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 gas-lit streets of
London to the teeming criminal underworld of Boston and the mysterious
‘House of Silk’ . . .
This book has been sat on my shelf for years and I honestly don’t know why I haven’t picked it up sooner. I love books that are set in the Victorian Era and I was intrigued to see how a modern day author would handle a Sherlock Holmes story. It was clear from early on that Anthony Horowitz handled such a literary giant in the most perfect way.
When Holmes and Watson begin work on a case involving Irish gangs and destroyed art they feel they will have their work cut out spanning the investigation between London and America as well as discovering the identity of a mystery man who seems to hold the key to connecting the case across the two countries but soon new twists and turns are added to the case that take them far away from the original case and brings them something much darker and bigger than they could have imagined.
I can’t really pick out a single fault in this novel, it is gripping from start to end and the big reveal of ‘The House of Silk’ is one I didn’t see coming, I won’t give it a way but it’s certainly a bit of an uncomfortable topic to touch upon on. Horowitz captures life in Victorian England perfectly and it’s easy to imagine the characters, the building and the streets from his descriptions. It was certainly a brave decisions to take on the Sherlock Holmes legacy but Horowitz was certainly the best man for the job.
Rating: ★★★★★
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