Customer Reviews

The Italian Secretary: A Further Adventure of Sherlock Holmes

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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.

Being familiar both with the Sherlock Holmes tales and the fiction of Caleb Carr, I approached this book with interest. The result was a worthwhile read as Carr sends Holmes and Watson off to investigate murder and intrigue in Scotland.

As a Caleb Carr novel, THE ITALIAN SECRETARY is quite good. The book is exciting and the plot holds the reader's interest. Carr greatly expands the character of Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's brother, who has a special though vaguely defined relationship with the queen. Mycroft calls upon his brother and Watson to investigate murders that may call the queen's safety into question.

As a Sherlock Holmes story, the result is a bit weaker. Carr captures the relationship between Holmes and Watson very well. His portrayal of their individual personalities is fairly good though just slightly off. This does not disrupt the story, however, and merely serves to remind us that Carr is not a clone of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Carr's weak spot is that his portrayal of Holmes' logic is not as tight as one might have hoped. Although some clues are presented to the reader, they are tied together far more loosely than in the original stories. Although Doyle himself would sometimes have Holmes make inferential leaps, those times stood out starkly as the exceptions to the rule. Indeed, one major plot twist is presented by Holmes stating what he had earlier observed even though no clue whatsoever had been presented to the reader. This makes THE ITALIAN SECRETARY read more like a crime novel than a detective novel.

Another point to note is the subtle supernatural aspect that Carr employs in the book. Although he tries to gloss this over in the final chapter, it nonetheless feels artificial in a Sherlock Holmes tale.

I realize that many Sherlock Holmes fans read books such as this simply to look for fault and errors and I therefore make the above criticisms hesitantly. This is a Caleb Carr book and should be judged as such. And, as stated above, it reads quite well from that perspective. I include such criticisms for the purists who would read the book from a different perspective. For everyone else, sit back and enjoy.

Caleb Carr tries very hard in this book to have the reader believe that the game is afoot with Holmes and Watson, but there is only one Conan Doyle and this book is a longwinded flop. Holmes believing in and seeing ghosts - total nonsense. Watson comes across as a thick witted dill and Holmes as a boring, arrogant know all who loves to instigate sibling rivalry with his poor brother Mycroft who is portrayed as an intellectual hillbilly when compared to Sherlock. The plot is poorly developed and the book seems to drift in an aimless and sterile prose.

I recommend A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullen which is about the great Holmes in the winter of his life to any reader who would like to read more about the man post Conan Doyle.

I enjoyed Caleb Carr's The Italian Secretary. Any Holmes fan big or small can appreciate the effort put forth by Mr. Carr in this enjoyable novel penned as a "further adventure of Sherlock Holmes" The story takes place in the ghost infested Holyroodhouse which was the castle of the ill fated Mary Queen of Scots. A cryptic message from Mycroft Holmes protrayed here in a rather unpleasant light as the bigger less able brother of Sherlock sends Dr. Watson and Mr Holmes hurtling towards Edninburgh.
What Carr has done well is imitate the chatty descriptiveness of Dr. Watson's writing with a fairly well done plot that is mildly suspenseful. It is filled with historical data and interesting history of the surroundings. What is less impressive to me is the portrayal of Holmes who doesn't really get to shine with his detective skills and deductions. He is rather in the background to Watson's verbose prose and thoughts. All in all though, it is a good work with an enjoyable plot with a little supernatural drama thorwn in for good measure. Well done!

Trying to write a book using Watson and Sherlock Holmes is very tricky. Not only was Arthur Conan Doyle a superb writer, with 2 very well-known characters still very much 'alive' after 100 years, but it's difficult to set up the scene for a murder that takes place so long ago, and in such a very different world than the one we live in today. Since I've read Carr's other books and was more than pleased with them, I knew what I was getting into here as far as concerned Carr's ability to continue setting up the dark Victorian Age with gaslights and railroads, too much coal usage leading to pollution that made much of England and Scotland very grimy, and similar to the pictures of Pittsburgh at that time and for the same reasons. The Industrial Age is not one I would choose to go back and visit.

Anyone with any background in British history knows that Mary, Queen of Scots, went too far with her scheming and this led to her literally losing her head. But first, she bore a child, and watched most of her court go to early deaths because of her scheming, even if they weren't involved. One of these people was her secretary, Rizzio, a man from Italy, who just managed to be the wrong person for the wrong princess, in the wrong place at the wrong time. His death was gory and unnecessary, but it provides a nice backdrop for Carr to build a Holmesian novel on.

A couple of very strange murders, that could not possibly have happened without supernatural powers do happen in one of the darker castles in Scotland, Holyrood. The bodies of the two men who are murdered are left in such a forensic state, that many doubt they could have been done by the hands of man (except of course, Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes who are baiting each other as usual concerning the intelligence levels of each other). Both the brothers are suspicious from the start that these murders were purposely made to look like they are supernatural with the hopes they won't be looked at too closely. And when the murderers learn the two brothers and Watson are involved, they know their time is limited if they want to succeed with what they are trying to do...

This was one of the more enjoyable mysteries I've read in a long time. I've been waiting for Carr to put out another one. The price we pay for a decent historical mystery, especially one involving such famous characters means readers have to wait for the authors to do significant amounts of research and writing to get their books to the quality that we want them to be. This book succeeded very well in my opinion.

Karen SAdler

It can be a daunting task to write a new adventure for one of the literary world's most beloved detectives of all time. The author is certain to open himself up to criticism and to be told that he is no Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. But the undertakers of this project knew that much to begin with, and since this work (and the others, all originally intended as short stories) was commissioned by the Conan Doyle Estate, the criticism of the novel should not be based upon the author not 'living up' to the standards of Conan Doyle. That was not the point - the point was to create a new adventure for a literary hero in the same vein, and Caleb Carr, who is a masterful storyteller of historical mysteries, has done a commendable job.

"The Italian Secretary" is a mystery set within Holyroodhouse, the legendary palace of Mary, Queen of Scots, situated in Edinburgh, Scotland. The title comes from a story that had circulated through the ages, of an Italain secretary who influenced the queen and was violently killed within her private chambers in an effort to send a message to the Catholic ruler within a Protestant nation. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson find themselves drawn into this other-worldly mystery at Holyroodhouse through Holmes' brother, Mycroft, an agent and protector of Queen Victoria, with whom he shares a close and confidential relationship. When two young Scotsmen are found murdered within the castle grounds, rumors fast fly that it is the spirit of the Italian secretary seeking revenge for his hundred-years-old murder. Yet Watson and Holmes know that a supernatural explanation cannot be behind the truth, and set out to uncover the real murderous happenings in the royal palace, an adventure that finds them risking their own lives, and questioning their belief in the supernatural.

While some criticisms of this book may naturally be founded in the fact that Conan Doyle did not like using the supernatural in detective stories; but perhaps the most popular of the Holmes' stories, "The Hound of the Baskervilles", involves the supernatural to a great length (and a debunking of that in the end). This same concept is applied to "The Italian Secretary" with aplomb and ease. Caleb Carr naturally captures the relationship and repartee between Watson and Holmes; the pacing and subtle twists of the mystery are in keeping with Conan Doyle's style, as are the revelations of clues that only Sherlock Holmes can perceive. Caleb Carr has certainly ascertained his place in the literary world with "The Alienist" series and further adds to his merit with "The Italian Secretary". Since it seems to be the mode in today's literature to take famous literary characters and create new stories for them, sometimes with disastrous effect, it is a joy to read an imagining from an author who is worthy of breathing new life into such a beloved character.

This author's career is a puzzle worthy of sherlock holmes. From the alienist all the way down to here... I must admit I think something is wrong. This little novel has good things, and is worth reading for the atmosphere and the way Carr plays around a victorian styling, but I still wonder why can't Mr.Carr bring us back to the good days when he was writing the alienist and single-handedly reviving the genre? I believe it is in him. Maybe it was hollywood, or some other thing that pulled him from the hinges, but I hope he gets back to being caleb carr once again.

If I had read the story on paper instead of listened to the audio version of this novel, I might have gone for about twenty or thirty pages before putting the book down and saying to myself, "I'll try reading this another day."

But Simon Prebble's narration of "The Italian Secretary" puts me in mind of the old-time "Sherlock Holmes" radio program, even though he is always mispronouncing Holmes' first name. Those programs were gems, bringing the era of Holmes and Watson to brilliant life. Prebble's narration has the same effect, and while you might not have been able to tell from the printed page, Caleb Carr makes Watson much less of a dullard than Nigel Bruce ever dared dream.

The resolution of this mystery is something of a letdown after the big buildup Carr gives it in the opening chapters, but Prebble's narration keeps the story moving quite nicely, although Carr's "postscript" is something of an anticlimax. I don't know what other novels or non-fiction books Prebble has narrated but I look forward to listening to them.

As for Carr, I think he'd do better to write another sequel to his book "The Alienist".

At the beginning of this Sherlock Holmes pastiche by Caleb Carr, our friend John Watson, M.D., arrives at Baker Street to discover Sherlock Holmes perusing a mysterious coded telegram. Once deciphered, the telegram proves to be from brother Mycroft, who--wonder of wonders, to any Sherlock enthusiast--has cabled from scotland to inform the Master his skills are needed in the matter of murder most foul. To the train, Watson! And don't forget your trusty service revolver!

Having quite enjoyed Carr's historical crime fiction, I was looking forward to seeing how he treated the world's first consulting detective. At first, my expectations for success seemed to be realised. Watson's voice in narration, the initial depiction of Holmes, the outre nature of the crime, all are reminiscent of Conan Doyle at his finest. However, as I continued reading, I began to be less and less satisfied. Something was...not quite right, and it kept getting less and less right as the book progressed.

First off, it seemed to me that Carr had only the most superficial understanding of the characters, and this was not enough to carry them beyond the confines of Baker Street. Once Holmes left his familiar props, he became quite flat. I always imagined the master with a twinkle in his keen, grey eye, but this Holmes didn't have one. I did not see his excitement over the case or his delight in his own powers. Carr also seems to have forgotten the numerous times Holmes was able to put distraught females at ease when Watson could not, which made later portions of the books sit quite ill with me.

For his part, Watson was too...active. We, the readers, know that Watson was an integral part of this duo, as does Holmes himself. But John H. Watson, late of the Northumberland Fusiliers, was the most self-effacing of gentlemen, always playing down his role in order to cast a brighter light on the doings of his partner. In the Italian Secretary, however, Watson takes an active role to the point that this tale seems to be one of his adventures, with Holmes merely a presence in the background. We hear quite a bit about Watson sleeping, eating and dressing, but we don't see the Master at work. And that disappointed me.

The other characters were two-dimensional in the extreme. Mycroft had nothing to do and seemed to have been included because, well, it's a Holmes pastiche and so must include every single indication that we've read our Doyle (although the Persian Slipper was missing and Carr never did tell us WHICH pipe Holmes was smoking).

In the end, though, it was the crime that failed to excite. Whereas it seemed in the beginning not to be without features of interest, the explanation turned out to be the most mundane imaginable--barely worth the Master's time. In fact, the rationale for calling Sherlock in rather than the local constabulary stretched my suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. Given that the crime was dull, Carr tried to liven things up with an action sequence at the end that was more Hollywood than Holmes. The last three or four chapters were so tedious I could hardly get through them. I was reading this at the doctor's office and I nearly forsook TIS for People Magazine; it was that dull.

Although I had hopes, Carr's take on Holmes was ultimately disappointing. I still have found no one who is able to recreate Doyle's vision like Nicholas Meyer. Save your money.

What a joy it has been of late for us Sherlockians. Not only has there been a batch of new scholarly Holmes-related books to digest and debate--among them THE NEW ANNOTATED SHERLOCK HOLMES--but we've also been blessed with three very interesting and top-notch pastiches. What makes this trio of recent novels so unique is that they come from unlikely writers, individuals who fall more into the literary category than the mystery genre. I am, of course, referring to the three-headed prong that is Caleb Carr (THE ITALIAN SECRETARY), Michael Chabon (THE FINAL SOLUTION), and Mitch Cullin (A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND).

As I decided to read all three books back to back, I shall comment on them in the order in which they were read. For better or worse, I started with the one that I believed would be the most satisfying of the trio: Caleb Carr's THE ITALIAN SECRETARY. However, while I found Carr's book engaging and fun for the most part, I was somewhat disappointed with it. In hindsight, my feelings might have more to do with my high regard for Carr's previous novels--such as THE ALIENIST--than it does with the actual quality of his Sherlock novel. In other words, had THE ITALIAN SECRETARY been written by someone else, I might not have found myself feeling it lacked the strength and depth of story that I've come to expect from, yes, a Caleb Carr novel. So putting those thoughts aside, I will say that Carr's book is mostly well written and he has done a good job at capturing the spirit, intrigue, and style of Doyle. However, it fell a little flat toward the end, giving me the sense of a rushed job. Even so, both his Holmes and Watson are vivid and quite enjoyable, and I do hope he tries his hand at another Sherlock pastiche, taking his time to draw the story out rather than move it so swiftly to its conclusion. A somewhat slight but worthy read nevertheless.

Next up was Michael Chabon's THE FINAL SOLUTION, the Pulitzer-Prize winning writer's look at an unnamed Sherlock in retirement, set with World War II as the backdrop. This novella--not novel--is actually quite wonderful and the writing is fluid, lyrical, and overall rather excellent. To be frank, I wasn't expecting much from such a slim volume that offered us Sherlock as an elderly gentleman. But I was mistaken. It is an intelligent diversion, and, like Mitch Cullin's novel, brings the character into a modern age that somewhat confounds him. If I have any complaints, though, it is that Chabon made a point of never mentioning Sherlock by name (he is simply The Old Man), and, by doing so, skirted the character's history and much of his background, making him a bit one dimensional. The shortness of the book, too, didn't leave much room for the plot (which is, by the way, very interesting) or other characters to be developed at any great length. Still, there was enough here to hold my interest, and, in its own way, THE FINAL SOLUTION not only compliments Mitch Cullin's longer work but its themes and story also function as a kind of extended prologue to the last book in the threesome. A wonderfully written, thoughtful addition to Holmes literature that manages to pack a decent punch in too few pages.

Poor Mitch Cullin, I thought when I finally got around to his A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND. Besides holding the distinction of being "the best American novelist you`ve probably never heard of," his attempt to capture Sherlock followed in the shadows of both Carr and Chabon's efforts (although, by comparison, I'm willing to bet Cullin toiled on his book much longer than either of his contemporaries). And yet, of the three, his vision of Holmes is the most interesting and the best realized. The writing is superb, if not downright poetic at times. Most important to me, however, was that the elderly Sherlock of this novel has been humanized in a very realistic manner but yet, without question, still reads and sounds like Doyle's creation. That is no easy achievement, and one that should be applauded. In the hands of a lesser writer, this feeble version of Sherlock could easily be considered a bad joke, or, worse, a fraud. But Cullin has rendered him with such attention and, dare I say it, loving detail that I held no doubts about the character by the book`s end. It also helped considerably that this writer had clearly researched the Canon in order to keep his facts accurate. However, to say this is a mystery novel would be misleading, because it is actually something more than that. Yes, there is a mystery here--mysteries, in fact--but they are of the grand human scale (Hiroshima, war, memory, isolation, loss of loved ones) rather than the parlor room variety, and as such they are much harder to solve. The best of the batch, and a masterful literary effort that is also a worthy addition to the Canon Pastiche.

--Beth Halloway