Review: The House of Silk

The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I would say the voice was as close to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as it can get. Horowitz's Holmes was a little too eager to impress the audience with his talent, which showed itself a couple of times as the story progressed, but otherwise it made me go back to my teenage days when I first encountered the greatest detective of all time.

Coming to the story itself, it was intricate enough and a true tribute to the original works featuring Holmes, and gives fans what they demand from it the most, the thrill of an adventure that has more to do with wits than action-filled chase. Sure enough Holmes is more animated compared to someone like Poirot, but at the same time Holmes is also who solves crimes mainly because of his keen observation, and he is no James Bond. And this works stays vert true to that. Despite the length of it being more than a typical Doyle novel there was never a dull moment. I read this over many breaks as I was dealing with an urgent work and yet the work was so good that you can pick it and read a single line and the context would be there for you, without the need for too much recap, now that's a phenomenal achievement, particularly in a crime mystery. And two seemingly disparate narratives are crossed over in a neat little feat, in a way that has bearing on the story.

A must-read particularly if you're a fan of the original Sherlock Holmes endeavors.

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