Book Review - "The House of Silk" by Anthony Horowitz

  I just finished reading The House of Silk: The New Sherlock Holmes Novel (Sherlock Holmes Novel 1) by Anthony Horowitz and really wanted to come to Amazon to review it because I was so impressed.

   The story is supposed to be written many years after the exploits as Watson looks back at a case of such magnitude that he hadn't dared detail it at the time. Whilst Watson's wife is away on a visit he returns to Baker Street and embarks on another adventure with Holmes. At first they are looking into a strange case involving the Flat Cap gang of Boston, but a mishap involving one of the Irregulars takes the pair to a much darker place.

   I loved this book from cover to cover. I first started reading the Sherlock Holmes stories in my teenage years (20 years ago) and having exhaused the canon I went on to the many spin-offs but was always left unsatisfied. I am not exaggerating to say that this is the best Holmes story in black and white since Conan Doyle slipped this mortal coil. I think that either Horowitz is a natural mimic or, more likely, he has studied the rhytm, vocabulary and timbre of Conan Doyle. We get to enjoy the exquisite glory of Holmes summing up the life story of a visitor to his rooms on a number of occasions. Not only does he do his "parlour trick" with the players in the story but Horowitz also pens an exchange of this sort with Mycroft - my personal highlight of the book.

   Having not read any fiction for a year or so I flew through The House of Silk: The New Sherlock Holmes Novel (Sherlock Holmes Novel 1) in two quick sittings. I might even read it again next!

   In a nutshell the novel is excellent and a must buy for any Sherlockian. I heartily recommend it and hope Horowitz returns for more.