The House of Silk

A Sherlock Holmes Novel

By: Anthony Horowitz

Narrated by: Derek Jacobi

Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Sherlock Holmes is the greatest detective in literary history. For the first time since the death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a new Holmes story has been sanctioned by his estate, whetting the appetites of fans everywhere. Information about the book will be revealed as deliberately as Holmes himself would unravel a knotty case, but best-selling novelist and Holmes expert Anthony Horowitz is sure to bring a compelling, atmospheric story to life. With access to the estate's archives and careful study of the original stories, Horowitz is sure to weave a tale that satisfies new fans as well as the most dedicated Baker Street Irregular.

©2011 Anthony Horowitz (P)2011 Hachette

Excellent writing

I enjoyed the book, as well as the performance. I did think sometimes Sherlock seemed pitched oddly high, but I still enjoyed it. I think Horowitz does a wonderful job writing like Doyle, and handles the darkness of this story with ease. Without spoiling anything, I was not made unreasonably uncomfortable and yet I was reasonably horrified by the evil depicted. Another memorable Horowitz (Doyle) story!

PLEASE tell me there are MORE !

Absolutely excellent from first to last. Too engrossing to listen at bedtime - it wil keep you up. I'm a big fan of Holmes in many iterations - Larry Millett and Laurie King among others, but Anthony Horowitz really captures it all - the essence of a good Holmes story - plus excellent description of place, action and character - brought leaping to life by Derek Jacobi - truly a brilliant and lush performance. Even if you are not a Holmes fan - this is a great book. I'm pretty fussy and rarely, if ever, have given such an unabashed 5 star review. This one is sooooooo worth it.

Excellent

Both the story and the narration are fantastic. This story goes to a place that I did not at all expect for a Sherlock Holmes novel. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and felt this was perhaps one of the best I've listened to so far on Audible.

Perhaps not strictly true to Holmes, still fun.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Attempting to explore the beloved characters of other authors is tricky. I think maybe this story would have played better if it hadn't tried to take on Holmes, but had been a newly introduced detective. Having said that, it was entertaining.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

No.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I liked his characters and he was very consistent - which I have to imagine is difficult. There were moments I had trouble understanding what he was saying, but that could have been me.

Was The House of Silk worth the listening time?

Yes, but buy it on sale.

Silk not too smooth

The story telling was well done. Somewhat lacking in intrigue. The members of the house did not create any feeling that our hero was facing a formidable foe. A Moriarty with scruples? The whole portion on Moriarty should have been edited out.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

I've read all of the complete works of Sherlock Holmes and this has to be the story that comes closest in style and formula. In that respect it's quite amazing. However, there's nothing like the real thing and therefore I enjoy when Sherlock Holmes is given new spins. It's a good book, one I would recommend to hard core fans but it falls flat. A part could be due to the narration. The narration could have made the characters more distinctive. Instead it sounded like only one (ok, may 2 with that bad America accent) was part of the book.

House of Silk

I found this too long and drawn out. The reader was excellent and it does have the SH ambience throughout. If you just can't get enough SH and have already gone through all his Conan Doyle books then this book is for you.

In my opinion the best reader of the Conan Doyle SH books is David Timson. They are also very well dramatized by the BBC. I believe these are all available from audible.

I thoroughly Enjoyed this book

Beatifuly read by Derek Jacob this Sherlock Holmes adventure had all the twists and turns of the original books but with a slightly modern voice and a social conscience .This did not detract from the story telling, Anthony Horowitz has done an amazing job . I think Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would not be disappointed with the result. However I feel certain that he would never written about the horror that This Sherlock uncovers , it would never have been discussed in polite society in his day even though it surely existed behind closed doors we should be grateful we have come a little further in 2017 and are able to shine a light on this dark side of humanity.

Sherlock Holmes Book

If you like Sherlock Holmes you will like this book. It moves along at a good pace and Watson relates the tale.

Thoroughly enjoyed it!

Of course, this is not Conan Doyle’s Holmes or Watson. But the characters are true to the spirit of the tradition, and it’s so good to have them back in a well-written story that I didn’t care. It’s a dark, disturbing tale that is atmospheric and eventful. And Derek Jacobi did a wonderful job with the narration. I did object to the use (more than once), of the phrase “at the end of the day,” which I think is one of the most annoying in the English language. Did people even use that phrase in 1890? I hope not.