Irene At Large

Irene Adler #3

by Carole Nelson Douglas

Note: Later editions were titled A Soul of Steel.


In Douglas's third Irene Adler mystery, Irene observes a stranger in Oriental garb fall poisoned at the feet of Nell Huxliegh, Irene's very proper friend and narrator. Despite his garb, he is an Englishman, and reveals as he recovers that he has returned after years in Afghanistan in order to warn "Dr. Watson" that his life is in danger. The mystery soon leads Irene to 221 B Baker St.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Mystery Thriller, Historical Mystery, Cozy Mystery

395 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1992

About the author

Carole Nelson Douglas is the author of sixty-four award-winning novels in contemporary and historical mystery/suspense and romance, high and urban fantasy and science fiction genres. She is best known for two popular mystery series, the Irene Adler Sherlockian historical suspense series (she was the first woman to spin-off a series from the Holmes stories) and the multi-award-winning alphabetically titled Midnight Louie contemporary mystery series. From Cat in an Alphabet Soup #1 to Cat in an Alphabet Endgame #28.
Delilah Street, PI (Paranormal Investigator), headlines Carole's noir Urban Fantasy series: Dancing With Werewolves, Brimstone Kiss, Vampire Sunrise, Silver Zombie, and Virtual Virgin. Now Delilah has moved from her paranormal Vegas to Midnight Louie, feline PI's "Slightly surreal" Vegas to solve crimes in the first book of the new Cafe Noir series, Absinthe Without Leave. Next in 2020, Brandi Alexander on the Rocks.

Once Upon a Midnight Noir is out in eBook and trade paperback versions. This author-designed and illustrated collection of three mystery stories with a paranormal twist and a touch of romance features two award-winning stories featuring Midnight Louie, feline PI and Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator in a supernatural-run Las Vegas. A third story completes the last unfinished story fragment of Edgar Allan Poe, as a Midnight Louie Past Life adventure set in 1790 Norland on a isolated island lighthouse. Louie is a soldier of fortune, a la Puss in Boots.

Next out are Midnight Louie's Cat in an Alphabet Endgame in hardcover, trade paperback and eBook Aug. 23, 2016.

All the Irene Adler novels, the first to feature a woman from the Sherlock Holmes Canon as a crime solver, are now available in eBook.

Carole was a college theater and English literature major. She was accepted for grad school in Theater at the University of Minnesota and Northwestern University, and could have worked as an editorial assistant at Vogue magazine (a la The Devil Wears Prada) but wanted a job closer to home. She worked as a newspaper reporter and then editor in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. During her time there, she discovered a long, expensive classified advertisement offering a black cat named Midnight Louey to the "right" home for one dollar and wrote a feature story on the plucky survival artist, putting it into the cat's point of view. The cat found a country home, but its name was revived for her feline PI mystery series many years later. Some of the Midnight Louie series entries include the dedication "For the real and original Midnight Louie. Nine lives were not enough." Midnight Louie has now had 32 novelistic lives and features in several short stories as well.

Hollywood and Broadway director, playwright, screenwriter and novelist Garson Kanin took Carole's first novel to his publisher on the basis of an interview/article she'd done with him five years earlier. "My friend Phil Silvers," he wrote, "would say he'd never won an interview yet, but he had never had the luck of you."

Carole is a "literary chameleon" who's had novels published in many genres, and often mixes such genre elements as mystery and suspense, fantasy and science fiction, romance with mainstream issues, especially the roles of women.

Reviews

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like Sherlock related stories. I much prefer Laurie King's books.

[Angie S · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK, but I did not like the narrator, Penelope Huxleigh. She is Irene's (Irene Adler of Sherlockian fame) "Watson". But she is so irritating. It felt like all she did was whine and complain non-stop. She complained about the cat, the parrot, Irene's friend the (in)famous actress Sarah Bernhardt, and pretty much everything else she encountered.

More irritatingly, they couldn't undergo a single mission without wasting a few pages trying to convince Nell (Penelope) to do anything she considered vaguely improper or unladylike. The book easily could have knocked off 80 pages if Nell had been less querulous. Granted, she is a proper Victorian, but after a few years of adventuring with Irene, you'd think she'd have eased up a little.

Granted, maybe she had eased up some, as this is my first (and likely last) book in the series. I hope she wasn't.

But there was still a lot of good in the book. I enjoyed the main story, and it was fun the way it tied in with Holmesian canon with some Watson backstory, Col. Sebastian Moran, and The Adventure of the Naval Treaty.

Summation: A good story badly hamstrung by an unlikeable and tedious narrator.

[Goose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was concerned that this book started in Afghanistan with two men using silly codenames. I shouldn't have been worried. Book three in this very enjoyable series continues the adventures of Irene Adler, Miss Nell Huxleigh, and Godfrey Norton, Irene's husband. A character from the past of Miss Huxleigh is the driving force of this mystery and I say "Yay". The more Miss Huxleigh is used in these adventures, the more I enjoy the book. Dr.John Watson and his wife, Mary also play an important part which adds to the pleasure. If you haven't started reading this series, and you are a fan of historical mysteries, start now. Can't wait to get my hands on the fourth book.

[RC Prentice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Douglas is one of several contemporary authors who have borrowed the Sherlock Holmes characters and placements, though in this case it is Holmes' nemesis who does the sleuthing. The plot may seem more along the lines of a John-Le-Carre construct, but it actually takes the players and their motives into just the sort of day-of-the-Raj empire-building shenanigans that Conan-Doyle also used on occasion.

[Phylisha Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Magdalena · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was good and nice to see more of Nell's past.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really fun read.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love Sherlock Holmes and Victorian mystery, you will most assuredly enjoy Carole Nelson Douglas' "Irene At Large.” This is the third tale which Douglas has crafted using Doyle’s Irene Adler as a central character. How interesting and enjoyable it is to see Adler developed into an even more dynamic, complex character; here the creative mind of Douglas gives us a deeper look at Irene Adler, who was one of the few people and the only woman to thwart Sherlock Holmes. The story is told by Penelope Huxleigh (Adler's Dr. Watson) who was enjoyable as a character and a narrator. The pairing of these two dissimilar characters, the ultra-respectable, country parson's daughter Penelope with the Bohemian Irene, the "do as I want to do," convention breaking, smoking and drinking American singer, provides for delightful situations and an evolving friendship which moves from book to book. However, although Penelope’s character does change, she does remain a delightful and at times frustrating foil to the shrewd Irene.

Douglas cleverly picks elements from Doyle’s Holmes books and develops them into her own web of mystery. In “Irene At Large,” she develops two major strands from Doyle: first and foremost, an explanation of Watson’s war wound and then the background of Col. Sebastian Moran, Moriarty’s right hand man. Holmes fans will recognize Col. Sebastian Moran from the short story "The Adventure of the Empty House". Holmes once described Moran as "the second most dangerous man in London" - the most dangerous - Professor Moriarty. The prologue hints at treachery in the 1880 Afghanistan campaign (Holmes fans should recognize the reference to Dr. Watson’s past). Irene, her husband, and her confidante Nell Huxleigh are living in self imposed exile in Paris, when a poorly dressed stranger approaches them and is found to be poisoned. The poisoned stranger turns out to be Quentin Stanhope, an old acquaintance from Nell's past. After another attempt on his life, Quentin vanishes. And now the “game is afoot,” or perhaps we should say, the “game is a cobra” as deadly snakes are used to kill several people from Paris to London.

Douglas' Irene Adler series are clever and enjoyable; the characterization is exceptional. Here Douglas has not just attempted to re-tell or recreate the character of Holmes, rather, she has carefully developed Adler and others from Doyle’s works and made them her own. Carol Nelson Douglas has created an exceptional series of detective novels based on Irene Adler. I really like this series. and I strongly recommend them to you or to any fan of Holmes.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love Sherlock Holmes and Victorian mystery, you will most assuredly enjoy Carole Nelson Douglas' "Irene At Large.” This is the third tale which Douglas has crafted using Doyle’s Irene Adler as a central character. How interesting and enjoyable it is to see Adler developed into an even more dynamic, complex character; here the creative mind of Douglas gives us a deeper look at Irene Adler, who was one of the few people and the only woman to thwart Sherlock Holmes. The story is told by Penelope Huxleigh (Adler's Dr. Watson) who was enjoyable as a character and a narrator. The pairing of these two dissimilar characters, the ultra-respectable, country parson's daughter Penelope with the Bohemian Irene, the "do as I want to do," convention breaking, smoking and drinking American singer, provides for delightful situations and an evolving friendship which moves from book to book. However, although Penelope’s character does change, she does remain a delightful and at times frustrating foil to the shrewd Irene.

Douglas cleverly picks elements from Doyle’s Holmes books and develops them into her own web of mystery. In “Irene At Large,” she develops two major strands from Doyle: first and foremost, an explanation of Watson’s war wound and then the background of Col. Sebastian Moran, Moriarty’s right hand man. Holmes fans will recognize Col. Sebastian Moran from the short story "The Adventure of the Empty House". Holmes once described Moran as "the second most dangerous man in London" - the most dangerous - Professor Moriarty. The prologue hints at treachery in the 1880 Afghanistan campaign (Holmes fans should recognize the reference to Dr. Watson’s past). Irene, her husband, and her confidante Nell Huxleigh are living in self imposed exile in Paris, when a poorly dressed stranger approaches them and is found to be poisoned. The poisoned stranger turns out to be Quentin Stanhope, an old acquaintance from Nell's past. After another attempt on his life, Quentin vanishes. And now the “game is afoot,” or perhaps we should say, the “game is a cobra” as deadly snakes are used to kill several people from Paris to London.

Douglas' Irene Adler series are clever and enjoyable; the characterization is exceptional. Here Douglas has not just attempted to re-tell or recreate the character of Holmes, rather, she has carefully developed Adler and others from Doyle’s works and made them her own. Carol Nelson Douglas has created an exceptional series of detective novels based on Irene Adler. I really like this series. and I strongly recommend them to you or to any fan of Holmes.

[heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

It really did take me that long to read this book. In fact, it flat-out blocked me on reading other things for a week, because I was being stubborn and determined to get through it.

And the thing that kills me is that there is nothing BAD about this book, it's just that I didn't find it at all engaging.

The parts I loved best were the bits about Afganistan. That whole thing was very Talbot Mundy, King of the Khyber Rifles.
"In the very lap of Asia lies a land so fierce and desolate—if not undefended—that were the demons of every faith to collaborate in creating a Hell that would prostrate Christian, Hebrew and Moslem alike in united terror, its name would remain... Afghanistan."

"“I traveled among strange peoples, learned odd languages and odder customs.” His eyes fell to the jewel at my throat. “Rumors abounded of a lost ruby mine in far northeast Afghanistan among a blue-eyed, yellow-haired people. I convinced myself that I was looking for it, that this intriguing treasure was why I stayed.”"

The parts I loved least were anything involving the viewpoint character, Penelope. There are awesome adventure stories involving practical women, but I think it usually works best if the sensible character has sympathy for why people would want to be adventurous, even if she is working on a more complicated success matrix. But Penelope just manages to seem like a wet blanket.

I was unmoved by the mystery. I thought Irene came off not as smart as she should have.

All that said, the writing is pretty good, and sometimes wryly amusing. If you are a passionate Holmes fan, this might scratch some itches. This series came pretty highly recommended to me. When that happens, I am always left wondering if the problem is me. Lately I've taken to just accepting that yes, it is, and there are books that fit me better out there.

Read if: You like practical/staid characters. You yearn for anything Holmes-related. You have enjoyed other books in this series.

Skip if: You are too stubborn to quit books. You want the mystery to actually intrigue you.

Read instead: King of the Khyber Rifles

[Steven Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second work on Irene Adler, solver of mysteries and antagonist of Sherlock Holmes, that I have read. 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.

[Orion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Irene At Large is the third 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 Dr. Watson that she blends into the novels of the series.

In this outing the plot takes place around the events of Doyle's story "The Naval Treaty." Irene and Nell run into an old acquaintance of Nell's, Quentin Stanhope, dressed in Eastern garb, feverish, and quite unkempt. When they take him home, an attempt is made on his life. As they try to uncover his attacker, they find the answer may lie in events at the British battle of Maiwand in Afghanistan nine years earlier that link Stanhope to Dr. Watson and a mysterious spy known as Tiger.

This is an excellent story that should appeal to readers familiar with the tales of Sherlock Holmes, but who seek a more feminine and feminist point of view on the period and the characters.

[Kasia James · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Irene at Large' is fanfic before fanfic had a name. Taking her prompt from the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Carole Nelson Douglas has scooped out the exotic character of Irene Adler and given her her own series of adventures.
Sherlock Holmes himself and Dr. Watson also feature prominently, and I suppose that some die-hard fans may take exception to this, but I found that their characters were treated respectfully.
The story is narrated by Penelope Huxleigh, conservative companion to Irene, through her extensive diary entries, and herein lies one of my first slight niggles with the book. I confess that I found Miss Huxleigh rather too school-marmish for my taste, and Irene's supposed brilliance and beauty somewhat irritating. They didn't really grate on my nerves, but it did make it harder for me to engage with either character.
My only other issue was the ending, which had built up to be rather exciting, but then was left a little flat and unresolved.
However, overall I enjoyed reading 'Irene at Large', and towards the end it did become gripping enough that I almost missed my train station stop, which is surely a good recommendation for any novel!

[Raja99 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 9/10

This is the third Irene Adler novel by Carole Nelson Douglas. I believe that this is the first time I've read it.

Like the previous two novels, this book is longer than I usually prefer, but I enjoyed the wallow this time. Perhaps it was better focused than the earlier books, or perhaps I'm getting used to the format.

As with many Holmes stories by other hands, there are some easter eggs for the reader; here, Douglas comes up with an ingenious (and funny) solution to the problems of Watson's war wounds, and also throws in a humorous "meta" moment or two.

I look forward to reading the fourth novel after I've met my other obligations ;-)

(Finished 6:16:08.7 AM EDT +/- 0.02s approximately.)

(Related canon works: A Study in Scarlet; "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty"; "The Adventure of the Empty House")

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was quite a shock and a twist for me becuase never had Irene the protagonist of this book helped Sherlock Holmes with one of his cases. As for Watson himself he was able to find himself involve with a murder scene created by a spy by the named Tiger. I find it interesting that the relationship between the forces of good and evil join together. However, Sherlock and Irene had mistaken that Cobra (another spy for the British forces) was planning to find Tiger (spy for the Russians)and that he died. I find it amusing how Holmes the great detective couldn't see through the folds that it was Irene who had helped him and allowed him to find the murder and a threat to England as well as France.

[C.O. Bonham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good addition to the Irene Addler series.

I loved it becasue it featured a lot more Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The plot line coincides with the events recounted in Doyle's "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty" and ties up the mystery of Dr. Watson's second wound.

The story starts when an old aquantence of Nell's showes up in Paris -- posioned. This is very exciting because it places Penelope Huxleigh in the center of everything which is good becasue she is a much more interesting character than Irene Addler.

[Fla Fla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seeing the world of Sherlock Holmes from a whole new angle, and I have loved it.
As a Sherlock Holmes fan, not only cannon but anything related, Irene has never struck me as entertaining in any other book as she has in this one. I love how the author has 'created' her, interesting to the last detail. The story itself is interesting and brings us face to face with the man as well.
All in all, an interesting and fun read!

[Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this third book of the series about Irene Adler, "the woman" to Sherlock Holmes, the events are set off by a man in oriental garb who is poisoned. We learn that he knew Dr. Watson in Afghanistan and is here to warn him that his life is in danger. This of course puts Irene and Sherlock back in business once again. The background of these stories is well done and they are great fun. Irene at Large is another fun, can't put it down, read.

[Susie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun book! It is based on the adventures of Irene Adler (the only woman to best Sherlock Holmes) and written from the viewpoint of her "Watson", Nell. There's mystery, a bit of romance, some Sherlock Holmes intertwining and a fantastic ending. I'm so glad I randomly picked this book up! I only wish my library carried the first in the series.

[Elderberrywine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great re-tooling of the notorious Col. Sebastian Moran and certain events that pertain to Dr. Watson's time in service, told as usual by Ms. Adler's friend, the irredeemably English Penelope Huxleigh.

I only grade it down a star for a lack of sufficient Watson, in a story in which he should have taken center stage. One can never have too much Watson.

[PRK Oregon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another in the "Irene" series by Carole Nelson Douglas that I completely recommend to anyone who likes historical mysteries with a Sherlockian twist. Delightful use of the English language. Sometimes you stop reading for a minute just to admire a sentence or even a word or two. Complete and well-developed characters including Casanova and Lucifer. :)

[Rozonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful pastiche with Irene Adler as the detective and a kind hearted Victorian spinster as her Watson. I got this one as a present and haven't been able to lay my hands on another title of the series ever since then. Hope I will!!!

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the characters, and their world and hope I get the chance to read the story again and/or to read more within the series.

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

3rd in series.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love all the Irene Adler books. They are such fun.

[Greymalkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

another fun one, with a bit more romance than the previous two.

[Bethany Swafford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was a little harder to get into, but I was delighted that Penelope was getting some romance in her life! I adore this series!

[Jutta · Rating 5 out of 5]

the surprise dress makes an appearance.....poor nell

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun, I liked how this showed the opposite opinion of Sherlock Holmes and tied together several facts and fictions to make a brilliant story.

[Gloria Mccracken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a little flatter than the other one I've read in the series.