The Dark Lady: 01/24/18

The Dark Lady (or Il Trio della Dama Nera) by Irene Adler is the first in the Sherlock, Lupin, & Io mystery series. Irene and her family are vacationing in southern France where there is rumor of a cat burglar. Then on the beach, a body washes up, hinting at something even more sinister than a night time thief.

Irene, who is bored out of her mind and tired of being forced to stay in their summer home, is lured by the excitement and danger of this mysterious death. In her excitement she meets two boys also curious about the events: William Sherlock Holmes and Arsene Lupin.

The mystery itself reminds me of The Trouble With Harry if it were seen by an outsider. Irene, Sherlock, and Lupin are only part of the mystery by their proximity to the event and to the others involved. Their youth and their status as outsiders give them a fresh and sometimes humorous take on the events.

Having Irene, Sherlock, and Lupin (who is from a completely different set of stories) together as childhood friends is the ultimate in fan fiction. This mystery appeals to me for the same reasons that I adore the long running anime series Lupin III.

The second book in the series is The Soprano's Last Stand (Ultimo atto Teatro dell'Opera).

Five stars

Comments (4)

Comment #1: Thursday, January 25, 2018 at 20:46:25

Kris (Words That Fly)

This does sound like an interesting read. I have always been a fan of getting to know a character from the ground up: it's definitely why I was a fan of Gotham as it showed us how young Bruce Wayne grew into Batman. Childhood has so much of an impact of who we become, but alas, it can't be featured in most books. In your opinion did these childhood representations of well known characters, hold true to what you knew of them?

Comment #2: Thursday, January 25, 2018 at 19:41:00

Pussreboots

Irene Adler, though she has become a major character in the Sherlockian universe through adaptations and pastiches, she in the original collection of stories is pretty much a minor character. Sherlock, likewise, has gone through so much evolution post-Doyle, that it's really moot to wonder if another childhood version of Sherlock is Sherlockian enough. For Lupin, I only knew him through his anime grandson — Lupin III. I actually went back and read the first collection of Lupin stories in translation to see how original Lupin compared to this version as well as the animé version I so enjoy.

The short answer is, I enjoyed this book. I liked how these three youthful versions interacted even if it was a little silly to have them all meet at this age.

Comment #3: Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 16:25:24

herding cats

That sounds rather fun!

Comment #4: Friday, February 02, 2018 at 09:23:00

Pussreboots

It is.