I've been a Sherlock Holmes fan as long as I can remember - devoured the Conan Doyle tales, several times over, in my tweens and teens. I particularly like that the characters and stories he created have an ongoing life, in film and television (most all of which I've enjoyed / become addicted to) and in many more stories.

The written stories - pastiche or sequel, serious or spoof* - are a fairly uneven lot. There're a lot that bore me, but the ones that work are a delight. Carole Nelson Douglas is in the delightful group. She clearly knows the source material, referencing dialog, style, story and character traits, but making a whole new world.

Though the book starts with a short chapter in the Watson-Holmes conversation format, as soon as we jump to that new world, it takes off. Irene Adler - the most intriguing female character** created by Conan Doyle) becomes more of a match for Holmes and it is, after all, her story here. She takes on a partner (in crime) in Penelope, a seeming-opposite type. A lot of backstory woven in and out of Irene's and Nell's adventures combined with real people (Oscar Wilde notably) lead to mesh quite well with the original story, 'A Scandal in Bohemia.'

It all comes together at the end, quite satisfactorily, and sets up what are presumably more adventures (with this one called Irene Adler #1). A quick, enjoyable read. Well done.

* the best parody on film is by Hillywood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArdWL2uKf7k

** in the most recent BBC television series, Sherlock, creators/writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss reinvent the female characters -Irene Adler, Mary Watson, Mrs Hudson- brilliantly, and add a new one, Molly Hooper. And even though the male characters are outstanding, it's the women who become the heart and soul of the series. ( )

This amused me mostly because the two female characters (Irene Adler and her Watson, Nell) really reminded me of two of my good friends. One's a singer and the other a serious-minded literature student, haha. So that's close enough to a parson's prudish daughter, right? Very entertaining fleshing out of "Scandal in Bohemia," quite fluffy but that's exactly what it wants to be, what am I to complain that is exactly what it puts itself out to be? The characters felt like truly Victorian ladies instead of just... modern women in steampunk clothing, which isn't bad but sometimes I don't wanna read that much of an AU, ykwim. Lots of descriptions of Victorian clothes, drooooooool. ( )

A back story to A Scandal in Bohemia. I loved this book. It was a well written period piece with great characters providing an alternate view of Irene Adler. ( )

Retelling Holmes from Irene Adler's viewpoint is clever, but somehow these books do not seem as good as they should be. The first is closer to the real Holmes than the later ones, being largely a Scvadal in Bohemia from Irene's viewpoint or more exactly that of her Watson. . ( )

SO GOOD. I can't believe there's a full series! ( )