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Title: Chapel Noir: A Novel of Suspense featuring Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler, and Jack the Ripper by Carole Nelson Douglas ISBN: 0-7653-4347-9 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 01 September, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.63 (30 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Irene Adler and Jack the Ripper resurrected!
Comment: I have to admit that I have not been a fan of Carole Nelson Douglas. I dislike cats; therefore, I do not read mystery books which feature crime-solving felines. The only reason I read her Irene Adler series was to catch brief glimpses of Sherlock Holmes here and there. Honestly, I found nothing all that remarkable about her Irene Adler series--until now.
I have been converted. This past week, I picked up Chapel Noir planning to quickly flip through the pages searching for Holmes. Boy, was I in for a pleasant surprise! The riveting plot: it would appear that Jack the Ripper is in Paris, and seems to have picked up where he left off back in Whitechapel. Irene and her Watsonian sidekick Nell are summoned in the middle of the night to investigate the crime. Famous personages pop up throughout the book a la any historical mystery, but rather than crowding up the storyline, they simply make their appearance and exit stage left.
By the way, for all you Sherlockians, there is enough Sherlock Holmes here for your enjoyment, but what caught my attention is that Douglas' pen seems to have found new life in this series. This book is far darker and more complex than its predecessors, but it sure makes for a far more engrossing read.
Sherlock Holmes stays for a bit longer in this book than he does in all the previous Irene Adler books combined (which is a plus!). The interplay between the two are especially fun to read, and Huxleigh's observations of them are just flat-out hilarious!
Chapel Noir, the latest and in my humble opinion, the greatest installment in this series, is a must-read mystery novel! And oh, the ending! Talk about a cliffhanger! I can hardly wait for the the sequel to come out in August 2002!
Rating: 3
Summary: A difficult but tantalizing read
Comment: I have eagerly anticipated another Irene Adler book from Carole Nelson Douglas for several years now. I learned about "Chapel Noir" several months ago and eagerly rushed to the bookstore as soon as my copy arrived in the store. That said, I can admit I am a fan, albeit a slightly disappointed one.
No, I do not mind that the book is darker than the previous ones in the series. It fits the story. I love the growth and development of the characteters, so no complaints there. I can even handle a cliffhanger as much as I personally detest them. I hate waiting at least a year for a resolution in books I read primarily for entertainment.
What I didn't like was the constant change of narrator in the book. Yes, I understand it was necessary, considering the inevitable cliffhanger. Yes, I even like Pink (or whatever you want to call her). But although she is vastly different in personality from Nell, her narrative voice is not sufficiently different. I kept having to keep the narrative clues straight as to who was speaking, since the voices were all too similar. It's not that I was confused, but I had to work too hard to read the book just to keep the narrators straight, let alone the clues and story developments. It was horrific when I had to put the book down for a break and come back and figure out who was speaking before I could become immersed in the story. The narrative clues are dense, actually, and also slowed the flow of the story. It was as if the editor knew the voices were not different enough so we were peppered with narrative clues, not mystery clues, since the conceit had to be maintained to obtain the ending.
Still, Irene is back, and so is Nell. If you love them, reread the other books and venture onto this one. If you haven't read the former books, please start with them. Nell is a jewel, a Dr. Watson and an Archie Goodwin rolled all into a Victorian woman. Don't miss her. I love her. I just wish the book had been more about her again than Irene. Irene is wonderful, but Nell is the true heroine. Nell humanizes Irene's perfections.
If you also enjoy Holmes tempered with a strong female character, I highly recommend Laurie R. King's "The Beekeeper's Apprentice."
Rating: 5
Summary: Jack the Ripper in Paris with a female detective in pursuit
Comment: Irene Adler is the only female adversary to outwit Sherlock Holmes and she may have stolen his heart as well. Carol Nelson Douglas has taken the brief outline of Irene Adler in the Sherlock Holmes adventure A Scandal In Bohemia and fleshed it out into a marvelous sleuth of her own design. She has created her own series of books with Irene Adler as a 19th century detective with a feminist flair.
Adler's latest two-part adventure, Chapel Noir and Castle Rouge, is told through a series of journal entries by her female companion Penelope Huxleigh. Additional chapters are supposedly taken from notes written by a prostitute called Pink and sections of a mysterious yellow book of anonymous authorship. This multiple "authorship" allows Douglas to present her story from different perspectives.
And what a story! In Chapel Noir Adler is called on by Baron de Alphonse Rothschild to investigate a particularly bloody murder in a Parisian bordello. Before long Jack the Ripper is the suspect and Sherlock Holmes (sans Watson) has come to Paris to investigate. As the plot moves on, more famous historical figures are drawn in either as suspects or allies. 470 pages later I found, instead of the end, that this is the first of a two part story.
A rollicking adventure that continues for another 470 pages in Castle Rouge. Lots of fun if you can stand the gruesome aspects of the crimes.
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Title: Castle Rouge by Carole Nelson Douglas ISBN: 0765345714 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Another Scandal in Bohemia: A Novel of Suspense Featuring Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler by Carole Douglas ISBN: 0765343258 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 01 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Irene at Large by Carole Nelson Douglas ISBN: 0812517024 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1993 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: The Adventuress by Carole Douglas ISBN: 0765347156 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 30 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Femme Fatale: An Irene Alder Novel by Carole Nelson Douglas ISBN: 0765306824 Publisher: Forge Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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