After the complications of the last book I read, it was good to get back to a straightforward and engrossing story. Alison Moore's first novel The Lighthouse made it to the Man Booker shortlist and I guess it was the subtle exploration of one of life's losers that impressed the critics. Futh is English but with a German ancestry, and is on a circular walking tour around the Rhine. He is not pleasant company, as this pathetic man's memories are mostly tiny disasters, as is his holiday. But Moore's writing is never mournful, an ill placed optimism follows Futh around which I found quite appealing. There are lots of nice little mysteries that we work out for ourselves, or know will be explained later, and they are. When he gets to his first hotel called Hellhaus (or Lighthouse), and we find out this will also be his last stop,we can hardly wait for the ending. No flashy prose in this book, just a darn good story.
It's probably not fair to give The House of Silk only three stars, because detective thrillers are not what I like to read. But our book club chose it, and who am I to argue. I guess of it's type it is quite a superior story. It certainly has the feel of a Sherlock Holmes novel, and the atmosphere of London of the time is very good. The plot is pretty smart, and the clues to solve the two mysteries are all there for you to guess before they are revealed. I didn't work out either. So I just got bored with Holmes and Watson visiting one character after another. It seemed too repetitive for me.
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