Enthusiastically replicating the spirit, style, suspense and atmosphere of Conan Doyle's stories, this skilfully crafted homage is an irresistible read. (Peter Kemp
SUNDAY TIMES 20120916)
Horowitz has captured Holmes Heaven (
THE TIMES )
An exciting, well-crafted novel (Andrew Lycett
SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )
Bravo, then, Mr Horowitz. Let us hope that the famous dispatch box contains many more cases for him to unearth (
FINANCIAL TIMES )
A lifelong Sherlock Holmes fan, Anthony Horowitz is the perfect choice to pen the first new official mystery and what a triumph it is. While retaining faithfully the style of the originals, Horowitz's lively prose makes this exciting story just right for a new generation of fans (Sarah Clarke
BOOKSELLER )
A brilliant new Sherlock Holmes novel. The tone of voice is pitch perfect, the send of place and time spot on. I don't want to give too much away about the plot but there are clever twist and plenty of trademark Holmesian moments. I thoroughly enjoyed this (Sue Scholes
BOOKSELLER )
Horowitz plays a perfectly straight bat. This is a no-shit Sherlock (
GUARDIAN )
Brimming with informed enthusiasm, this skilfully crafted homage to Conan Doyle is so enjoyable that you're sorry when it fades away to the strains of Holmes playing his Stradivarius (
THE SUNDAY TIMES )
Anthony Horowitz's new Sherlock Holmes novel
The House of Silk is superb - indeed, I would say it is better than any of Conan Doyle's own Holmes novels, which always feel padded out in comparison with the gripping short stories (
DAILY TELEGRAPH )
Yet another Sherlock Holmes imitation? The field is crowded but with one bound Horowitz - well known for his children's books and TV scripts - takes the lead, with his perfect mimicry of Conan Doyle's style and Dr Watson's tone of voice. There is a suitably baffling mystery and the great detective is on top form. It's very good; dare I say as good as the original? (
LITERARY REVIEW )
It seems improbable, if not impossible, but it's true! Holmes is back at his best (
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY )
Perfectly paced, entirely unpredictable, edge-of-seat exciting and a total joy from start to finish. The more of it I read, the more I looked forward to basking in Holmes's deductive brilliance at the end: the solutions that are obvious once you know them but completely unguessable until you do. I am happy to report that all the required ingredients had been added; neither Holmes nor Horowitz let me down (Sophie Hannah
DAILY EXPRESS )
Horowitz infuses the novel with a superb eye for the detail of Victorian London but also a touching sense of melancholy, the book functioning as a subtle final coda to Holmes's adventures. Crucially, it also has a cracking plot and is a labyrinthine but eminently lucid page-turner (
METRO )
"As an exercise in literary pastiche the book is deeply impressive... He [Horowitz] also managed to produce an intricate and satisfying plot of which Conan Doyle would be proud and a book that drips with authentic period details." (
HERALD 20120915)
"Holmes fans - and indeed, anyone who enjoys a moody, atmospheric detective story that plumbs the darkest depths of Victorian London - will love it." (
YORK PRESS 20120922)
Brilliantly capturing the spirit and tone of Conan Doyle's original stories while devising a new mystery for modern readers is no mean feat, but Horowitz has risen to the challenge with absolute aplomb. (
GOOD BOOK GUIDE )
