About this title: Caleb Carr, bestselling author of THE ALIENIST, makes his own contribution to the ever-popular subgenre of Holmes pastiche with this historical mystery commissioned by the Conan Doyle estate. Renovation of the Royal Palace of Holyrood, Queen Victoria's Edinburgh residence, is disrupted when two of the workers are murdered. One of the Queen's ...
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Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 263 p. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780312939137ISBN:0312939132
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Clean, tightly bound pages; minor edge wear; glossy cover; remainder mark on back of book. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 338 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780312939137ISBN:0312939132
Description: Very good in good dust jacket. Front Cover gone, otherwise book like new. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 338 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: MASS MARKET PAPERBACK
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
ISBN-13:9780312939137ISBN:0312939132
Description: Very Good. 0312939132 This mass market paperback book is in REAL GOOD SHAPE! ! FIRST EDITION! Full number line is 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1! Some creasing of the spine and minor signs of wear from reading--nothing major! SMOKE FREE HOME! Do not settle for worn, torn, throwaways. Pay a few pennies more for a book that looks a wrinkle or two away from near new! read more
Binding: MASS MARKET PAPERBACK
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
ISBN-13:9780312939137ISBN:0312939132
Description: Fine. 0312939132 Excellent condition paperback book, clean pages, NO creases to spine, this book is Near NEW! Shop & Save With US. read more
Description: Very Good. 0739457454 Great condition Soft Cover book, clean pages, mild creases to spine, light edge/corner rubs, this book is GREAT! Shop & Save With US. read more
Binding: MASS MARKET PAPERBACK
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
ISBN-13:9780312939137ISBN:0312939132
Description: Very Good. 0312939132 Great condition paperback book, clean pages, mild creases to spine, some edge/corner rubs, this book is GREAT! Shop & Save With US. read more
Description: Very Good. 0786715480 Ships from PA, Return within 10 days for any reasons. Fast Shipping. Minor crease on edges of DJ, a few pages creased on top edges. Book is in good condition. read more
Edition: First Printing
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, New York
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780312939137ISBN:0312939132
Description: Good. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Some creasing and edge wear. Light shelf wear. Solid copy with clean pages. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780312939137ISBN:0312939132
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Spine creasing and cover wear. Still a nice looking copy. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 338 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780312939137ISBN:0312939132
Description: Acceptable. Overall below average used book. May have highlighting, underlining, notes, price sticker on cover, or be an ex-library book. read more
"Caleb Carr was commissioned by the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write a book that could be considered the official "further adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and so he set out to recreate Conan Doyle's original style in all its Victorian glory. And I think that for the most part Carr has succeeded: the language, the sentence structure, and the general "feel" of the original stories are faithfully recreated in Carr's book, and although he can't resist adding a few more gory details than Victorian sensibilities would have allowed, all of the violent events take place elsewhere and are then described to the reader in elegant Victorian prose. Faithfully to the original style, both Holmes and Watson spend a great deal of time talking, explaining to the reader everything that has been happening "off stage", and analyzing it for clues. The dialogue is a real pleasure, especially when read in Simon Prebble's lovely English accent.
So why only two stars? In my opinion, while The Italian Secretary is a beautiful example of the Victorian style, it lacks any real substance. The mystery is thin and rather abruptly solved, not by Holmes' famous intellect, but by a series of odd coincidences that provide all the information anyone would need to piece things together. In fact, I was left wondering why it had ever been a mystery requiring Holmes' involvement in the first place.
In the end I concluded that the plot was so uninteresting that if I had picked up The Italian Secretary in traditional format the beauty of the dialogue would have worn off quickly and I wouldn't have bothered to finish it. As it is, it was only Simon Prebble's narration that kept me listening until the end."
"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!"
"For some reason I could not get into this story and found it overall rather tedious. Simon Prebble did a good job with the voices giving each character just enough definition to be distinct w/out seeming 'acted'. It was a very Holmes-like attempt with all the characters remaining true to their roots and it had good period color but I did not really enjoy the story."
"I'm not one to turn the pages so easily when it comes to Sherlock Holmes stories because of the writing style. It's not necessarily old English, but because of the formality and sentence structure, I read it very slowly to absorb what's happening. This one is a great story but it's filled with action, I was expecting a great display of Holmes's power of deductive reasoning but the way he's always subtle on things when he knows the answers is consistent. There were some dragging parts in the story and I sometimes wondered whether the scenes are interrelated but in the end, every incident would lead to an answer. Good book!"
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