Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Das Geheimnis des Weißen Bandes

Horowitz does a masterful job capturing the very essence of Sherlock Holmes in this new mystery. Just absolutely brilliant writing.

That said, the subject matter takes a dark turn. It starts with the grisly murder of a child, then a second, and then the reveal (when they solve the case) is hugely disturbing. Definitely left me with a pit in my stomach, and I can’t say I’d recommend it, despite the fine writing.

Content Warnings

sophieamreacher's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

Content Warnings

booksofaim's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I read this book for entertainment purposes. Notwithstanding, I never expected The House of Silk to affect me the way it did. I'm new to the whodunnit genre and expected nothing more than an entertaining novel that would serve the purpose of cleansing my reading palette. I've never read anything concerning the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and was intrigued to see what these adventures (in book form) were all about.

I must say, I'm glad I gave this book a shot. It did everything I expected it to do and more. I enjoyed the fluidity of the narrative and at no point did I ever doubt that this was indeed Dr. Watson's story and that it was indeed Dr. Watson telling it. If the novel structure and adventure of The House of Silk is what Sherlock Holmes is all about, then I’m willing to delve into the back catalogue of his adventures.

From the outset, I was immersed in the world of Dr. Watson (thanks to the audiobook) and followed him along as the plot thickened and led me to an unexpected place. I am still processing the turn of events and am amazed at what the The House of Silk is and what it indeed turned out to be. All along, I assume The House of Silk to be x or something to that effect. Given the subject matter of the events and what was transpiring, it couldn’t have been anything else. Here, Horowitz did a phenomenal job at leading the reader toward an assumed destination (with all its twists and turns) only to detour toward the end and catch the reader by surprise.

In retrospect, there were hints that the The House of Silk was not what it appeared to be. That is, there were allusions throughout of something much more sinister at bay. But never did I imagine it to be what it indeed was. The House of Silk, who would've thought! And how it all came together at the end...

Well done, Sir Horowitz. Well done!

On a more serious note, while highly entertaining, The House of Silk also has (though minor) a literary aspect to it. That is, it's not simply a whodunnit work of fiction. There are portions of this book that speak to realities that many of us would seemingly be oblivious to. And it's these minor (and at times extensive) details, allusions, hints that struck me as The House of Silk being worthy of more than an entertaining whodunnit novel.

Finally, Horowitz toward the end alludes to something that intrigued me. Given the last sentence of the book and the subject matter of The House of Silk—i.e. what it was—in conjunction with some other minor sporadic comments found throughout, I wonder if Horowitz was hinting at something. ... I don't know. But then again, it could just be me.

4.5 stars.

Not a 5-star just because there were some things that just didn't seem believable. And though this is a work of fiction, those minor things (though one could consider them to be insignificant) at the moment prevent me from giving it a 5-star rating.

Content Warnings

elzmri's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Horowitz portrays Holmes and Watson brilliantly, and I really like his writing style. However the content of the crimes that they were investigating, which were revealed towards the end, was really difficult to read and I wish I had seen the content trigger warnings beforehand. As a review on the front cover notes, Horowitz certainly does explore the “capital’s dark underbelly [more] than Conan Doyle ever did”, but I found this to be a bit too triggering and shocking for me and I was close to having to put the book down, but I tried and managed to read it to the end. Nevertheless, I hope for Horowitz to write more Holmes pastiches in the future.

Content Warnings

spw14's review against another edition

Go to review page

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Content Warnings

mari_books's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I wanted to like this book more than I did. It got good in the end, when some of the more unrelated pieces started fitting together but overall this book rambles in a passive narrative style. And, I feel like many important characters were shortchanged and shallow. Maybe I would like this better if it were a movie? Moves very slow

Content Warnings

anniereads221's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

Content Warnings

More...