This short story was alright. I liked the build up but was a little bummed out about the ending. ( )

'The Woman' in Brooklyn
Review of the Amazon Original Kindle eBook (June 30, 2022) released simultaneously with the Amazon Original audiobook.

Describing con-woman/grifter Irene Adler from the story 'A Scandal in Bohemia' from Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892) as a 'classic Holmesian detective,' as this story's synopsis does, is a bit of a stretch. A Scandal in Brooklyn does not feel very Holmesian at all, except for the title flip, the character name steal and the narration by a substitute 'Watson'. You would expect a lot more from a character based on the single opponent who outwitted Sherlock Holmes and whom he called 'The Woman' ever after.

There are so many characters with so little background information packed into this 46 page story (based on a Kindle page count) that you end up not really caring about any of them, let alone the lead protagonist. This 'Irene Adler' is called in at first to hunt down a missing husband, who is found to have been participating in a virtual reality experiment (in Brooklyn) where he has apparently died from a virtual bee sting. For whatever reason, she is the wife of the tech-guru who is behind the experiment and she brings her own 'Watson' along to assist. It all gets wrapped up quickly without much suspense.

I liked author Lauren Wilkinson's historical fiction American Spy (2019) when I read it due to its nomination for Best First Novel in the 2020 Edgar Awards. A Scandal in Brooklyn feels like a placeholder until she comes up with something more further developed in the future. ( )

A closed room mystery with an interesting plot. The plot has a mysterious tone, although, it is a short story. Still, the author has done a good job. The story has everything to turn itself into a full book of 200- 300 pages. The most fascinating are the characters like Irene Adler and Martin Krall. I really enjoyed the story. Hope to read more from the author.

I would like to give 4 stars to the story. Thanks Lauren Wilkinson for providing me an opportunity to read and review the book. ( )