This short spin-off novel, as its title suggests, is a sequel to one of Conan Doyle's most famous short stories, A Scandal in Bohemia, in which Holmes is, to a degree, and somewhat to his chagrin, bested by the "well known adventuress" and opera singer, Irene Adler. That story revolved around a photograph of Miss Adler taken in what was to 19th century eyes, though not to ours, a compromising situation with the King of Bohemia. This sequel is a follow up with further scandal over this photograph and letters the King wrote to Miss Adler. I found the plot a little trite and the story has a Ruritanian feel to it, what with the fictional depiction of Bohemia here as an independent country rather than being as it was at the time a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with a fictional capital and other towns. Worse though was that I thought the depictions of Holmes and Watson rather inauthentic. They are not the worst spin-off depictions I have encountered, but Holmes here is much more of a run of the mill detective lacking his usual intuitive and brilliant logical leaps and sometimes being outshone by Watson, who makes a fair bit of the running here. GIven this concern, I probably won't bother with any of this author's other spin-offs. ( )