- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Little, Brown & Company (4 Aug 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0316730831
- ISBN-13: 978-0316730839
- Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 13 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,072,872 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Carr's is the real Holmes' Leslie Klinger, editor of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes
Book Description
At the invitation of the Conan Doyle Estate, the best-selling historical thriller writer, Caleb Carr, has created a new adventure for Holmes and Watson, set in the grandeur of Holyrood Palace in the twilight of Queen Victoria's reign.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A miss is as good as a mile...,
This review is from: The Italian Secretary: A Further Adventure of Sherlock Holmes (Paperback)
The portrayal of Holmes is spot-on to begin with, but slips a little as the book wears on. He's too much of a cypher, and some of his utterances, especially on the supernatural, seem out of character - as though Carr has superimposed the beliefs of Conan Doyle upon Holmes. There are also little details here and there that don't quite ring true. Would Watson really be so ignorant of foreign languages, or of the differences between highland and lowland Scots? The plot is a bit on the slight side (perhaps because this was originally intended to be a short story), and the tension slackens considerably after a nicely written scene on a train up to Scotland.
19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Any truth is better than indefinite doubt,
By Leonard Fleisig "Len" (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Italian Secretary (Hardcover)
So said Sherlock Holmes in The Yellow Face. Any indefinite doubt I had about Caleb Carr's ability to craft a credible and very enjoyable Sherlock Holmes adventure was dispelled in the first few pages. I have read and enjoyed Carr's earlier fiction, The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness. One of the hallmarks of both books was Carr's ability to create a seemingly auhentic picture of life in 19th-century New York. He also created a wonderful pair of characters in Dr. Lazlo Kreizler and his trusted comrade John Schuyler Moore. However, Carr faced two hurdles in writing the Italian Secretary. He had to recreate the atmosphere of Victorian-era Scotland, a region he was probably not as intimately familiar with as New York City. Further, while Kreizler and Moore sprung solely from Carr's imagination, here Carr had to find authentic voices for the esteemed Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, whose characterization by Arthur Conan Doyle must be fixed firmly in the imagination of anyone who has ever read the original Holmes tales. That is no easy task. I have read virtually all of Conan Doyle's work but admit that I cannot claim as much expertise as devoted Baker Street Irregulars or other followers of Holmes. However, this amateur thinks Carr has done a terrific job replicating their original voices. It sound like Holmes and Watson to me. The plot line is set out in detail in the product description and I won't go on at length about the plot or discuss any of the many twists and turns along the way. I did like the way Carr threw Sherlock's brother Mycroft into the story. Carr does an excellent job describing the petty sibling rivalries that must affect even the most accomplished of brothers. Carr does a very good job of revealing bits and pieces of the mystery every few pages. The story is fast-paced and the many twists and turns in the story left me continually wanting to read just one more chapter before I put the book down for the evening. For me, this is the mark of good adventure tale. In an afterword. Jon Lellenberg, the U.S. representative of the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, suggests that Carr write a new story in which Holmes and Watson meet up with Carr's Kreizler and Moore. I do hope Carr takes a stab at this. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote in "The Man With the Twisted Lip" that "a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still more so." Carr has done a marvelous job in chronicling the further adventures of Sherlock Holmes. This is a book that will be enjoyed by fans of both Carr and Conan-Doyle as well as by readers who simply like a fast-paced, well written yarn.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
No mre adventures,
By
This review is from: The Italian Secretary: A Further Adventure of Sherlock Holmes (Paperback)
I read this because, 1: I love Caleb Carr's boks and 2: although not a big Holmes fan I would like to see how Carr deals with the prickly Holmes. Was I disappointed? Yes. Personally I found the plot full of holes and not throroughly thought out. The Italian secretary story really wasn't needed for the plot to be pushed along and there were times I actually forgot about it as being a huge motive.
In places it was too comical considering the history behind the murders and the royal history concerning the Italian secretary. I know Watson's a bumbling idiot and he is telling the story but the humour began to grate on me halfway through the book. The balance between the humour and the dark history behind the murders teetered towards to the comical on too many occasions and I think more emphasis should have been put on the Scottish nationalist side of the plot which would have been more intriguing to read. I would have prefered if Carr would write the next book in his psychological thriller series, than waste time on books like this.
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