Note: Later editions were titled A Soul of Steel.


In Douglas's third Irene Adler mystery, Irene observes a stranger in Oriental garb fall poisoned at the feet of Nell Huxliegh, Irene's very proper friend and narrator. Despite his garb, he is an Englishman, and reveals as he recovers that he has returned after years in Afghanistan in order to warn "Dr. Watson" that his life is in danger. The mystery soon leads Irene to 221 B Baker St.