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Books

Book Review – The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

October 30, 2012

I just finished reading The House of Silk and must say I was impressed from the offset.

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The book is a brand new Sherlock Holmes novel approved by the family of Holmes’ original creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Many people have picked up this fascinating character, but I’ve never been compelled to read their work. I only chose to read this book after reading some very good reviews of the book and it’s author.

The book is written as usual with the voice of Dr Watson, Holmes’ closest friend as the narrator. The book is Watson’s account written after the death of his friend.

The idea is that this is the most shocking and sensational case that the detective had ever investigated and was therefor never put to paper by Watson. He is writing this story with the intention that it will be shut away for 100 years, bringing its content to the eyes of readers in the 21st century.

The book is very well structured and written extremely well. It keeps in the spirit of the original works of Conan Doyle. The story leaves the reader guessing at every turn and us full of surprises. Some of the subject matter is disturbing and distressing with some horrible murders, but this approach makes the story all the more readable.

I won’t go into the plot at all as I don’t want to give anything away, it is a detective story after all! It really is an unputdownable read that I couldn’t recommend enough.

The Author Anthony Horowitz is famous for writing more murders than any other writer and his previous work includes the popular Alex Rider series for young readers as well as screen writing for tv programmes such as Midsomer Murders and Foyle’s War.

He himself did not come up with the idea to write a Sherlock Holmes novel, but was approached by the Conan Doyle estate.

When writing the books he set out 10 rules that he vowed to stick to when writing the book. The rules were there to help him stay true to Conan Doyle’s characters and writing style. This clearly is one of the reasons the book turned out so exceptionally well.

There is an interesting essay by Horowitz at the end of the book which explains a bit more about the background and writing process of the book. Do not skip reading this part, it is fascinating.

You’ll love this book if…
You like a good mystery or are already a fan of the Sherlock Holmes books. If you want an introduction to Sherlock Holmes this is a million times better than the Guy Richie films starring Robert Downey jr. as a very over the top Holmes.

I give this book 5/5 as it is fantastic little page turner.

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