{"id":6599,"date":"2025-09-02T06:39:37","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T13:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/?p=6599"},"modified":"2025-09-02T06:39:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T13:39:37","slug":"jack-anderson-the-return-of-moriarty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/jack-anderson-the-return-of-moriarty\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Anderson: The Return of Moriarty"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>If you\u2019re a fan of Sherlock Holmes, you need to read this book. It\u2019s like all the pastiches we love but the twist is that supervillain James Moriarty is the detective.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Holmes, Moriarty\u2019s 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\u2019s identify. That\u2019s to remind us we\u2019re still dealing with an essentially evil character.<\/p>\n

Moriarty soon finds himself in the manor Schloss Alber in Bavaria. Here he meets Lord Alber (who is impressed with \u201cStrahm\u2019s\u201d 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\u2019s up to Moriarty to solve the case.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s journal (a la Dracula<\/em>) and she soon grows suspicious and starts investigating Strahm\u2019s background. Will she discover his true identity? Out-think the criminal mastermind? Who will find this missing heirloom?<\/p>\n

The plot is well-paced and the killer really is the last person you\u2019ll suspect. What really drives the plot is watching Moriarty and trying to decide if he\u2019s 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 fa\u00e7ade of an innocent man.<\/p>\n

One interesting aspect of Moriarty\u2019s 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\u2019s even a chance Moriarty will change his evil ways.<\/p>\n

Since the title of the book is The Return of Moriarty: A Novel <\/em>\u00a0it 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.<\/p>\n

Fans of Laurie R. King, Anthony Horowitz, and Nicholas Meyer\u2019s Sherlock Holmes books will enjoy this look at Holmes\u2019s Nemesis. \u2013 Cathy Akers-Jordan<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re a fan of Sherlock Holmes, you need to read this book. It\u2019s like all the pastiches we love but the twist is that supervillain James Moriarty is the detective. Thanks to Holmes, Moriarty\u2019s criminal empire has been destroyed so after surviving the plunge over the Reichenbach Falls Moriarty assumes the identity of a … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[78,943,2154,2232,450,2155],"class_list":["post-6599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-cathy-akers-jordan","tag-crooked-lane-books","tag-jack-anderson","tag-moriarty","tag-sherlock-holmes","tag-the-return-of-moriarty"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6599"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6601,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6599\/revisions\/6601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}