Name: Abdul Rehman Ismail's review of The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz
Item: The House of Silk
Rating: 5
Author: Abdul Rehman Ismail

Anthony Horowitz

THE GAME'S AFOOT... It is November 1890, and London is gripped by a merciless winter. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are enjoying tea by the fire when an agitated gentleman arrives unannounced at 221b Baker Street. He begs Holmes for help, telling the unnerving story of a scar-faced man with piercing eyes who has stalked him in recent weeks. Intrigued, Holmes and Watson find themselves swiftly drawn into a series of puzzling and sinister events, stretching from the gaslit streets of London to the teeming criminal underworld of Boston and the mysterious 'House of Silk' . . .

The House of Silk

Amy Manson

With approval from the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a best-selling novelist and Sherlock Holmes expert brings the greatest detective in literary history back to life on Baker Street for the first time since 1930. 200,000 first printing.

A Sherlock Holmes Novel

Abdul Rehman Ismail

Hats off to Anthony Horowitz! Loved every bit of detail put into this novel and how everything mattered in the plot. Loved it and would recommend everyone to read this, in a heartbeat.

Patrick Book

It’s good! I don’t know, I’m not sure it entirely captures the spirit of the Conan Doyle stories, but t hews pretty closely. Maybe it’s been a while since I’ve read them, but I feel like this veers into some unsavoury areas that ACD would never have tread, but maybe making Holmes relevant to a modern context requires that.

Jordan

"Horowitz truly pulls off the wonderful illusion that Arthur Conan Doyle left us one last tale."--San Diego Union Tribune London, 1890. 221B Baker St. A fine art dealer named Edmund Carstairs visits Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson to beg for their help. He is being menaced by a strange man in a flat cap - a wanted criminal who seems to have followed him all the way from America. In the days that follow, his home is robbed, his family is threatened. And then the first murder takes place. THE HOUSE OF SILK bring Sherlock Holmes back with all the nuance, pacing, and almost superhuman powers of analysis and deduction that made him the world's greatest detective, in a case depicting events too shocking, too monstrous to ever appear in print....until now.

Savindi Jinasena

A cracking read. I didn't expect the plot twists at all. Another great Sherlock Holmes story.

I am unfamiliar with the original Sherlock Holmes, so I feel unable to fully write an appropriate review as this is intended to be written as a last novel by Dr. Watson. However, in my opinion, this book was not great. The plot jumped all over the place and it was often challenging to string things together. Other books by Anthony Horowitz were much, much better. 

Merry Rudinger

Todd Luallen

This is the first Sherlock Holmes novel I've read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Holmes franchise is so popular that I had a good idea of the sort of adventure I would be reading, but until you read it, you never know for sure. I feel a little ashamed that the first Holmes novel I read wasn't actually written by the original creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I'm sure I'll read one of his novels in the future, but for the time being, I'm a fan of Horowitz and his Sherlock adventures. I'll probably update this review once I've read a Sir Arthur book, but until then, I'm just going to sit wondrously content in my ignorance.

This novel had plenty of twists and turns, and even introduced the character that is likely featured in the follow-up Holmes novel by Horowitz, Moriarty. I always know when I'm hooked on a novel when I have trouble walking away from a chapter. This was one of those books. I always wanted to keep reading.

Sian Wadey

This book was recommended to me by the owner of my local bookshop Booka. I'm working my way through the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes very slowly as the book is mahoosive and I can't take it anywhere with me. 
The House of Silk is a brilliant, rip-roaring read, full of Victorian urchins, mystery, intrigue and horse and carriage chases.
Anthony Horowitz is a great writer and I had no problem imagining Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The prologue which explains why the book was only recently published is also a nice added touch. 
As always with Holmes, the plot is complicated with twists and turns on every page. The way Horowitz details Watson and Holmes' relationship and how much Watson cares for Holmes is lovely to read as a lover of these stories.
The reader is propelled into Victorian London with all of it's charm and characters and you are gripped from beginning to end trying to work out how everything is linked. I also think Horowitz dealt with a delicate subject matter very well without sounding preachy or going on about the 'message'. 
And for me, despite their series being set in modern London I pictured Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as the aforementioned characters. I really hope Horowitz decides to write another Holmes novel as I enjoyed this one immensely.

Fraser Simons

A fun addition to the official Sherlock canon. It keeps the format that I eventually found intensely repetitive, but actually manages to tweak it in ways I appreciated, as well as semi retcon some of the outdated aspects. Things like fat phobia descriptions and just things with the benefit of hindsight don’t look so good. 

The dynamic is preserved, the plot is a good time, it’s well paced. It’s probably not going to blow your mind but it is comfortable and comforting, especially if you’ve read other Sherlock stories.

* be aware of a large content warning for that of multiple kinds of harm to children. It is somewhat veiled and not gone into into that much detail, but neither is it glossed over in the least.

Cindy Lieberman

A good and faithfully written Conan-Doyle-style Sherlock Holmes mystery, narrated by Dr Watson year’s after Holmes’ death. For Sherlock Holmes fans this is an enjoyable addition. I preferred Mr Horowitz’ more modern Magpie Murders and The Word is Murder, and glad this was not my first exposure to his writing.

Sarah Vaughan

Warning: This is not a cozy English mystery.

I enjoyed this, but I wish I had known going in that it was not going to be a slow-paced, cozy Victorian mystery but instead a dark thriller. The character development was great, and the story itself was well done, but I was not a fan of some of the pacing. It didn't flow naturally for me. I was also not a fan of how the author tied things up in the end. Otherwise, it would have been a 4-star read.

Maria

написано, как мне показалось аутентично (хотя не уверена, что в конце 19 века произошедшее действительно считалось преступлением), но с моей колокольни истории про организованную преступность это дичайше скучно (говорю как человек, который ни одного фильма про мафию не смог до конца посмотреть). то ли дело личные драмы и преступления страсти

laura

Very good :) sometimes the descriptions got on my nerves. liked the concept thou!

Ben Nathan

Really enjoyable. Horowitz has a great hold on Sherlock Holmes. That said, I think Moriarty was better and would suggest to read it first. This reads like true Sherlock Holmes.

cygnoir

This was a satisfying read, and stylistically spot-on. It didn't thrill me like the original stories have done but it was entertaining nonetheless.

Amy Manson &
The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

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Amy Manson &The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

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Amy Manson &
The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz