The Dark Lady: Sherlock, Lupin and Meby "Irene Adler" [j Adler]
Although
we don't normally review youth materials on BookGuide, there are a lot
of Sherlock Holmes afficionados who may appreciate this juvenile title.
The Dark Lady
is an English language translation of the first in a six-book series
originally released in Italian. The book is ostensibly told from the
point-of-view of Irene Adler as a young pre-teen, on vacation in the
village of Saint Malo. In fact, "Irene Adler" is listed as the "author"
of this work. Irene, as Sherlockians well know, will be "
the
woman" who bests him on a case ("A Scandal in Bohemia") in his later
career. But in this story, she's very young. As are William "Sherlock"
Holmes and Arsene Lupin (later a famed "gentleman thief" in a series of
detective/crime novels by Maurice Leblanc), both of whom are also
vacationing in Saint Malo. The three youth naturally encounter each
other and form into a tight-knit band of friends. And, this being a
juvenile crime novel, the threesome tumble across a dead body on the
seashore. When the local constabulary seem incapable of solving the
mystery of the dead man, the three juvenile detectives take on the case,
which puts them in peril with the local criminal elements. The three
main characters are bright, inquisitive and likeable, even though
Sherlock has already started to develop some of the abrasive qualities
he will exhibit as a "consulting detective" in his adult years. Irene
herself is perhaps a bit too progressive for the time period in which
this story is set, but she makes for a very plucky narrative voice. No
matter how ridiculous the set-up for this series of books is, I enjoyed
this and look forward to the other volumes being translated into
English. Sherlock fans should enjoy this as well. One fair warning — the
ending of this book comes rather abruptly, as if the author got tired
of the story, and decided to wrap things up on short notice.
-- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [
see Scott's Reviewer Profile and more of his reviews ]
[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try any of the books on our
Elementary booklist — a comprehensive listing of alternative Sherlock Holmes works.]
[ English-language publisher's official The Dark Lady web page ]
Have you read this? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?
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