Like Sherlock Holmes? Read the review of Web Weaver

[Ehsan Ehsani]

Like Sherlock Holmes stories? Well, fresh out of the oven comes a new novel by Sam Siciliano titled “The Web Weaver“; a new addition to the ever-growing body of Sherlockian literature. Sam Siciliano has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Iowa and has taught at the college level. Web Weaver is his second novel from a series titled The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. His first novel was The Angel of the Opera.  

 

In Web Weaver, a mysterious gypsy shows up at a party of London Elite and places a cruel curse on the guests at the ball. The guests, obviously feel disturbed but don’t take the event seriously. However, a series of terrible misfortunes begin to affect those who attended that night, and Mr. Donald Wheelwight engages Sherlock Holmes to find out what really happened that fateful evening.With the help of his cousin Dr. Henry Vernier and his wife Michelle, Holmes endeavors to save Wheelwright and his beautiful wife Violet from the devastating curse.  As the threats to the captivating Violet mount, Holmes is drawn in deeper and deeper, finding himself entangled in a vast dark web involving prostitution, perversion, theft, and blackmail. He is not sure who is behind the whole plan: Is it Moriarty? In order to find out, he has to unlock the puzzle first. A puzzle that drags him from London to Norfolk and into the most dangerous criminals in England.

 

I personally enjoyed reading this book; the story was straightforward, well-written utilizing all the familiar elements we know from Sherlock stories. Dr. Watson is not present in this book and the story is written from the view of Sherlock’s cousin Dr. Henry Vernier and his wife. There are some improvements in which the author could have utilized to make this even a better book: First, there is a lot of fluff in the book, excessive details and repetitions sometimes annoyed me. The book could have easily been cut in half without any damage to the story.

 

The author portrayed Sherlock as an smart detective with a romantic sie to him. This is a bit of deviation from the Sherlock we know, however I didn’t find it an issue. The switch from Dr. Vernier’s viewpoint in some chapters to Michelle’s view was sometimes confusing and the author also gave away the ending probably a bit to early. I had read 60 percent of the book and I already knew who was behind the whole plan.

 

But overall this is an interesting read for the fans of Sherlock Holmes and I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. More at www.mysterytribune.com or @mysterytribune