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


Review
“Her fine Sherlockian novels have turned Carole Nelson Douglas into a genuine mystery star. Pick one up and you'll see why.”—Mystery Scene



Book Description
Irene Adler is the only woman to ever have outwitted Sherlock Holmes... and the one who has come closest to stealing his heart.

She has competed (and sometimes cooperated) with the famous fictional detective over six popular and acclaimed novels, featuring her daring investigations across the Continent. All along, the beautiful and brilliant American diva-turned-detective has managed to conceal her background and history, even from her dashing barrister husband Godfrey Norton and her devoted friend and biographer, English spinster Nell Huxleigh.

Irene's past is shrouded in secrecy-but a series of bizarre killings in New York City draws her reluctantly back to her native country, where she must race with a murderer to find her mother, a woman of mystery who may turn out to be the most notorious woman of the nineteenth century.

As Irene forges a trail into her own hidden past, Nellie Bly draws another ace investigator across the Atlantic to join in the hunt for a serial killer, the last man on earth Irene Adler wants to discover anything about her shocking past... Sherlock Holmes.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Irene Adler is the only woman ever to have outwitted Sherlock Holmes... and the one who has come closest to stealing his heart. She has competed (and sometimes cooperated) with the famous fictional detective over six popular and acclaimed novels, featuring her daring investigations across the Continent. All along, the beautiful and brilliant American diva-turned-detective has managed to conceal her background and history, even from her dashing barrister husband, Godfrey Norton, and her devoted companion and biographer, English spinster Nell Huxleigh.

The allies that Irene has made during her investigations include such luminaries as the Baron de Rothschild, Sarah Bernhardt, and Bram Stoker, as well as the soon-to-be-infamous Nellie Bly, a daring American journalist who helped Irene hunt Jack the Ripper. Now Nellie has wired Irene some astounding news, news that will shake her world: Irene's mother is the target of an assassin.

Irene's past is shrouded in secrecy, and at first she is unwilling to divulge anything that would link her to America. But a series of bizarre killings in New York City draws her reluctantly back to her native country, where she must race with a murderer to find her mother, a woman of mystery who may turn out to be the most notorious woman of the nineteenth century.

As Irene forges a trail into her own hidden past, Nellie Bly draws another ace investigator across the Atlantic to join in the hunt for a serial killer, the last man on earth Irene Adler wants to deliver anything about her shocking past...Sherlock Holmes.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly