The Italian Secretary (Sherlock Holmes)
Author:
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Book Type: Paperback
Sheila C. reviewed on + 8 more book reviews
From NY Times Review: Any author, who dares to assume that his readers have an attention span that exceeds fifteen or twenty seconds, has succeeded in capturing my attention no matter what the subject pursued. Caleb Carr treats English as if it is tool for the conveyance of precise information and not as if it were a bludgeon to be used to beat the reader into submission. His prose is elegant and precise, with slang terms used to emphasize characterization and to provide particular flavors and tones to conversation.
The narrator is Dr. Watson, not the familiar narrator of most of the Canonical tales, but rather this Dr. Watson is clearly the man who wrote those tales. This is not the hopeless naïf he depicted himself to be, this Watson is bright and thoughtful and a good foil for the genius of Holmes. Yet, under all, he remains the true Victorian gentleman in the best sense of that overworked phrase. He does not comprehend the hubris that constitutes true evil, the sense of self that will not recognize any will but its own. In this, he remains unable to understand Holmes who is well aware of that form of darkness of the soul.
This tale is one that Watson never meant to be published, rather it is a record of events that deserve preservation but are prejudicial to The Crown. It is also a tale of ghosts and murder, with a particularly Holmesian explanation for apparent supernatural events. Even Mycroft is unable to cope and has called Holmes and Watson to investigate murders at Holyrood House, the official residence of Her majesty in Edinburgh. High politics, historical mystery, human greed, departmental machinations and the character of Her Majesty are all combined to present a complex and satisfying new Sherlock Holmes mystery. This story revives the feeling of reading the Canon more than any pastiche I have read (3,000+ and counting), a truly remarkable feat.
The narrator is Dr. Watson, not the familiar narrator of most of the Canonical tales, but rather this Dr. Watson is clearly the man who wrote those tales. This is not the hopeless naïf he depicted himself to be, this Watson is bright and thoughtful and a good foil for the genius of Holmes. Yet, under all, he remains the true Victorian gentleman in the best sense of that overworked phrase. He does not comprehend the hubris that constitutes true evil, the sense of self that will not recognize any will but its own. In this, he remains unable to understand Holmes who is well aware of that form of darkness of the soul.
This tale is one that Watson never meant to be published, rather it is a record of events that deserve preservation but are prejudicial to The Crown. It is also a tale of ghosts and murder, with a particularly Holmesian explanation for apparent supernatural events. Even Mycroft is unable to cope and has called Holmes and Watson to investigate murders at Holyrood House, the official residence of Her majesty in Edinburgh. High politics, historical mystery, human greed, departmental machinations and the character of Her Majesty are all combined to present a complex and satisfying new Sherlock Holmes mystery. This story revives the feeling of reading the Canon more than any pastiche I have read (3,000+ and counting), a truly remarkable feat.
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