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Sherlock Holmes in Minnesota #4
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Alliance
As the city of Minneapolis prepares for a visit from President William McKinley, someone else prepares for murder. On the day before the visit, a union activist is found hanged, naked, outside a ruined mansion. A placard around his neck reads “THE SECRET ALLIANCE HAS SPOKEN.” Who is the alliance? What does it want? How was the victim involved with the city’s corrupt mayor? And why did he possess a photograph of a prominent citizen in a compromising position? Shadwell Rafferty searches for answers, encountering bribery, corruption, union organizers, anarchists, and conspiracy, putting himself in danger. But as luck would have it, his old friends Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John H. Watson are on their way. In this fourth installment of Larry Millett’s Minnesota Mystery series, Shadwell Rafferty commands center stage in a brand-new city. Packed with Millett’s signature historical and architectural detail, this book is deviously delightful.
1 pages, MP3 CD
First published January 1, 2001
8 people are currently reading
306 people want to read
About the author
Larry Millett
50 books80 followersLarry Millett has combined his interest in journalism, architectural history, and mystery fiction to create an unusual writing career. A native of Minneapolis, he attended school there and then went on to obtain a bachelor’s degrees in English from St. John’s University and a master’s degree from the University of Chicago.
He began working as a general assignment reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 1972 and became the newspaper’s first architecture critic after a year of study on a fellowship to the University of Michigan.
Larry’s first book, The Curve of the Arch, appeared in 1985. Since then, he’s written eleven other works of nonfiction, including Lost Twin Cities, which has been in continuous print for more than twenty years.
Larry began writing mystery fiction in 1996 by bringing the world’s most famous consulting detective to Minnesota for The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes and the Red Demon. He’s published six other novels featuring Holmes, Dr. Watson, and St. Paul saloonkeeper Shadwell Rafferty.
Larry lives in St. Paul’s historic West Seventh Street neighborhood with his wife and occasional writing partner, Jodie Ahern, who is also an accomplished painter and a freelance copy editor.
He began working as a general assignment reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 1972 and became the newspaper’s first architecture critic after a year of study on a fellowship to the University of Michigan.
Larry’s first book, The Curve of the Arch, appeared in 1985. Since then, he’s written eleven other works of nonfiction, including Lost Twin Cities, which has been in continuous print for more than twenty years.
Larry began writing mystery fiction in 1996 by bringing the world’s most famous consulting detective to Minnesota for The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes and the Red Demon. He’s published six other novels featuring Holmes, Dr. Watson, and St. Paul saloonkeeper Shadwell Rafferty.
Larry lives in St. Paul’s historic West Seventh Street neighborhood with his wife and occasional writing partner, Jodie Ahern, who is also an accomplished painter and a freelance copy editor.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
June 14, 2019
It should have been called Shadwell Rafferty and the Secret Alliance, featuring Sherlock Holmes, because Holmes and Watson were barely characters in the book.
November 8, 2021
The fourth of the Sherlock Holmes in Minnesota series – Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Alliance – has been an unfortunate disappointment. All three previous books in the series have opened with an introduction/prologue by a narrator who explains how the “lost manuscript” for the story was found, how it fits into Holmsian canon, why various tests “prove” it came from the pen of Dr. Watson, etcetera. This served several purposes: (1) it added to the ‘realness’ of the story, especially since the series relies on a real places/people, (2) it explained the where and how the specific fanwork fit into existing canon, and (3) helped establish a writing style and tone similar to that of Holmsian canon. The lack of this establishing feature in The Secret Alliance was a warning of what was to come and how the Sherlock Holmes in Minnesota went downhill from there.
The rest of the book is written as if it is a regular historical fiction, rather than in a distinctive Watson-esque style (the story is told by an omniscient narrator mostly following the author’s OC, rather than being from Dr. Watson’s point of view and written as if it were a public blog entry but with victorian language and gentlemanly decorum), which further removes The Secret Alliance from the writing style of the Holmsian canon. Further adding insult to injury, the book is focused on the author’s original character, rather than the titular Sherlock Holmes, to such a degree that the author could have easily cut out the parts referencing the Detective and the Doctor and the story would change little for it. It was very disappointing to invest my time in reading this when the first three books were so very good (interesting plot, great handle on the characters, and mimicking the style of the Holmsian canon extremely well) and when I was expecting that of this book as well. I will read the next book in the series, but if it is like this I will not go on to read the rest of the series nor would I recommend anything beyond book three to anyone else.
The rest of the book is written as if it is a regular historical fiction, rather than in a distinctive Watson-esque style (the story is told by an omniscient narrator mostly following the author’s OC, rather than being from Dr. Watson’s point of view and written as if it were a public blog entry but with victorian language and gentlemanly decorum), which further removes The Secret Alliance from the writing style of the Holmsian canon. Further adding insult to injury, the book is focused on the author’s original character, rather than the titular Sherlock Holmes, to such a degree that the author could have easily cut out the parts referencing the Detective and the Doctor and the story would change little for it. It was very disappointing to invest my time in reading this when the first three books were so very good (interesting plot, great handle on the characters, and mimicking the style of the Holmsian canon extremely well) and when I was expecting that of this book as well. I will read the next book in the series, but if it is like this I will not go on to read the rest of the series nor would I recommend anything beyond book three to anyone else.
October 9, 2022
Maybe it didn't rise to the level of a "I couldn't put it down" 5 star rating but, still, it's a really good book. First of all, you have to be interested in tyhe whole Sherlock Holmes pastiche thing. BNormally I probably wouldhn't be except that Larry Millet is a local author and that's how I got started with his Sherlock Holmes in Minnesota series. I had read a good review of his Red Demon (albeit a local review) and it just went from there. So, all that said, I thought that the "...Secret Alliance" was very entertaining, a good whodunnit, well writtenm and his whole Sherlock HOlmes in Minnesota, complete with historical footnotes, is terrific.
October 26, 2020
After the 1st 3 books were so good, this 4th was most disappointing, starting with the title which should have been Shadwell Rafferty and the Secret Alliance with limited guest appearance of Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson. I struggled to finish it in the hopes it would get better.
October 31, 2022
i think its fair to take sherlock holmes out of the title as this seems to be the actual transition from a sherlock book to minnesota mysteries.
The use the letter correspondences was a nuisance, so were the notes of watson.
This book had waaaaay too much backstory shared. Its like why your nerd friend shares about his D&D campaign; its not that you don't care but he somehow goes on and on about the parts that aren't interesting no do they have any impact on the rest of the story. Every single person had such a long pointless backstory.
Half the book went by and I was still at a loss as to shad cared, why was this a mystery? It took half the book for anyone to say the murder wasn't exactly what it appeared to be.
The whole book read like it needed to prove the validity of having a mystery in minnesota and not star holmes. That part would have been perfectly fine! but ugh this was kind of a rudderless mess. Maybe it was emulating watson that kept the others before this in order.
this read was a slog.
The use the letter correspondences was a nuisance, so were the notes of watson.
This book had waaaaay too much backstory shared. Its like why your nerd friend shares about his D&D campaign; its not that you don't care but he somehow goes on and on about the parts that aren't interesting no do they have any impact on the rest of the story. Every single person had such a long pointless backstory.
Half the book went by and I was still at a loss as to shad cared, why was this a mystery? It took half the book for anyone to say the murder wasn't exactly what it appeared to be.
The whole book read like it needed to prove the validity of having a mystery in minnesota and not star holmes. That part would have been perfectly fine! but ugh this was kind of a rudderless mess. Maybe it was emulating watson that kept the others before this in order.
this read was a slog.
August 18, 2025
This is a reread for me. The series derives from a line in the original Sherlock Holmes mysteries about doing a job in Minnesota, and each mystery pairs with something significant from Minnesota history, in this case, the Mill City explosion, which happened in years prior to this story. A man, seemingly a Union agitator at the mills, is strung up after his murder with a sign blaming his death on the Secret Alliance, a group of powerful men using the city as a source for bribery and extortion. Rafferty, a saloon man and friend of Sherlock Holmes, is asked to investigate by a woman who knew the victim, and he begins, keeping in touch with Holmes and Watson in New York doing their own investigation of a less invigorating crime. Eventually they join Rafferty to finish the investigation. I enjoy the historical nature of these books—this is a fiction book with historical footnotes!—but the plot felt more like it traveled towards inevitability rather than active solution. Some twists but not revealed until the end.
October 9, 2023
This is the fourth book in the Sherlock Holmes in Minnesota series. It focuses on a young Minneapolis with a corrupt mayor, lots of rich millers and a radical group of anarchists. I always enjoy this series because of where it takes place. There are many actual Minnesotans and historical events and I wish each book had an addendum that would explain who was real and who was fiction and what became of everyone.... I will read on in this series! It's great fun!
November 26, 2018
This story had Shadwell Rafferty as the detective with a short appearance of Holmes and Watson. The book was well written and entertaining even without having the main character as Holmes, even though the title states Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Alliance.
April 17, 2019
Like the premise of having the famous detective visit MN. However, the writing was a bit clunky at times. Hard to keep track of all the moving pieces and characters. And, we get it, traveling from St. Paul to Minneapolis in that era was time consuming.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 22, 2021
If you are a Sherlock Holmes fan, you will enjoy this book. The setting is 1899 Minneapolis/ StPaul. A rather complex Murder case with a large cast of characters, but fun to watch local private detective Rafferty sort out the clues along with help from Sherlock & Watson.
February 4, 2023
Enjoyed this SH continuation, guess I’m a dyed in the wool fan of ACD. The characters draws me but I do love the historic info added-very pleasant experience all around. Narrator is just fine.
👍🏼👌🏼 Some profanity from the bad guys but it’s only once that I remember…once is more ‘n enuff.
👍🏼👌🏼 Some profanity from the bad guys but it’s only once that I remember…once is more ‘n enuff.
July 15, 2023
I love this series. This one takes place in Minneapolis. Mr. Rafferty is at the center of this mystery . Sherlock and Watson come in to help untangle the web of corruption, murder, labor unrest, prostitution, threat of President McKinley, the list goes on. Great read.
July 18, 2017
It made me want to read more of Larry Millet's books.
March 30, 2018
Have enjoyed other books by the author. This one was too convoluted
October 18, 2018
I really enjoyed this book, I love Sherlock Holmes, and this book was well written, I live in the Midwest and I enjoyed that the book was wrote for Minnesota.
October 17, 2020
Interesting location and history set in 1900 Minneapolis.
March 23, 2021
Great series!!!
November 6, 2021
A fun mashup of Sherlock Holmes mystery and turn of the 20th century labor history.
August 9, 2023
Utterly dull with hardly any Sherlock.
September 26, 2023
Good times imagining all the places I am familiar with as they were 125 years ago
July 30, 2022
It's easy to forget that the clashes between union organizers and anti-unionists were often violent and sometimes deadly.
March 12, 2017
Holmes,Watson and their friend Rafferty foil a anarchist plot to kill President McKinley in Minnesota.
February 6, 2017
Holy fucknuts, this was bad. How bad is it? It's so bad it makes me swear during a Goodreads review.
I don't recommend any of the Larry Millett Sherlock Holmes pastiches, where apparently Holmes had secret doings in the wild, wacky world of Minnesota. Because when you think Sherlock Holmes, you think Minnesota.
And the book was just about as boring as a real trip to Minnesota.
Unless you could take that trip in a time machine. Then that would be totally cool. Sherlock Holmes and you in prehistoric Minnesota trying to solve why the horses went extinct would have made a much better and more realistic book than this one.
It's books like these that made me realize why the Doyle family put up such a snit when Sherlock Holmes was declared a public domain character. Even though they probably would hate my Sherlock Holmes eBook just as much as any other American published Holmes pastiche, anyway.
I don't recommend any of the Larry Millett Sherlock Holmes pastiches, where apparently Holmes had secret doings in the wild, wacky world of Minnesota. Because when you think Sherlock Holmes, you think Minnesota.
And the book was just about as boring as a real trip to Minnesota.
Unless you could take that trip in a time machine. Then that would be totally cool. Sherlock Holmes and you in prehistoric Minnesota trying to solve why the horses went extinct would have made a much better and more realistic book than this one.
It's books like these that made me realize why the Doyle family put up such a snit when Sherlock Holmes was declared a public domain character. Even though they probably would hate my Sherlock Holmes eBook just as much as any other American published Holmes pastiche, anyway.
February 15, 2017
What a fun read. Good writing and just enough complications in plot.
January 14, 2014
It is a Murder Mystery, more of a story, not much description of violence by today's standards.
I picked this for Book Club because it is an interesting tale, the author is capable, not annoying, and, mostly I really liked how he wove in descriptions of Minneapolis in the 1890's. Many, if not all, of the buildings where the action took place have been torn down or burned long ago. Mr. Millett discusses the history of Minneapolis in the days when the flour barons ruled. He paints a brave picture of the labor organizers trying to bring fair wages even when the complications of politics make good guys into bad guys. It is intriguing to follow the story through locations that I can walk past and imagine what used to exist there. He even has extensive footnotes to explain the back story of characters and buildings. (He says you can choose to read them or not, but I love history, so I enjoyed every word!)
I recommended it for KYA because it is certainly not more violent or sexual than Twilight!
I picked this for Book Club because it is an interesting tale, the author is capable, not annoying, and, mostly I really liked how he wove in descriptions of Minneapolis in the 1890's. Many, if not all, of the buildings where the action took place have been torn down or burned long ago. Mr. Millett discusses the history of Minneapolis in the days when the flour barons ruled. He paints a brave picture of the labor organizers trying to bring fair wages even when the complications of politics make good guys into bad guys. It is intriguing to follow the story through locations that I can walk past and imagine what used to exist there. He even has extensive footnotes to explain the back story of characters and buildings. (He says you can choose to read them or not, but I love history, so I enjoyed every word!)
I recommended it for KYA because it is certainly not more violent or sexual than Twilight!
January 13, 2009
I was surprised when I began reading this book. I didn't realize that it was a Rafferty mystery with Sherlock Holmes making a mere appearance. However, since I am delighted with Larry Millett's Irish creation, I was not tempted to put the book down and move onto the fourth book in the series. It was a good mystery, as I find it usually is, but I am always left wanting something more. Perhaps it is the fact that I'm never really on the edge of my seat with his stories in the same way that I have been with others. But in general I did enjoy the book. Shadwell Rafferty is delightful and Mr. Millett has, indeed, recreated a very convincing Holmes and Watson. However, I think that people would be better served if the title of the book were changed to "Shadwell Rafferty and the Secret Alliance," with the line across the top of the book reading "Featuring Sherlock Holmes."
August 31, 2010
Years ago I picked up Millett's Sherlock Holmes and the Ice Palace Murders off the library shelf, but had forgotten about it until this past June when we saw a Sherlock Holmes mystery at the Park Square Theater. Millett participated in a post-production talk with the play's actors.
This Shadwell Rafferty mystery is a pretty good tale though I did figure out the identity of the anarchist woman toward the end. The appeal of this series is the personality of the Rafferty character and the Twin Cities history sprinkled in.
This Shadwell Rafferty mystery is a pretty good tale though I did figure out the identity of the anarchist woman toward the end. The appeal of this series is the personality of the Rafferty character and the Twin Cities history sprinkled in.
September 21, 2007
I really enjoy reading this book because not only was Mr. Holmes there and very violent scenes, but Shadwell close to Holmes was also a detective and with the intense and develop plots the story flows from a boring, typical day to a hard and dangerous work of a killer loose on the city, of Minneapolis. As Holmes, Watson, and Shadwell goes on a dangerous undercover mission to save the president of the United States.
January 4, 2008
This whole mystery series by Larry Millet is fun and intriguing. Larry Millett worked for three decades as a reporter, editor and architectural critic for the St. Paul Pioneer Press before retiring in 2002. He adds his take on Sherlock and Dr. Watson arriving in America to help the developing railroad and lumber barons in the region of Minnesota. I recommend reading them in the order they were published.
October 3, 2013
A different format than the typical novel with some play-like format as being reported in journal-form where the speakers are noted and what they say is just straight reported. More focused on Shadwell Rafferty's character with only a minor appearance by Holmes and Watson. Overall an excellent read, engrossing but with a slightly more apparent "mystery". The historical references are wonderfully woven throughout and thorough in their use.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews