Castle Rouge

Review 1: Castle Rouge is the sixth in the "Irene Adler" series by Carole Nelson Douglas. This series focuses on the only woman to defeat Sherlock Holmes and is more of a spin-off than a true pastiche.

Godfrey Norton, Irene's husband, has gone missing while on a secret mission to Transylvania. Irene's closest companion has been kidnapped while helping Irene investigate the Jack the Ripper murders. It's up to Irene, daredevil reporter Nellie Bly, and writer/stage manager Bram Stoker to track down the villains as they go from Paris to Prague and on to Transylvania. Along the way they encounter Baron Rothschild, Prince Albert Edward, Sarah Bernhardt, the King of Bohemia, and other famous personalities.

The previous Irene Adler books, while part of a series, could basically stand on their own. Chapel Noir, the fifth book, began the events surrounding the Ripper murders. Unfortunately it cut off rather than ending, so Chapel Noir and Castle Rouge are really a single story spanning two large volumes. Reading either one alone is less than satisfying.

Chapel Noir and Castle Rouge offer an interesting and entertaining mix of historical events and literary allusions. I particularly enjoyed how they provided an alternate perspective on the vampire myth and Dracula. However, the solution to the mystery was less rewarding. While the villains were colorful and well-drawn, their motivation was ambiguous and implausible. As such the explanation and resolution of the story was not very convincing.

Fans of the series will find much of the same style in this pair of Ripper books. Settings and especially clothing are described well. The narrator changes in various chapters but is usually a woman. Watson narrates a few sections. Unfortunately, Douglas doesn't capture the spirit or style of Doyle's stories and the non-Watson sections are more enjoyable. Chapel Noir and Castle Rouge deal extensively with the Ripper murders and sexual crime. Some readers may find this subject less appealing then the prior Irene Adler books.

Reviewed by: Randall Stock, 2003

Review 2: Nell: “I am in a box. Oh dear God…! I will go mad. If I do not die of retching first. My hands reach out. Find limits again. I lie on some thick fabric. The dark is the shape of a box the length and width of my body and not much more. A coffin. I will go mad”. These were Nell’s last thoughts at the end of Chapel Noir. Even the most callous and jaded individual could not let this go. Thank you Carole Nelson Douglas for Castle Rouge, even if I had to wait a year to find out the fate of Nell.

Irene’s losses are not over. Irene’s beloved husband has disappeared. Irene left him in Prague still acting for the Rothschilds. He was to return to Irene in Paris. Now Irene is missing both her husband and her constant companion Nell.

The lady is neither down nor out. Irene’s resolve to catch Jack the Ripper is stronger than ever. Irene calls a meeting of Bram Stoker, Sarah Bernhardt, The Prince of Wales, Inspector Francois le Villard and Baron de Rothschild. The ripper is believed to be James Kelly, husband of the last London victim. The search begins by following the route of Nell’s abductors. Their wagon is traced to the Paris train station and a coffin shipped to Verdun. Following the trail of the coffin into Germany Irene and Pink are shown the body of a butchered seventeen-year-old flower seller. Irene believes James Kelly has Nell! He paid for a continuation of his journey with coppers taken from the body of the girl. Irene’s hope is that following his trail and his associates will lead her to Godfrey & Nell if they are still alive. To follow the Kelly all Irene has to do is follow a trail of bodies.

The trail of the Ripper leads Irene back to Prague, where she has left both Friends and enemies. King Willie and Clotilde both pledge their help. In the meantime both Godfrey and Nell are held in the tower of an ancient castle in the Transylvanian countryside. In Godfrey’s words, “We are in the hands of Irene’s worst enemies”.

A question arises; who is the Real Jack the Ripper? Up until now there have been a number of likely candidates including Holmes himself. The most likely candidate is James Kelly who has certainly perpetrated a number of murders in his own right. Is James Kelly the real thing or just another inspired amateur? Among the captors of Nell and Godfrey looms another likely candidate who Tatyana calls Medved, a huge crude Gypsy servant. (Medved means bear in Russian) Medved’s real name was Grigorii Efimovich Rasputin. Grigirii’s subsequent history does nothing to eliminate his candidacy for the Ripper title. The village people who guard the Transylvanian castle are The Klysty, a religious sect that dates back for centuries.

What is it all about? It is about the balance of power in Eastern Europe. It is about the continuing struggle between England and Russia for domination of a vast empire. It is a continuation of the events, which let up to and cumulated in the battle of Maiwand.

On a more personal level it is about love, lust and personal hatreds stemming from the events narrated in Chapel Noir.

Finally, and on an entirely different level it is about a madman. The psyche of Jack the Ripper is totally exposed. This is a story of total insanity.

This is Carole Nelson’s finest work yet in her Irene Adler series. It is a thriller. Every chapter is packed with suspense. It documents the sexual attitudes both public and private of the period, also of the accepted roles of both women and women in that society. It tells of the struggle for dominance of Europe by both England and Russia, which continued unabated until the very recent past. The only regrettable drawback in the book is the ending. There are no kidnapped Nells’. There are no Missing Godfreys. There are no more dragons to be slain. It sounds like another one of those “and they lived happily ever after endings”. It sound like the author has said all she has to say on the subject.

I sincerely hope I am wrong!

Reviewed by: Roger F Kellogg F.I.A., Originally appeared in The Gaslight Gazette