DECEMBER 2014 - AudioFile
This devious Sherlockian tale by English novelist and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz requires narrator Julian Rhind-Tutt to play a range of English and American characters. He generally excels, although the voice he uses for the story’s American protagonist has a flat, nasal rasp that may put off some listeners. That aside, he does an admirable job of using intonation and accent to portray personality. His pacing enhances the plethora of action in this fiendish reconsideration of what happened after Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty’s death-fight at Reichenbach Falls. The result involves an American Pinkerton agent, a Scotland Yard detective, and an assortment of villains from both sides of the Pond. Have fun! A.C.S. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
The New York Times Book Review - Marilyn Stasio
…[an] infernally clever Sherlock Holmes pastiche…
Publishers Weekly
10/06/2014
In this disappointing follow-up to Horowitz’s brilliant first Holmes pastiche, The House of Silk (2011), Sherlock Holmes appears only in passing, in a prologue in which narrator Frederick Chase, a Pinkerton operative, details the plot holes in Watson’s account of the fatal encounter between the great detective and the Napoleon of crime at the Reichenbach Falls in 1891. Chase is on the trail of Clarence Devereux, an American Moriarty, when news reaches him of the tragedy in Switzerland. Chase believes that Moriarty and Devereux had been in contact, and he travels immediately to Meiringen, where he winds up teaming with Scotland Yard’s Insp. Athelney Jones, who displays an unexpected gift for Sherlockian deduction. After decoding a message setting a meeting between Moriarty and Devereux at London’s Café Royal, Chase plans to impersonate the master criminal. As a pair, Jones and Chase are but a pale shadow of Holmes and Watson. Agent: Jonathan Lloyd, Curtis Brown (U.K.). (Dec.)
From the Publisher
Anthony Horowitz throws down the gauntlet in his infernally clever Sherlock Holmes pastiche.” — Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review
“Ultimately, the dastardly deeds, the cleverness behind the crimes and the detailed narrative spark multiple echoes of Holmesian elements while producing something new: a pleasurably imaginative theory of what might happened immediately following the showdown at the Falls.” — Boston Globe
“A tour de force quite unlike any other fruit from these densely plowed fields… canny Sherlock-ian Horowitz still has more tricks up his sleeve.… A rare treat, a mystery as original as it is enthralling.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Though Horowitz dishes up the gore and violence with relish, he also offers all the tropes one might expect from a Holmes yarn, including baffling coded messages, impossible murders and clever red herrings... its plotting just as brilliantly gnarly but its tone more self-aware and laced with in-jokes.” — Financial Times
“The author turns up the suspense, the sleuths turn up the clues, and crooks end up dead all while Moriarty’s specter hovers. Anything but elementary, this clever thriller is sure to please Sherlock fans.” — People Magazine, Book of the Week Review
“A stunning riff on the Holmes-Moriarty clash. It’s full of allusions to the Holmes cannon that Sherlockians will congratulate themselves for spotting, then wince moments later when Horowitz gently reveals the prank.... Horowitz spins his tale in pitch-perfect Watsonian prose…setting readers up for a finale that is truly jaw-dropping.” — Booklist, (starred)
“Prolific thriller writer Horowitz, whose last Holmes book The House of Silk was backed by the Conan Doyle estate, returns to the famous Reichenbach Falls scene, where Holmes and his arch-nemesis fall to their apparent deaths. But if you’re expecting a return of the great detective, you’ll be disappointed. This one is squarely about the bad guys. The death of Professor Moriarty leaves a power vacuum in London’s underworld that only detectives Athelney Jones (a Holmes obsessive) and his partner Frederick Case can solve.” — New York Post
“[Horowitz’s] new novel, Moriarty, begins with a bravura dissection of Doyle’s story “The Final Problem” in which he points out all the discrepancies, loose ends and improbabilities of behaviour. The remainder of the book is partly an ingenious exercise in explaining them away. ...An often excruciatingly exciting pursuit, and there is much casual slaughter, with hints of torture; nothing gratuitous but, as in The House of Silk, Horowitz’s Victorian London is a much darker place than Doyle’s.” — Daily Telegraph (London)
“Is there nothing Anthony Horowitz touches that doesn’t turn to gold? ...He captures Conan Doyle’s narrative technique to perfection. Gory murders, honest thieves, brilliant disguises, breathless chases and red herrings abound.” — Daily Express (London)
“In this skilfully executed follow on, Horowitz takes up the Conan Doyle baton and creates a suitably stylish and twisty detective story.” — Sunday Mirror (UK)
“Thrilling and compelling, with a stunning twist, this is written as if Conan Doyle were at Horowitz’s shoulder, and is—in my view—the finest crime novel of the year.” — Daily Mail (London)
“An unpredictable and twist-filled mystery from start to finish. But what do you expect from the man penning the next James Bond novel?” — Shortlist (UK)
Praise for The House of Silk: “Horowitz unfolds an intricate and rewarding mystery in the finest Victorian tradition. Admirers of [his] TV series, Foyle’s War, and Sherlockians will delight in equal measure.” — Vanity Fair
“A book firmly rooted in the style of Doyle, faithful to the character as created and with just enough wiggle room to allow the author to say all the things he’s been longing to say about the world of 221B Baker Street...THE HOUSE OF SILK will satisfy.” — Huffington Post
“Nicely captures the storytelling tone of Holmes’ inventor in a galloping adventure that boasts enough twists, ominous turns and urgent nocturnal escapades to make modern moviemakers salivate ... Author Horowitz delivers some dramatic tableaux in these pages, including a railway robbery, a prison escape and a horse-drawn carriage chase ... the Holmes we see here is just as cryptic and clever as we’ve come to expect.” — Kirkus Reviews
“The hype surrounding what’s being billed as the first pastiche ever officially approved by the Conan Doyle estate is amply justified ... authentic. Horowitz gets everything right-the familiar narrative voice, brilliant deductions, a very active role for Watson, and a perplexing and disturbing series of puzzles to unravel-and the legion of fans of the originals will surely be begging for Horowitz to again dip into Watson’s trove of untold tales.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[In The House of Silk,] Watson’s elegiac voice should silence the objections of even the most persnickety Sherlock scholar.” — NPR
“Horowitz seems to have mastered that tricky balance between respecting the original and keeping things fresh. Disguises, fakes, twists, red herrings and violence—the game is afoot!” — Bookpage
“…deliciously twisty new novel…” — Columbus Dispatch
Daily Telegraph (London)
[Horowitz’s] new novel, Moriarty, begins with a bravura dissection of Doyle’s story “The Final Problem” in which he points out all the discrepancies, loose ends and improbabilities of behaviour. The remainder of the book is partly an ingenious exercise in explaining them away. ...An often excruciatingly exciting pursuit, and there is much casual slaughter, with hints of torture; nothing gratuitous but, as in The House of Silk, Horowitz’s Victorian London is a much darker place than Doyle’s.
Sunday Mirror (UK)
In this skilfully executed follow on, Horowitz takes up the Conan Doyle baton and creates a suitably stylish and twisty detective story.
(starred) Booklist
A stunning riff on the Holmes-Moriarty clash. It’s full of allusions to the Holmes cannon that Sherlockians will congratulate themselves for spotting, then wince moments later when Horowitz gently reveals the prank.... Horowitz spins his tale in pitch-perfect Watsonian prose…setting readers up for a finale that is truly jaw-dropping.
New York Post
Prolific thriller writer Horowitz, whose last Holmes book The House of Silk was backed by the Conan Doyle estate, returns to the famous Reichenbach Falls scene, where Holmes and his arch-nemesis fall to their apparent deaths. But if you’re expecting a return of the great detective, you’ll be disappointed. This one is squarely about the bad guys. The death of Professor Moriarty leaves a power vacuum in London’s underworld that only detectives Athelney Jones (a Holmes obsessive) and his partner Frederick Case can solve.
Financial Times
Though Horowitz dishes up the gore and violence with relish, he also offers all the tropes one might expect from a Holmes yarn, including baffling coded messages, impossible murders and clever red herrings... its plotting just as brilliantly gnarly but its tone more self-aware and laced with in-jokes.
Boston Globe
Ultimately, the dastardly deeds, the cleverness behind the crimes and the detailed narrative spark multiple echoes of Holmesian elements while producing something new: a pleasurably imaginative theory of what might happened immediately following the showdown at the Falls.
People Magazine
The author turns up the suspense, the sleuths turn up the clues, and crooks end up dead all while Moriarty’s specter hovers. Anything but elementary, this clever thriller is sure to please Sherlock fans.
Marilyn Stasio
Anthony Horowitz throws down the gauntlet in his infernally clever Sherlock Holmes pastiche.
Daily Express (London)
Is there nothing Anthony Horowitz touches that doesn’t turn to gold? ...He captures Conan Doyle’s narrative technique to perfection. Gory murders, honest thieves, brilliant disguises, breathless chases and red herrings abound.
The Daily Telegraph
An often excruciatingly exciting pursuit, and there is much casual slaughter, with hints of torture; nothing gratuitous but, as in The House of Silk, Horowitz’s Victorian London is a much darker place than Doyle’s.
Irish Independent
A no-nonsense writer Horowitz proceeds briskly and ladles out spills and thrills with aplomb.
Daily Mail
Thrilling and compelling, with a stunning twist, this is written as if Conan Doyle were at Horowitz’s shoulder, and is-in my view-the finest crime novel of the year.
Literary Review
The plot is gripping and the writing most readable. In fact, I must make a confession: I would rather read Horowitz than his model, Arthur Conan Doyle.
The Guardian
The House of Silk was very popular and a solid piece of work—well constructed, skilfully executed and persuasively tinged with that alluring sooty flavour of 1890s London. His second, Moriarty, is much the same, but bolder in its ambitions.
Financial Times
Though Horowitz dishes up the gore and violence with relish, he also offers all the tropes one might expect from a Holmes yarn, including baffling coded messages, impossible murders and clever red herrings.
Sunday Mirror
In this skilfully executed follow on, Horowitz takes up the Conan Doyle baton and creates a suitably stylish and twisty detective story.
People
Anything but elementary, this clever thriller is sure to please.
Irish Times
Anthony Horowitz may not be the most reverential of the many writers who have attempted to breathe new life into the legacy of Sherlock Holmes, but Moriarty proves that he is certainly one of the most entertaining.
Washington Post
An altogether terrific period thriller and one of the best Sherlockian pastiches of our time.
Daily Express
Is there nothing Anthony Horowitz touches that doesn’t turn to gold? . . . . He captures Conan Doyle’s narrative technique to perfection. Gory murders, honest thieves, brilliant disguises, breathless chases and red herrings abound.
Edinburgh Evening News
A page-turner that is exhilarating and infuriating in equal measure.
Newcastle Journal
Horowitz weaves this mystery together perfectly and his plot twists are unpredictable until the last.
Sunday Times
A relentlessly fast-paced and entertaining read.
Sunday Post
An exhilarating page-turner.
Daily Express
Is there nothing Anthony Horowitz touches that doesn’t turn to gold? . . . . He captures Conan Doyle’s narrative technique to perfection. Gory murders, honest thieves, brilliant disguises, breathless chases and red herrings abound.
Washington Post
An altogether terrific period thriller and one of the best Sherlockian pastiches of our time.
Daily Mail
Thrilling and compelling, with a stunning twist, this is written as if Conan Doyle were at Horowitz’s shoulder, and is-in my view-the finest crime novel of the year.
Shortlist (UK)
An unpredictable and twist-filled mystery from start to finish. But what do you expect from the man penning the next James Bond novel?
Daily Mail (London)
Thrilling and compelling, with a stunning twist, this is written as if Conan Doyle were at Horowitz’s shoulder, and is—in my view—the finest crime novel of the year.
NPR
[In The House of Silk,] Watson’s elegiac voice should silence the objections of even the most persnickety Sherlock scholar.
Columbus Dispatch
…deliciously twisty new novel…
Huffington Post
A book firmly rooted in the style of Doyle, faithful to the character as created and with just enough wiggle room to allow the author to say all the things he’s been longing to say about the world of 221B Baker Street...THE HOUSE OF SILK will satisfy.
Bookpage
Horowitz seems to have mastered that tricky balance between respecting the original and keeping things fresh. Disguises, fakes, twists, red herrings and violence—the game is afoot!
Vanity Fair
Praise for The House of Silk: “Horowitz unfolds an intricate and rewarding mystery in the finest Victorian tradition. Admirers of [his] TV series, Foyle’s War, and Sherlockians will delight in equal measure.
New York Post
Prolific thriller writer Horowitz, whose last Holmes book The House of Silk was backed by the Conan Doyle estate, returns to the famous Reichenbach Falls scene, where Holmes and his arch-nemesis fall to their apparent deaths. But if you’re expecting a return of the great detective, you’ll be disappointed. This one is squarely about the bad guys. The death of Professor Moriarty leaves a power vacuum in London’s underworld that only detectives Athelney Jones (a Holmes obsessive) and his partner Frederick Case can solve.
The Independent (UK)
A page-turning novel for all ages that continues the story of Sherlock Holmes’s greatest enemy…crammed with references to some of [Doyle’s] best-loved stories.
LJ Express
meticulously researched and skillfully executed…. A fiendishly plotted exploit.
Booklist
A stunning riff on the Holmes-Moriarty clash. It’s full of allusions to the Holmes cannon that Sherlockians will congratulate themselves for spotting, then wince moments later when Horowitz gently reveals the prank.... Horowitz spins his tale in pitch-perfect Watsonian prose…setting readers up for a finale that is truly jaw-dropping.
DECEMBER 2014 - AudioFile
This devious Sherlockian tale by English novelist and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz requires narrator Julian Rhind-Tutt to play a range of English and American characters. He generally excels, although the voice he uses for the story’s American protagonist has a flat, nasal rasp that may put off some listeners. That aside, he does an admirable job of using intonation and accent to portray personality. His pacing enhances the plethora of action in this fiendish reconsideration of what happened after Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty’s death-fight at Reichenbach Falls. The result involves an American Pinkerton agent, a Scotland Yard detective, and an assortment of villains from both sides of the Pond. Have fun! A.C.S. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2014-10-23
A Sherlockian pastiche without Holmes and Watson? Yes indeed, and it's a tour de force quite unlike any other fruit from these densely plowed fields.It is 1891. Holmes and professor James Moriarty are both presumed dead after hurtling over Reichenbach Falls, though the only body that's been recovered is thought to be that of a chef at the Englischer Hof. The Pinkerton Detective Agency has sent operative Frederick Chase to England to investigate rumors that Clarence Devereux, fresh from his triumphantly lucrative scheme to manipulate stock prices by sending false information over Western Union wires, has come to join Moriarty in an Anglo-American criminal empire—and, finding the Napoleon of crime deceased, has stayed to become his successor. Joining forces with DI Athelney Jones, whose admiration of Holmes is just this side of idolatry, Chase tries to trace the agoraphobic Devereux through his lieutenants Edgar and Leland Mortlake and safecracker Scotchy Lavelle. The only results of their search are a series of violent reprisals, and when they finally catch up with Devereux at a function hosted by American legate (and president's son) Robert Todd Lincoln, he turns the tables on them with insolent ease, leaving them both scurrying to hang on to their jobs. Since Jones talks and acts just like Holmes and Chase is every bit as enterprising as Dr. Watson, they seem likely to run their quarry to earth, with pauses along the way for lightning deductions and a drastically compressed sequel to "The Red-Headed League." But canny Sherlock-ian Horowitz (The House of Silk, 2011, etc.) still has more tricks up his sleeve. Readers who aren't put off by the Hollywood pacing, with action set pieces less like Conan Doyle than the Robert Downey Jr. movies, are in for a rare treat, a mystery as original as it is enthralling.
