The Italian Secretary: A Further Adventure of Sherlock Holmes - Hardcover

Carr, Caleb

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786715480 ISBN 13: 9780786715480

Publisher: Carroll & Graf, 2005

Synopsis

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are summoned to the aid of Queen Victoria in Scotland by a telegram from Holmes' brother, Mycroft, a royal advisor. Rushed northward on a royal train—and nearly murdered themselves en route—the pair are soon joined by Mycroft, and learn of the brutal killings of two of the Queen's servants, a renowned architect and his foreman, both of whom had been working on the renovation of the famous and forbidding Royal Palace of Holyrood, in Edinburgh. Mycroft has enlisted his brother to help solve the murders that may be key elements of a much more elaborate and pernicious plot on the Queen's life. But the circumstances of the two victims' deaths also call to Holmes' mind the terrible murder—in Holyrood—of "The Italian Secretary," David Rizzio. Only Rizzio, a music teacher and confidante of Mary, Queen of Scots, was murdered three centuries ago. Holmes proceeds to alarm Watson with the announcement that the Italian Secretary's vengeful spirit may have taken the lives of the two men as punishment for disturbing the scene of his assassination. Critically acclaimed, bestselling author Caleb Carr's brilliant new offering takes the Conan Doyle tradition to remarkable new heights with this spellbinding tale.

About this title

About the Author

Caleb Carr teaches military and diplomatic studies at Bard College.

Reviews

Writing a Sherlock Holmes tale is, for popular writers, equivalent to playing Hamlet for male actors: a challenge that few refuse and many regret. Bestselling author Carr (The Angel of Darkness, etc.) acquits himself with honor, though not high honors, in this short novel that pits Holmes, Watson and Mycroft Holmes against conspirators at Queen Victoria's Royal Palace of Holyrood in Edinburgh, Scotland. When the men are killed at Holyrood in a fashion similar to the slaying centuries before of David Rizzio, an Italian confidant of Mary, Queen of Scots, Mycroft, who is Victoria's head of intelligence, calls upon his brother and Watson to help solve the mystery. Are the killings the work of Scottish nationalists? Or perhaps the sign of a restless ghost? From the latter question, and the novel's primary setting of the dank castle, emanates a well-drawn atmosphere of gloom that makes this story a nice companion to The Hound of the Baskervilles. Holmes fans and scholars should be pleased with this novel, which generally hews to "the Canon" (unlike, say, Nicholas Meyer's Seven-Per-Cent Solution) and reflects a deep knowledge and understanding of Holmesiana, but the primary base for this novel will be, of course, Carr fans, who won't be quite as thrilled—for while the novel captivates, it matches neither of Carr's previous megasellers in plot invention or depth of character. Still, this should hit bestsellers lists, though not in a major way. (May 10).
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When Conan Doyle had Sherlock Holmes take the plunge into Reichenbach Falls, little did he know that eventually he would be compelled to resurrect Holmes--or, more amazingly, that countless other writers would also revive the Baker Street sleuth. Carr, author of The Alienist (1994), is the latest to try his hand at constructing a new Holmes adventure. Where contemporary authors go wrong is in trying to replicate Conan Doyle's style and in trying to duplicate the verbal sparring between Holmes and Watson. Carr fails on both those scores, but aside from that (and that's a big aside), the novel has a number of appealing features for readers who enjoy Carr and don't mind secondhand Holmes. Chief among these is its setting, Holyrood House, the royal palace in Edinburgh. The gloomy aura of Edinburgh, particularly the Gothic pile of Holyrood, is a perfect foil for a Victorian mystery. The plot centers on two deaths during the reconstruction of parts of the palace: the suspicious accident that befell the chief architect of the refurbishing and the murder of his foreman, both near the site where Mary Queen of Scots' trusted advisor, David Rizzio, was stabbed to death three centuries before. Very improbably, the scientific-minded Holmes suggests that Rizzio himself may be avenging his death through the new murders. Great setting, intriguing history, but clumsy evocation of the inimitable Holmes. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Carroll & Graf
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0786715480
• ISBN 13: 9780786715480
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 263