Assignment: Nepal (Irene Adler Mysteries)

J.A. Squires

3.75 · Rating details · 8 ratings · 4 reviews

When Irene Adler receives a plea for help on her answering machine from a former classmate it sends her to Nepal, a land of beauty, tika flowers, blackmail, and murder.

The death of a Sherpa who has fallen on a mountain pass, student demonstrations, the murder of a Russian salesman, and finally, the bombing of a hotel in Kathmandu all have one thing in common: some photos f ...more

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Published (first published October 12th 2011)

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Dec 30, 2011 Carl Brookins rated it liked it

Readers of this review should be aware that this press has published some of my crime fiction and I am acquainted with the publisher, though not with the two authors writing under a single pseudonym.
The protagonist is named Irene Adler. Not the woman who beat Sherlock Holmes at his own game, her modern namesake, a Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology at Boston University. Adler has a demi-cynical outlook on life and it turns out she supplements her income by playing poker; specifically Texas Ho Readers of this review should be aware that this press has published some of my crime fiction and I am acquainted with the publisher, though not with the two authors writing under a single pseudonym.
The protagonist is named Irene Adler. Not the woman who beat Sherlock Holmes at his own game, her modern namesake, a Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology at Boston University. Adler has a demi-cynical outlook on life and it turns out she supplements her income by playing poker; specifically Texas Holdem in the gambling parlors around the New England area. Irene Adler is a bright, smart, single woman, an endearing protagonist.
Her former advisor, a fellow faculty member, prevails on Ms. Adler to travel to Nepal to inquire into the life and times of a former fellow undergraduate student of Irene’s, a Margot Smith, who’s in Nepal doing research on one of that country’s goddesses, one Chwwaassa Dyo. The problem is that there appears to something awry with Margot and her physician husband and Adler is supposed to sort things out. What needs sorting turns out to be only part of the story. Irene agrees to go half-way around the world to see a woman she barely knows. From this most unlikely beginning, the plot drives poor Adler into one complexity after another.
Her assignment clearly has unstated dimensions about which neither we readers nor Irene Adler herself are clear. Now, Nepal is an exotic nation from which assaults on Mount Everest are mounted and the ubiquitous Sherpa play an important part, as do digital cameras, former Cold War adversaries, political unrest in the country, and a whole series of meddlesome individuals who seem to still show up on the fringes of the former English Empire.
The novel winds its way through a variety of conflicts among wanderers, a boorish American tourist couple, and murder and bomb blasts. At times the narrative suffers from a pedestrian pace and some lapses of editing discipline over the point of view. Still, the story is interesting, Irene is definitely a character to build a series around, the exotic setting in and around Katmandu is, well, exotic, and a satisfactory conclusion is fashioned. I think four stars is a little too strong a rating, but the novel is more enjoyable than three stars would indicate. Sample the story and make your own judgment.
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Dec 22, 2011 Lynnette Dobberpuhl rated it liked it

The title Assignment: Nepal by J.A. Squires caught my eye because I love opportunities for armchair travel plus the escape of a mystery. This genre-faithful novel gave me exotic locations and culture, a strong female protagonist and some bonus glimpses into the worlds of academia and high stakes poker.

Doctor of Anthropology Irene Adler is called upon by her former advisor to check in on an old friend doing dissertation work in Nepal. Adler finds a great deal more to be concerned about upon arriv ...more

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Dec 21, 2011 Ella Grey rated it really liked it

I requested this story to review.

The reason i wanted to read this story is because of the lead characters name. I'm a fan of Sherlock Holmes, so i recognized the name of Irene Adler as being the only woman to best Sherlock.

Assignment Nepal, is a adventure story featuring a woman who is a blend of Indiana Jones and another adventurers. She is given a task by a former professor, and she leaves her witty parrot and a man that she has a complicated relationship with and goes to Nepals.

J.A. Squires ...more

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Dec 31, 2011 Melissa Medina rated it it was amazing

Great first mystery ... I only read this book because it came recommended by someone I trust (http://kanatyler.com/2011/12/24/reade...) and I'm really glad I did. I fell in love with the protagonist, Irene Adler (she was named after *the* Irene Adler) and just loved her take on life; I think she had me smiling on every page.

Add to that an interesting twist on the typical amateur detective: Irene is an anthropologist who makes a living playing poker and talks to her African Gray parrot. Who, of c ...more

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