The Italian Secretary

Name: The Italian Secretary
Brand: Simon & Schuster Audio
Availability: InStock
Rating: 3.8 (5 reviews)
Author: Caleb Carr
ISBN: 9780743551588

Author: Caleb Carr

Narrator: Simon Prebble

Unabridged: 6 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Published: 05/01/2005

Categories: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Traditional British

Synopsis

The bestselling author of the Alienist series returns with a chilling elaboration on the Sherlock Holmes canon, as the famed detective investigates a pair of gruesome murders, which cast an otherworldly shadow as far as Queen Victoria herself.

It all begins familiarly enough: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are summoned to the aid of Queen Victoria in Scotland by an encrypted telegram from Holmes' brother, Mycroft, a royal advisor. Rushed northward on a royal train they soon learn of the brutal killings of two of the Queen's servants who had been working on the renovation of the famous and forbidding Royal Palace of Holyrood.
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 of "The Italian Secretary," David Rizzio. Only Rizzio was murdered three centuries ago.
Told with his unique feel for historical detail and the architecture of human evil, Caleb Carr's brilliant new offering takes the Conan Doyle tradition to remarkable new heights.

About Caleb Carr

Caleb Carr is the critically acclaimed author of The Alienist, The Angel of Darkness, The Lessons of Terror, Killing Time, The Devil Soldier, The Italian Secretary, The Legend of Broken, and Surrender, New York. He has taught military history at Bard College, and worked extensively in film, television, and the theater. His military and political writings have appeared in numerous magazines and periodicals, among them The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He lives in upstate New York.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Paul on February 18, 2025

Holmes and Watson live in an encore presentation! An encrypted cable summons from his older brother, the brilliant yet un-celebrated Mycroft who works secretly behind the scenes at the highest levels of His Majesty's government, sends Sherlock and Watson dashing off to Scotland to investigate the bru......more

Goodreads review by Brad on August 11, 2009

The Italian Secretary is a pretty sweet piece of Sherlock Holmes apocrypha. There have been a number of attempts to write Holmes by authors other than Doyle, and those attempts have achieved varying degrees of success -- some dreadful and some impressive. Caleb Carr's attempt falls between these ext......more

Goodreads review by Oliver on May 06, 2024

I know there are many great additions to the canon of Sherlock Holmes. I think this one may rate as one of the better ones. If you are a fan of the historical depth Caleb Carr puts into the books he writes, then you are going to appreciate his Sherlock Holmes story. I would describe it as Sherlock H......more

Goodreads review by Karen on May 29, 2024

Catching up… I remember how excited I was when this came out a few years back, because I am a big fan of Conan Doyle – Sherlock Holmes. So, I was curious about how any other author would interpret him. Carr is another author who had been commissioned by the Conan Doyle estate to write a Holmes short......more

Goodreads review by Chris on July 02, 2020

I was disappointed in this novel. I had high hopes, as I remember being very taken by the dark & interesting debut of Carr's, The Alienist. In this work, Carr takes on the Sherlock Holmes genre, also a mark in it's favor, along with potential ghostly dealings in the Scottish castle of Mary Queen of......more