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Irene Adler #2
The Adventuress
Diva/detective Irene Adler and her bridegroom, handsome barrister Godfrey Norton, are honeymooning in Paris when they become embroiled in an a drowned sailor's body has been recovered from the Seine, and on his chest is a tattoo. A tattoo like one Irene once saw in London-- on another sailor's chest, while the corpse lay upon Bram Stoker's dining room table. This clue will lead Irene to the first beautiful blond American princess of Monaco, political and matrimonial treachery, and a sword duel as she and her new friend Sarah Bernhardt unravel the mystery-- with, of course, the help of Godfrey, Irene's faithful chronicler Miss Penelope Huxleigh, and Sherlock Holmes himself.
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 28, 1991
46 people are currently reading
574 people want to read
About the author
Carole Nelson Douglas
167 books567 followersCarole 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
May 3, 2025
A solid entry in this series. The dynamic between the three amateur investigators is taking shape, and it’s charming. A happily married couple and the spinster friend who is always urging them to behave with more propriety, especially while investigating murder…it is an unusual dynamic!
There were quite a few innuendoes at Penelope’s expense (mainly relating to Irene and Godfrey still being on their honeymoon), but the characters are delightful and I will definitely go on with this series and look for hard copies.
These books are styled so exquisitely and are a marvellous escape—this time to balmy, duplicitous Monte Carlo.
As usual, pitch-perfect use of literary, historical, and poetic allusions.
There were quite a few innuendoes at Penelope’s expense (mainly relating to Irene and Godfrey still being on their honeymoon), but the characters are delightful and I will definitely go on with this series and look for hard copies.
These books are styled so exquisitely and are a marvellous escape—this time to balmy, duplicitous Monte Carlo.
As usual, pitch-perfect use of literary, historical, and poetic allusions.
December 28, 2025
Zagadka dobra, niestety narratorka, panna Huxleigh mnie wymęczyła
February 15, 2017
Worth reading but definitely one of the weaker installments of Irene Adler, a bad ass detective and rival to Sherlock Holmes.
"Good Morning, Irene" has a convoluted plot line with a few too many coincidences to make it credible but it's still a fun ride with Irene, Godfrey and the ever faithful, though disapproving Nell, solving another mystery amid the A-list celebrities of the late 19th century
Recommended.
"Good Morning, Irene" has a convoluted plot line with a few too many coincidences to make it credible but it's still a fun ride with Irene, Godfrey and the ever faithful, though disapproving Nell, solving another mystery amid the A-list celebrities of the late 19th century
Recommended.
January 6, 2016
2nd in the series.
April 18, 2019
This book, and indeed the series in which it comes, is probably the pinnacle of this author's achievement as an author. I'm not sure how I feel about it, because this book is made less enjoyable by the fact that it goes far beyond being an enjoyable mystery series. To begin with, the book is told by a somewhat narrow-minded character, Shropshire spinster Penelope Huxleigh, whose sympathies I am more in line with than with most of the other people in the book, rather than in the more elusive and intuitive Irene Adler or her patient barrister husband, who is also a sympathetic figure here. For another, the book seeks to re-appropriate the mythos of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries in a way that parodies feminist critical theory on the one hand while simultaneously adopting a feminist approach on the other, which does limit the appeal somewhat. Portraying Irene Adler as a thoughtful, intuitive detective engaged in the private solving of important mysteries would be sufficient, but this is an author that doesn't appear to know when enough is enough, and though there is a lot to enjoy here, there are clearly cases where less is more and the author simply does not grasp that.
While still pretending to be dead, a cover she manages to at least partially blow by singing privately in Monte Carlo, Irene Adler, her husband, and her faithful assistant rescue a young woman from drowning herself, and find that she has a mysterious tattoo placed on her chest by some kidnappers. This leads them on a convoluted quest that first uncovers some unpleasant family business, including a strict uncle and the young woman's desire to escape France and elope with a handsome but somewhat clueless American journalist (who seems bright enough to work for the Washington Post or New York Times, but probably not Wall Street Journal). The girl's tattoo reminds Irene of a drowned sailor she saw years ago and also another sailor who had been drowned in Paris, and this leads them to uncover what ties them together, which also involves explaining the apparent suicide of the girl's father more than fifteen years ago in Monte Carlo. Meanwhile, the efforts by a well-meaning French policeman to solve what appears to be Louise's murder leads Sherlock Holmes to enter the story, which soon involves blackmail and the politics of Monaco and the author's own views of gender politics.
Given the fact that this book is already a sufficiently convoluted mess, where people are continually misreading each other as well as the clues that they uncover, it is lamentable that the author feels it necessary to attach fake textual criticism as well as multiple layers of questions of authorial authenticity to the story on top of it. This is a story that is already overstuffed, and pruning and lopping and cropping would have been for the best. The author manages to make a lot of sly jokes, but given that they seem to make fun of Americans (especially American reporters) as well as men in general, most of the jokes miss the mark for me as well. The author certainly likes to subvert the cliches of the mystery novel, and certainly has a bone to pick with Sherlock Holmes in the way she views Irene Adler as a less druggy and more emotional but very intelligent detective and continually throws shade on Sherlock Holmes, but it would have been better for the author to focus on the story and let the reader come to feminist conclusions from reading about strong and capable women rather than feeling it necessary to beat them over the head with the political point.
While still pretending to be dead, a cover she manages to at least partially blow by singing privately in Monte Carlo, Irene Adler, her husband, and her faithful assistant rescue a young woman from drowning herself, and find that she has a mysterious tattoo placed on her chest by some kidnappers. This leads them on a convoluted quest that first uncovers some unpleasant family business, including a strict uncle and the young woman's desire to escape France and elope with a handsome but somewhat clueless American journalist (who seems bright enough to work for the Washington Post or New York Times, but probably not Wall Street Journal). The girl's tattoo reminds Irene of a drowned sailor she saw years ago and also another sailor who had been drowned in Paris, and this leads them to uncover what ties them together, which also involves explaining the apparent suicide of the girl's father more than fifteen years ago in Monte Carlo. Meanwhile, the efforts by a well-meaning French policeman to solve what appears to be Louise's murder leads Sherlock Holmes to enter the story, which soon involves blackmail and the politics of Monaco and the author's own views of gender politics.
Given the fact that this book is already a sufficiently convoluted mess, where people are continually misreading each other as well as the clues that they uncover, it is lamentable that the author feels it necessary to attach fake textual criticism as well as multiple layers of questions of authorial authenticity to the story on top of it. This is a story that is already overstuffed, and pruning and lopping and cropping would have been for the best. The author manages to make a lot of sly jokes, but given that they seem to make fun of Americans (especially American reporters) as well as men in general, most of the jokes miss the mark for me as well. The author certainly likes to subvert the cliches of the mystery novel, and certainly has a bone to pick with Sherlock Holmes in the way she views Irene Adler as a less druggy and more emotional but very intelligent detective and continually throws shade on Sherlock Holmes, but it would have been better for the author to focus on the story and let the reader come to feminist conclusions from reading about strong and capable women rather than feeling it necessary to beat them over the head with the political point.
February 2, 2019
A great read with an unexpected conclusion :o) I love Carole Nelson Douglas' writing style. Her characters have well-formed depth; her descriptions of people and places are superbly detailed; and she crafts intriguing, multi-faceted tales.
Some favorite passages:
"The sun was blushing in readiness for its evening ablution in the sea." page 145
"... when the day's sun-warmed water meets the night chill, a fog rises from the waves and weaves through every byway, especially by the water." page 234
"The waning night was strangely beautiful. The sea shone like beaten silver in the soft light of a quarter-moon; a ribbon of daylight trimmed the horizon, and a few last stars salted the heavens." page 309
Some favorite passages:
"The sun was blushing in readiness for its evening ablution in the sea." page 145
"... when the day's sun-warmed water meets the night chill, a fog rises from the waves and weaves through every byway, especially by the water." page 234
"The waning night was strangely beautiful. The sea shone like beaten silver in the soft light of a quarter-moon; a ribbon of daylight trimmed the horizon, and a few last stars salted the heavens." page 309
September 3, 2011
A most excellent sequel to "Goodnight Mr. Holmes." The narrative picks up almost exactly were the first book left off and then throws Irene and Nell into a most tangled web of Blackmail, Murder, and Kidnapping. The Norton's and Nell travle to Monte Carlo in order to unwrap the twisted plot only to be constanly dogged by the one and only Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
It is a mystery well worth reading though Holmes is not used very effectivly and the writing and plot seem a little more Agathia Christie than Conan Doyle.
It is a mystery well worth reading though Holmes is not used very effectivly and the writing and plot seem a little more Agathia Christie than Conan Doyle.
May 19, 2009
Anyone who enjoyed Sherlock Holmes would surely loves this book, which features "the Woman",Irene Adler, her husband and best friend,as well as brief appearances from the Great Detective himself.
This story has all the marks of a typical Holmes mystery with mysterious tattoos, shadowy sailors and maidens in distress.
A very enjoyable read.
This story has all the marks of a typical Holmes mystery with mysterious tattoos, shadowy sailors and maidens in distress.
A very enjoyable read.
January 27, 2013
"The Seine reflected Notre Dame's famous towers in a wriggling fashion that resembled the work of those demented Impressionist paint hurlers."
Never has an observation more eloquently revealed a character's personality! :-)
Never has an observation more eloquently revealed a character's personality! :-)
September 3, 2018
Douglas very smartly puts Penelope Huxleigh more in the mix of mystery, action, intrigue, and foolishness in this second book the series. Maybe she discovered, after the first book, that if the audience gets to see what Miss Huxleigh sees, it's better for her to be there for the action instead of having it told to her after the fact. Sarah Bernhardt and the royal family of Monaco play parts in this fun mystery which I would actually give 3 1/2 stars, if we could give half stars. Not quite a 4 yet due to some saggy parts and one character who was obviously up to no good, at least to me. Will gladly seek out book 3.
July 12, 2017
Another good novel inspired by Sherlock Holmes. He is mostly in the background, and the book centers around Irene Adler, whom Holmes called "The Woman" because she was the only person who had ever defeated him, and she was also talented, beautiful, clever, etc.
This was very enjoyable. Good sleuthing, scenes of Monte Carlo, colorful characters, etc. I will read more in the series.
This was very enjoyable. Good sleuthing, scenes of Monte Carlo, colorful characters, etc. I will read more in the series.
September 18, 2019
The Irene Adler books are clever in the way the author weaves in real historical characters as well as bits of Sherlock Homes -- and some of those are actually taken from Conan Doyle's stories. I enjoyed the setting of this one because I've been there and could visualize it: Monaco. I'd give it 3.5 stars if I could.
October 17, 2020
Carole Nelson Douglas never fails to entertain me! This was so much fun. Irene, Nell, & Godfrey get the best of Sherlock Holmes in a mystery set in Monaco. Great characters, lots of action, and a treasure hunt to boot!
January 11, 2021
A woman saved from drowning in the Seine by Godfrey leads to an investigation regarding the reason why the woman was abducted and a mysterious tattoo was branded on her chest. Paris and Monaco and Crete to follow the mystery - Holmes is encountered in this story as well.
February 3, 2024
The story was good, but I had a hard time accepting that the murderer of numerous people was left go free. I personally would have had him turn up dead with his throat slit and implied that Jerseyman got revenge for the killing of his Indian friend .
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2017
4.5 stars
November 6, 2017
A fun little romp. I needed a "day off" without serious thinking, and this was a perfect book with which to spend the day.
October 13, 2020
Well written, and always fun to have a female alternative to Sherlock Holmes!
February 19, 2022
"Trudne nie jest synonimem niemożliwego"
December 31, 2024
I did not find this one as compelling as the first, but still enjoyed it and am hopeful the series will continue to develop Irene's complexities.
August 8, 2025
Nice little mystery. I enjoyed all the historical touches and the little bits of Sherlock Holmes. I am up for another book by her.
July 16, 2019
I've decided to discontinue reading this series. I do not find the main character engaging and the narrator is an insufferable prig. It also fails the prime test of pastiches -- it belittles the original characters, in this case Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, characters I've loved since I was a preteen. This novel is an over-long, poorly constructed rip-off of "The Sign of Four."
August 30, 2019
This book was totally great.
February 15, 2017
A little bit of a slow start, but once it got going, a thoroughly enjoyable read. So much fun to hear about the intersection of Irene Adler and Sherlock Holmes. Love Irene's companion, Nell. She comes into her own in this second book of the series.
November 27, 2007
This book was quite interesting becuase it actually starts from Irene Norton (Adler) who was known in one of Holmes adventures- "A scandal in Bohemia". Holes was eventaully was tricked by Irene, and eventually escapes. However, the newspaper said that both Godfrey Norton (Irene's husband) and Irene herself was dead in a train accident.
Holmes eventually finds himself in a case in France (Monte Carlo) and went to Paris. He discovered that both Irene and Godfrey was alived, and had forgotten all grudges that were held upon her.
Holmes knew that he couldn't solve the complete mystery if he only has "crumbs rather then the world cake itself." This book basically describes the whole adventure that Irene and Godfrey as well as Nell (works for Godfrey as a typist) escapes London and were in the middle of solving a mystery of the death of 3men with tatoos. I it quite interesting how Irene would the main character of the story for she really took no part in the adventures of Holmes and Watson. This veiw how other characters have their own open opinion about a certain area of how they feel about a certain character.
(Hey, it's a free country)
Holmes eventually finds himself in a case in France (Monte Carlo) and went to Paris. He discovered that both Irene and Godfrey was alived, and had forgotten all grudges that were held upon her.
Holmes knew that he couldn't solve the complete mystery if he only has "crumbs rather then the world cake itself." This book basically describes the whole adventure that Irene and Godfrey as well as Nell (works for Godfrey as a typist) escapes London and were in the middle of solving a mystery of the death of 3men with tatoos. I it quite interesting how Irene would the main character of the story for she really took no part in the adventures of Holmes and Watson. This veiw how other characters have their own open opinion about a certain area of how they feel about a certain character.
(Hey, it's a free country)
September 7, 2007
THE ADVENTURESS (original title – “Good Morning, Irene”) – G+
Carole Nelson Douglas – 2nd in series
Diva/detective Irene Adler and her bridegroom, handsome barrister Godfrey Norton, are honeymooning in Paris when they become embroiled in an investigation: a drowned sailor's body has been recovered from the Seine, and on his chest is a tattoo. This clue will lead Irene to the first beautiful blond American princess of Monaco, political and matrimonial treachery, and a sword duel as she unravels the mystery--with, of course, the help of Godfrey, Irene's faithful chronicler Miss Penelope Huxleigh, and Sherlock Holmes himself.
Set in 19th century France, I am not generally a cozies reader, but the wonderful dialogue and study of society during this time more than made up for the lightness of the story. The contrast of the adventuresome Irene and the proper Penelope was absolutely delightful.
Carole Nelson Douglas – 2nd in series
Diva/detective Irene Adler and her bridegroom, handsome barrister Godfrey Norton, are honeymooning in Paris when they become embroiled in an investigation: a drowned sailor's body has been recovered from the Seine, and on his chest is a tattoo. This clue will lead Irene to the first beautiful blond American princess of Monaco, political and matrimonial treachery, and a sword duel as she unravels the mystery--with, of course, the help of Godfrey, Irene's faithful chronicler Miss Penelope Huxleigh, and Sherlock Holmes himself.
Set in 19th century France, I am not generally a cozies reader, but the wonderful dialogue and study of society during this time more than made up for the lightness of the story. The contrast of the adventuresome Irene and the proper Penelope was absolutely delightful.
May 15, 2012
Irene Adler, the diva detective, finds her enforced anonymity following her supposed death hard to bear, even with distractions like touring Paris in male garb with Sarah Bernhardt. Thus, she greets the distraction of a curiously tattooed corpse plucked from the Seine with an enthusiasm that appalls her prudish Boswell, Penelope. A suicidal girl, some intrusive sailors, and singular sealing wax lead her to the paradisiacal Monte Carlo and a twenty-year-old secret. The period detail is excellent, and Irene is just as fascinating a sleuth as Holmes, but the characters that surround her are rather flat in comparison.
February 8, 2021
The Irene Adler series is one of my favorite series. I've read them multiple times. And after this latest re-read, I love the story all the same.
If you like the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes, I recommend this series by Carole Nelson Douglas. The series, like the Holmes tales, are mysteries to be solved - but this time from the perspective of heroine, Irene Adler (the one woman even Holmes admits had bested him), her husband and her friend & companion, Penelope (Nell).
If you like the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes, I recommend this series by Carole Nelson Douglas. The series, like the Holmes tales, are mysteries to be solved - but this time from the perspective of heroine, Irene Adler (the one woman even Holmes admits had bested him), her husband and her friend & companion, Penelope (Nell).
January 23, 2019
Irene Adler makes a fascinating character. I did like her husband, Godfrey, and her friend, Miss Huxleigh. Both of them make a great supporting cast in pursuit of the solution to the mystery. There was quite a convoluted plot, naturally since years passed in uncovering what was really going on and then even more time to find the villain of the piece. Sherlock made a very brief appearance, helping discover only a tiny clue leading to the solution. I did enjoy Irene's duel, disguised as a man and quite handy with a sword.
August 12, 2016
I gotta confess... I'm not really a fan of this series. I wasn't madly in love with the first one, but I was hoping the second would improve. Even though I wasn't expecting a lot, I don't felt that it did. The idea has such potential, but the characters are poorly written and difficult to appreciate. Which is tragic, because it could be amazing. I guess that's really my problem with this book, its an excellent concept that is horribly executed. Its always tragic when that happens.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews