Caleb Carr, The Italian Secretary
Aug. 11th, 2007 05:03 pmA continuing adventure of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes and Watson are invited to the Scottish summer palace of Queen Victoria, Holyroodhouse, where they are to investigate the gruesome murders of two historic preservationists -- murders which may be connected to prior attempts on the Queen's life or, barring that, to the murder of the Italian secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots, several hundred years ago.
A friend's father saw that I had been (re)reading Mathew Pearl's The Dante Club -- a mystery set in 1865 Boston -- and he told me that I had to read Caleb Carr. No one past college age ever tells me I have to read anything -- I think the last time was three years ago when my aunt told me I had to read Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead -- so I was curious, and the next time I was in the bookstore, I wandered over to mystery/horror to have a look. Caleb Carr is famous for his historical mystery series set in 1896 New York City, about a Frued-inspired Hungarian-German detective who solves crimes by delving into the darker side of human nature. Unfortunately, the first book in this series, The Alienist, was not on the shelves, but this book, about Sherlock Holmes, was.
So I bought it and, omg, I'm so glad I did. The Italian Secretary doesn't quite hold together as a mystery -- after so many pages of build up, the Scooby-Doo villain is a bit of a letdown -- but that's not the point. The point is, it reads like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote it. <3 Granted, I haven't read any other continuing adventures, or even all of Doyle's original Holmes stories, so my opinion is suspect. But as far as I can tell, it does everything right: Holmes, Watson, Holmes and Watson, Holmes and Mycroft, Sherlock Holmes <3<3<3 Sorry, I'm suffering from an overdose of fictional character love over here. ( Read more... )
Recommend to all Sherlock Holmes fans, and I'll have to read The Alienist.
A friend's father saw that I had been (re)reading Mathew Pearl's The Dante Club -- a mystery set in 1865 Boston -- and he told me that I had to read Caleb Carr. No one past college age ever tells me I have to read anything -- I think the last time was three years ago when my aunt told me I had to read Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead -- so I was curious, and the next time I was in the bookstore, I wandered over to mystery/horror to have a look. Caleb Carr is famous for his historical mystery series set in 1896 New York City, about a Frued-inspired Hungarian-German detective who solves crimes by delving into the darker side of human nature. Unfortunately, the first book in this series, The Alienist, was not on the shelves, but this book, about Sherlock Holmes, was.
So I bought it and, omg, I'm so glad I did. The Italian Secretary doesn't quite hold together as a mystery -- after so many pages of build up, the Scooby-Doo villain is a bit of a letdown -- but that's not the point. The point is, it reads like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote it. <3 Granted, I haven't read any other continuing adventures, or even all of Doyle's original Holmes stories, so my opinion is suspect. But as far as I can tell, it does everything right: Holmes, Watson, Holmes and Watson, Holmes and Mycroft, Sherlock Holmes <3<3<3 Sorry, I'm suffering from an overdose of fictional character love over here. ( Read more... )
Recommend to all Sherlock Holmes fans, and I'll have to read The Alienist.