She stressed that they were engaged in a "constant battle" with terrorists and said physical security was only one element of the UK's defences alongside intelligence and police work.

BBC: Failure to find airport bomb 'a weakness', expert says

On the other hand, it is this resolute over-egging of the pudding that gives "The House of Silk" its charm: a kind of constant creative exuberance, born of a suspicion that unless every single element of the Holmes legend can be brought to the feast, the story is bound to fall flat.

WSJ: Book Review: The House of Silk