If you’re a fan of Sherlock Holmes, you need to read this book. It’s like all the pastiches we love but the twist is that supervillain James Moriarty is the detective.
Thanks to Holmes, Moriarty’s criminal empire has been destroyed so after surviving the plunge over the Reichenbach Falls Moriarty assumes the identity of a wealthy inventor named Hugo Strahm. Spoiler: Moriarty does not change his evil ways when stealing this man’s identify. That’s to remind us we’re still dealing with an essentially evil character.
Moriarty soon finds himself in the manor Schloss Alber in Bavaria. Here he meets Lord Alber (who is impressed with “Strahm’s” mathematical parlor tricks), his discontented children, his devoted butler, and his step-granddaughter Clara Mendel. When one of them is poisoned and a priceless heirloom is stolen, everyone is a suspect and it’s up to Moriarty to solve the case.
Acting as his Watson is Clara, soon to the third female doctor to graduate from the university in Copenhagen. Can Moriarty maintain his new identify under the keen observation of a trained medical student? And just what IS his motive? The plot is mostly told via Clara’s journal (a la Dracula) and she soon grows suspicious and starts investigating Strahm’s background. Will she discover his true identity? Out-think the criminal mastermind? Who will find this missing heirloom?
The plot is well-paced and the killer really is the last person you’ll suspect. What really drives the plot is watching Moriarty and trying to decide if he’s going to maintain a new, respectable identify or return to his life of crime. No matter how clever he is, you never forget that you are watching a seasoned murderer hiding behind the façade of an innocent man.
One interesting aspect of Moriarty’s character is the influence Sherlock Holmes has on him. Yes, has (present tense). Although Holmes died in the fall over the Reichenbach Falls his influence lingers on in surprising ways that make the reader wonder if there’s even a chance Moriarty will change his evil ways.
Since the title of the book is The Return of Moriarty: A Novel it appears it will be a one-off instead of the first book of a series. Knowing this might make you pay closer attention to the implications of what happens to the characters at the end.
Fans of Laurie R. King, Anthony Horowitz, and Nicholas Meyer’s Sherlock Holmes books will enjoy this look at Holmes’s Nemesis. – Cathy Akers-Jordan