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daisyro24's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Anthony Horowitz is so good to read! A real Sherlock adventure
arendjenabbe's review against another edition
5.0
That was a very good book. It was written in true Sherlock fashion, and the plot was not as straightforward as might be expected at first glance.
starthelostgirl's review against another edition
4.0
Horowitz has Dr. Watson’s voice down perfectly. This feels like an authentic Holmes adventure, except it goes to a much darker place than the originals ever did. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I had recently read through the short stories of Holmes, so I recognized a lot of the little references made to them.
mjporterauthor's review against another edition
5.0
It wasn't all that long ago that I read all the original Sherlock Holmes stories and so I was a little wary of this one. I know many people have tried to emulate Doyle in the past with varying degrees of success. What I can say is that this story is great. The spirit of Holmes and Watson, and indeed, Victorian London, is brilliantly captured, and if the conclusion of the story eventually shows merely how little has changed in the last over a 100 years, it's a sobering appreciation that corruption simply never goes away. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.
janchamp's review against another edition
4.0
Very Sherlock, but VERY Anthony Horowitz. I get the vibe that Mr. H is the guy that definitely has to be the smartest person in the room all the time, every time. I do enjoy his books though, so that probably says something about me, as well.
pauline_b's review against another edition
4.0
I was surprised by this book (in a good way). The writing, the pacing of the story and the descriptions threw me right back into an old fashioned Sherlock Holmes adventure. The character depictions were true to the original, but I didn't feel like it was a mash-up of some random old cases.
Great autumn read!
Great autumn read!
hewlettelaine's review against another edition
3.0
Very enjoyable crime novel. Probably not going to satisfy hardened fans of Conan Doyle but I think Horowitz knows that he isn't Doyle and hasn't tried to be. This is a brisk, lightweight page-turner that is perfect for summer holiday reading.
booking_along's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
this did have a very Doyle-esc feel to the writing and story telling and if it wouldn’t have been as long and a bit dragged out it would have felt like an actual real Holmes story.
so clearly this author can write and tell a story in ways that if you love the original holmes stories by doyle this is a good addition.
i even enjoyed the mystery.
but this book was a 100 pages or so to long for me.
look i love running around with Holmes in any format i can get it in (movies, shows or books? give it to me!) but i like the shorter format of how it’s mostly done with the individual cases.
Holmes does his work in a way (and it is done well jn this book, just a smithed to slow for me to love it!) when the spectator sees him take everything in, question some situations, visit a place or two and then does his big reveal of the case as if it should have been obvious from the second the time was seen.
trying to add some layers to that never works for me.
that’s a personal preference but it’s my review so: i didn’t love this but i enjoyed it okay.
i think it’s a good addition to the Holmes book series and it’s a nice read overall.
but be prepared that it can get a bit slow in the middle.
so clearly this author can write and tell a story in ways that if you love the original holmes stories by doyle this is a good addition.
i even enjoyed the mystery.
but this book was a 100 pages or so to long for me.
look i love running around with Holmes in any format i can get it in (movies, shows or books? give it to me!) but i like the shorter format of how it’s mostly done with the individual cases.
Holmes does his work in a way (and it is done well jn this book, just a smithed to slow for me to love it!) when the spectator sees him take everything in, question some situations, visit a place or two and then does his big reveal of the case as if it should have been obvious from the second the time was seen.
trying to add some layers to that never works for me.
that’s a personal preference but it’s my review so: i didn’t love this but i enjoyed it okay.
i think it’s a good addition to the Holmes book series and it’s a nice read overall.
but be prepared that it can get a bit slow in the middle.