Review: The New Sherlock Holmes Novel, The House Of Silk By Anthony Horowitz

Novel: Mystery. Contains violence, adult implications, and drugs. 

Sherlock Homes is one of the most well-known characters on earth, he has appeared in more movies than any other character, beating James bond by nearly forty movies, and Godzilla by 10 or so. The moment people invented film, they leaped to create the silent film, "Sherlock Holmes baffled" (it ran less than a minute). 12 or 14 Television series has had an innumerable amount of stage adaptations, each Holmes sporting that same iconic pipe, 25 TV movies, and 19 video games (I got all my information from Wikipedia, blame them if it's incorrect, XD). 

So it comes somewhat of a shock to me, that the first book about the great detective was released so recently, and by a writer, who, while having some renown, still wouldn't be most people’s first choice for such a consequential book. Perhaps it’s assumed that it is easier to reproduce Sherlock’s personality on screen than on the page, I suppose a book is easier to compare than a movie, although that never seems to stop fans from saying “The movie messed up the story!”

But in my opinion, the book does justice to its license; it has a grim feel to it. A running theme being the mortality of Sherlock and his trusty friend Watson, who; now on his deathbed, has decided to reveal this story. The mystery works extremely well and has enough twists and turns to keep you guessing, although there seemed to me, to be way more details and more of a complex mystery in the side plot while the search for the House of Silk and its purpose is more straightforward.

Although I predicted one or two things, the book continues to shock you with new twists, right up until the end. It has a maddening mystery, some very morose overtones, and its reveal is unexpected but fairly obvious in hindsight. But it’s not all doom and gloom, it has a few humorous moments between Sherlock and his ever-present companion, Watson. Their dialogue, like most of the dialogue in this book, is spot on. And the book is inventive in its scenes and situations.

If you like Sherlock Holmes or just mystery books, then I feel confident in recommending this book. Anthony hit all the right notes and does justice to the legend of Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street.

I’d rate it Great near Brilliant (If you are unaware of how I rate books then this will show you how; Awful - Bad - Good - Great - Brilliant), with the kind of look at the past that always gets me, and the kind of mystery which will keep you turning pages.

Thanks for reading, have good day/night!