The first Irene Adler novel by Douglas, im­me­di­ate­ly preceding Good Morning, Irene, which retells Conan Doyle’s A Scandal in Bohemia from Irene and Nell’s per­spec­tive.

We learn how the narrator Nell Huxleigh met Irene; of Irene’s early years in London when she struggles with her singing career and develops a sideline as an in­ves­ti­ga­tor; how she meets Godfrey Norton, her future husband; how they despise each other at first, in the best rom-com tradition; her operatic triumphs in Warsaw that draw her to the attention of the future King of Bohemia; their falling out; and, finally, the events of “A Scandal in Bohemia”.

These books are a lot of fun. Douglas uses the prim Nell and the in­de­pen­dent Irene to explore women’s roles in society, while also playing homage to Sherlock Holmes.