Scan barcode
A review by plexippa
The Dark Lady by Chris Turner, Pierdomenico Baccalario, Iacopo Bruno, Alessandro Gatti
3.0
What if Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler, and Arsene Lupin all met as children?
That's the question this series sets out to answer. Irene is 12 years old in the summer of 1870, when she arrives with her mother and their butler (her father having stayed behind to conduct the business that keeps them in their lovely Paris home) in the seaside resort town of Saint-Malo. Her very first day there, she encounters a strange, skinny boy tucked up on top of the wall with a book. Irene, of course, isn't supposed to be wandering about town all by herself, but when the butler tries to fetch her home, she follows Sherlock to the harbor, where he and his friend Lupin take her in a "borrowed" boat to their regular spot, an abandoned manor house falling into ruins.
Their afternoon jaunt comes to a strange end, though, when they discover a dead body washed up on the beach. Since the official police seem to make no headway with the case, the three new friends take it upon themselves to investigate.
There are secret identities, clandestine criminal societies, fights, chases, and plenty of adventure packed into the story. Irene is a spirited character, smart and self-reliant, a girl just on the cusp of becoming a young lady and chafing at the constraints that role will place on her. It's easy to see her becoming The Woman of the "Scandal in Bohemia" one day. Holmes is also recognizably himself, only younger, though the clues given about his family situation are sometimes puzzling.
All in all, this is a fun mystery for young readers. I'm looking forward to seeing how some of the threads left dangling are picked up in future installments of the series.
That's the question this series sets out to answer. Irene is 12 years old in the summer of 1870, when she arrives with her mother and their butler (her father having stayed behind to conduct the business that keeps them in their lovely Paris home) in the seaside resort town of Saint-Malo. Her very first day there, she encounters a strange, skinny boy tucked up on top of the wall with a book. Irene, of course, isn't supposed to be wandering about town all by herself, but when the butler tries to fetch her home, she follows Sherlock to the harbor, where he and his friend Lupin take her in a "borrowed" boat to their regular spot, an abandoned manor house falling into ruins.
Their afternoon jaunt comes to a strange end, though, when they discover a dead body washed up on the beach. Since the official police seem to make no headway with the case, the three new friends take it upon themselves to investigate.
There are secret identities, clandestine criminal societies, fights, chases, and plenty of adventure packed into the story. Irene is a spirited character, smart and self-reliant, a girl just on the cusp of becoming a young lady and chafing at the constraints that role will place on her. It's easy to see her becoming The Woman of the "Scandal in Bohemia" one day. Holmes is also recognizably himself, only younger, though the clues given about his family situation are sometimes puzzling.
All in all, this is a fun mystery for young readers. I'm looking forward to seeing how some of the threads left dangling are picked up in future installments of the series.