters.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richard Waters, November 22, 2004

By	Richard Waters (Ramona, California United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Femme Fatale: An Irene Adler Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Another Fine Irene Adler Mystery
I have read Carole Nelson Douglas's six previous Victorian-era Irene Adler novels and I think this is a fine addition to the series. The American Opera singer Irene Adler was first introduced to the world as a character in the Conan Doyle/Sherlock Holmes story 'A Scandal in Bohemia' as the only woman to outwit Sherlock Holmes. Carole Nelson Douglas however, makes the character truly her own in the Irene Adler series opener, 'Goodnight, Mr. Holmes'. The author artfully retells the story of how the wily Irene, accompanied her friend and confidant Nell Huxleigh, befuddles Holmes and enamors a King, but this time from the perspective of Irene.

In subsequent novels Irene and Nell, joined by Irene's husband Godfrey, crisscross Europe from London to Transylvania, and Paris to Monaco, solving mysteries involving queens and courtesans, Jack the Ripper and the Golem of Prague. Along the way they match wits and at times join forces with Irene's rival, Mr. Sherlock Holmes and encounter numerous historical characters including Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, Sarah Bernhardt, and Nellie Bly.
The current installment, 'Femme Fatale' is an involving and multi-layered mystery in which Irene and Nell travel to 1889 New York City to explore Irene's hidden past and chase a murderer. They reunite with colorful characters from Irene's childhood and tangle again with Holmes. The solution to the mystery is a satisfying and natural one, which keeps the reader guessing (at least I was kept guessing) up to the end.

But this story is more than just a puzzle. In this novel, as well as in the previous Irene Adler novels, the characters are vividly and completely drawn. I found myself reacting to them as if they were real people, and got to the end of each book wishing I could read more about them. They, especially the pugnacious Nell, are given depths and dimensions that leave the reader caring about them and wanting to know more. Supporting characters, like the vaudeville 'variety performers' that people Irene's childhood are drawn perceptively with deft strokes that reveal the humanity beneath their unusual exteriors.

The story revels in historical detail as well, evoking the smells, sights, and sounds of late nineteenth century New York. The story takes us to dinner at Delmonico's and on a visit to the Elephant Hotel on Coney Island, among other episodes. The author even employs a somewhat rococo writing style that echoes the ornamentation of nineteenth century novels. Altogether, this book was a treat, although for the complete experience, you could start with the beginning of the series, 'Goodnight, Mr. Holmes'.