by Caleb Carr, Simon Prebble
The Italian Secretary is another tale written concerning Sherlock Holmes and his trusty sidekick Dr. Watson. Sherlock's brother, Mycroft Holmes has sent a mysterious telegram to Sherlock. Once it has been deciphered, it becomes clear to Sherlock that his brother is summoning him to the someti...
An interesting insertion into the Sherlock Holmes canon. Authorised by the estate of A C Doyle, it's interesting. It lacks something when compared to the original but is quite reflective of them. Caleb Carr has a good hold on the era but failed to give a feel of Edinburgh during the book.
I was truly disappointed by this novel. I was looking forward to reading it on two fronts. First, as a Sherlock Holmes pastiche. Second, as an introduction to Caleb Carr. The Sherlock Holmes story fell far short and left me not likely to read anything else by Carr.To call the novel wordy would be an...
I had such high hopes for The Italian Secretary by Caleb Carr. My husband surprised me with it just after I had started to renew my addiction to Holmes and had read several mentions of it at the Sherlock Holmes Social Network.Of course, those mentions were not generally favorable, but the setting of...
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If you must read every modern Holmes tale, then you'll want to read this one. As a person who enjoys both classical and comtemporary Holmes, I found it slightly below "okay." While Carr (whose work I've enjoyed) hits the tone and language right, the narrative never quite gets off the ground. It's pl...