House of Silk & A Slight Trick of the Mind

The House of Silk was written by Anthony Horowitz. It's almost a Sherlock Holmes story by way of Law & Order: SVU. The crimes described within are instantly recognizable to us, a modern audience, but not to the Edwardian characters who are trying to solve them.

Perhaps it's a credit to the author to remain true to the time period but it does end up leaving the reader ahead of the Great Detective and we end up reading and waiting for Holmes to catch up... which is no fun.
Well-written but ultimately pedestrian and sadly, a bit boring.














A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullen. This novel takes place several years into Holmes' retirement. 93 and unable to walk without the assistance of a cane, Sherlock writes in his journals, tends his apiary and deals with his (new) housekeeper and her son. As his physical and mental strength begin to flag he remembers a journey to Japan he took and the narrative switches back and forth.

This is an exceptional book, but not really Sherlock Holmes story... it's a story of aging and coming to terms with one's mortality, but there is little of the qualities we look for within a Holmes story-- no deduction, no Watson, no England, no turn of the century, etc. If you start reading with this in mind, you might have a better experience than I.

By the way, this book is being turned into a movie starring Ian McKellan. While, that may be fun, I hope the film is more... let's say lively, than the book.