The Italian Secretary: A Further Sherlock Holmes Adventure is a 2005 mystery novel by Caleb Carr. As the subtitle suggests, it's a Sherlock Holmes pastiche — in which the Great Detective and Dr. Watson travel to Edinburgh to investigate a double-murder at Holyrood Palace, which may have implications for the safety of Queen Victoria as well as parallels with events that occurred during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots.
This work provides examples of:
- Aloof Big Brother: Mycroft Holmes plays a prominent role; here, his somewhat shadowy role in the British government is expanded on in relation to Queen Victoria, with whom he is on friendly terms.
- Ambiguous Situation: It is never explained who Watson fires at on the spiral staircase during the climax, or who had been playing the lute that Holmes finds in the Queen's chamber — although they are probably the same person. It's implied, but not outright stated, that the Sadlers had actually employed a diminutive Italian (or at least a short man who could pass for an Italian) to play the part of Rizzio's ghost as part of their tourist scam, but he is not named, and his fate is unknown.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Behind his somewhat bland exterior, Lord Francis Hamilton fits this trope. He has used his position of power to blackmail all of the servants at Holyrood into silence over the Sadlers' tourist scam (which he joined in with for financial gain) and is revealed to have gone as far as to collude in two murders in order to stop it from being exposed. In addition, he has used said position of power to take sexual advantage of many female servants.
- Artistic Licence – Gun Safety: Discussed, in relation to attempts to kill Queen Victoria involving apparently unloaded guns, with particular reference to a pistol that was merely 'loaded' with wadding and scrunched-up newspaper instead of a bullet (this being Truth in Television for at least one of the attempts on her life, believe it or not). Watson, a military man, asserts that a gun so loaded could still do plenty of damage at very short range. Mycroft concurs, but adds that it would be very hard to convince a jury of this, the result being that they would likely conclude that it wasn't a serious attempt to kill the Queen.
- Asian Store-Owner: Even in the 1890s, Baker Street has one of these — a Punjabi gentleman who runs a small general store almost opposite 221B. Mrs. Hudson refuses to set foot in his shop — not on account of any racist feelings, but because she believes the premises to be haunted. Watson briefly interacts with him at the end when he goes there to buy some tobacco, and the Punjabi laments that the local superstition about his shop being haunted has kept a few potential customers away. The lament is triggered by Watson innocently commenting that he thought he saw a ghost; realising that he's upset the man, he buys more tobacco than he had originally intended to buy.
- Batman Gambit: Watson pulls one of these in the Fife & Drum pub in order to get the attention of the Sadler brothers by having him and Holmes pose as former Army officers whose interest in the supernatural has led to them being recommended to seek out the chance to pay a secret visit to Holyrood Palace in the hope of seeing David Rizzio's ghost — this being the scam that the Sadlers are operating. It works.
- Campbell Country: There are definitely gothic horror elements in this novel.
- Character Narrator: Watson, of course.
- Chekhov's Gun: Averted with the two guns Watson takes to Edinburgh; as well as his usual service revolver, he has a "palm-protector" (a small single-shot gun that can be concealed in the palm of his hand that Holmes obtained from Shinwell Johnson, a criminal-turned-informant of his acquaintance). The revolver gets confiscated once Watson arrives at Holyrood (there being rules about carrying firearms in royal palaces) but the palm-protector naturally gets overlooked. It later gets completely forgotten about when Watson gets hold of a hunting-rifle.
- Chekhov's Skill: Holmes is quickly able to deduce that the bomb thrown at them during the train ride to Edinburgh was made by someone with not much knowledge of the materials that were used to make the bomb, making it potentially just as dangerous to the user as it is to the intended victim. It is later revealed that the bomb was made by Will Sadler, who had access to explosives thanks to his job as an armourer at Edinburgh Castle, but little knowledge of how they actually worked. At the climax, one of Will's bombs is used by Lord Francis Hamilton, the result being the agonising death of Lord Francis.
- The Con: It turns out that Robert and Will Sadler have been running a scam by which they secretly bring rich tourists into Holyrood Palace at night to show them the chamber in which David Rizzio was murdered; to make it seem like the place is haunted by Rizzio's ghost, they put animal blood on the floor (it being a long-standing local legend that the bloodstains from his murder had never dried) and even employ someone to speak Italian and make suitably ghostly noises. Lord Francis Hamilton soon became involved, and used his position of authority at Holyrood to threaten any servant who found out with the sack if they told anyone, thus ensuring the Hacketts' silence. Ultimately, the scam got so lucrative that when Sir Alistair Sinclair found out, Will and Lord Francis — unable to threaten him into silence like the servants — killed him.
- Continuity Nod: To the original Conan Doyle stories, naturally.
- Holmes refers to the emerald tie-pin he got as a reward for solving the mystery in "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" (which can be found in His Last Bow). He confirms that that the "gracious lady" who gave it to him was indeed Queen Victoria.
- Two people mentioned in passing, Shinwell Johnson and Baron Gruner, originally appeared in "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client", one of the twelve stories in The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes.
- It's mentioned that Holmes has been to the Sudan; in "The Adventure of the Empty House" (the first story in The Return of Sherlock Holmes), he told Watson that Khartoum (the Sudanese capital) was one of the places he visited during what fans call the "Great Hiatus" (the period between his being supposedly killed off in his battle with Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls and his subsequent return).
- The "Baskerville case" is briefly mentioned.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Holmes is quick to point out that the deaths of Sir Alistair Sinclair and Dennis McKay are somewhat reminiscent of the historic murder of David Rizzio, the personal secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots.
- Face–Heel Turn: Robert Sadler, the original instigator of the tourist scam, turns against his brother and Lord Francis after they go so far as to commit two acts of murder in order to prevent the scam, which has become very lucrative, from being found out. There's also a personal element to this, as he was disgusted by his brother's callous treatment of Alison Mackenzie.
- First-Name Basis: Played with. As per usual, the Holmes brothers address each other by their first names but address Dr. Watson by either his title or his surname. He in turn addresses both of them by surname but refers to Mycroft by his first name in 'his' narrative.
- Foreshadowing: Early on, Holmes refers to a shop on Baker Street that is reputed to be haunted on account of a previous tenant having brutally murdered his family there several decades ago. The main plot sees him and Watson go to Edinburgh to investigate two murders at Holyrood Palace, which is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of David Rizzio, who was brutally murdered there in 1566.
- The Ghost: Played with in the case of Queen Victoria herself. She is a mostly unseen presence in the novel until right at the end, when Holmes and Watson go to Balmoral to meet her — and Watson does not recount exactly what was discussed, other than saying that she was very interested to hear what had happened, but Mycroft prevented them from giving her a full and frank account.
- Glass Eye: Hackett has one that keeps falling out when he shows Holmes and Watson around Holyrood Palace when they arrive. Watson, who finds Hackett a bit sinister anyway, is grossed out, while Holmes interprets Hackett's unusual behaviour as a sign that something is amiss at Holyrood. He investigates further and is, of course, proved right — Hackett, who usually wears an eyepatch, was doing the glass eye act to send a coded signal to the new arrivals that all is not well. Despite Watson's initial misgivings about the man, he turns out to be one of the good guys.
- Haunted Castle: Haunted palace, in this case — apparently on account of a Real Life murder that took place there in 1566.
- Historical Domain Character: Queen Victoria. The Duke of Hamilton is an interesting example as that aristocratic title does exist, although the man who held the title at the time of the novel's late 1890s setting note was an unmarried man in his late 30s, whereas the one in this novel is old enough (and has been married for long enough) to have legitimate adult children.
- Insufferable Genius: Sherlock Holmes, who annoys his brother Mycroft by correctly deducing that Queen Victoria went to Edinburgh (at a time of the year when she would usually not leave Balmoral) because she had to go to the dentist to have a bad tooth removed.
- Legacy of Service: An aristocratic example — the Hamiltons have been responsible for the upkeep of Holyrood Palace (a royal residence that's only used by the Queen once or twice a year) for several generations, with the job usually being delegated to one of the family's younger sons, which is what Lord Francis is. A more straightforward example is provided by the Hacketts, at least three generations of whom have been servants at Holyrood.
- Man on Fire: The fate of Lord Francis Hamilton, who attempts to use one of Will Sadler's home-made explosive devices against the heroes in the climax; unfortunately for him, Will is — for all his undoubted villainy — not a very good bomb-maker. The result is that Lord Francis inadvertently sets himself on fire while doing no damage to the heroes, and dies in agony.
- Mundane Solution: The "blood that never dries" in the chamber that Rizzio supposedly haunts is in fact animal blood which is put there by the Sadlers a few hours before they bring visitors there. Hackett contends that the legend is much older, as he saw it many years ago; Holmes proposes that what he saw was actually a small pool of water that had got in through a leak in the ceiling, which just looked like blood because of the colour of the wooden floor.
- Phony Veteran: Downplayed; at one point, Holmes poses as a former Army officer in a pub popular with soldiers in order to go along with Watson's Batman Gambit. Watson himself becomes a mild example of this as he claims to have been an infantry officer rather than a medical officer.
- Red Herring: The notion, alluded to by Mycroft early on, that the goings-on at Holyrood Palace have anything to do with rumours about German spies colluding with Scottish nationalists to kill Queen Victoria.
- Self-Disposing Villain: Lord Francis, who is set on fire by a bomb made by his fellow-villain Will Sadler when trying to attack the heroes during the climax.
- Sherlock Scan: Holmes does this with the two men who accompany them on the train to Edinburgh, deducing they are both intelligence officers (one from the Army, the other from the Navy).
- Shout-Out: Holmes clues into the fact that the 'ghost' at Holyrood is a mere mortal by the fact that the tune he is humming is "Va, Pensiero" from Verdi's Nabucco.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: The Sadler brothers. Robert is an honest ghillie who has the trust of the Queen herself, while Will (almost invariably referred to as "Likely Will") is somewhat less reputable. Played with, though, as it was Robert who originally instigated the tourist scam, although Will quickly took it over and had no hesitation in committing murder to keep it a secret. Criminality aside, their differences are emphasised by their attitudes towards the lovely Alison Mackenzie; Robert befriended her and tried to warn her not to associate with his brother, who took advantage of her and then cast her aside.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Discussed in relation to the Rizzio murder; he was stabbed over fifty times, prompting Holmes to wonder just how much of the poor man's diminutive frame would have been left intact after such a frenzied attack.
- Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: Holyrood Palace is reputedly haunted by the ghost of David Rizzio, the titular Italian secretary who was brutally murdered there in 1566; according to Holmes, it is widely believed locally that the ghost was responsible for the (more recent) deaths of Sinclair and McKay.
- Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Lord Francis Hamilton. Watson (and by extension, the reader) finds him somewhat bland and harmless. So, interestingly, does Mycroft.
