About
Reviews
Search
Submit
Home

Mystery Books for Sale

[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]


  

MORIARTY
by Anthony Horowitz
Harper Collins, December 2014
285 pages
$26.95
ISBN: 0062377183


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

What fun it is for a mystery reader to actually gasp in surprise at the events portrayed in a novel! Fans of Anthony Horowitz, bestselling author of THE HOUSE OF SILK and creator of Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War, won't be surprised to find that Horowitz has masterfully captured the tone, setting, and general atmosphere of the original Sherlock Holmes stories. Nor will it come as a surprise that he has produced a fascinating mystery and told the story exceptionally well. But the particulars of that story? Those, indeed, will cause a gasp or two.

Immediately following the incident at Reichenbach Falls, Frederick Chase from the Pinkerton Detective Agency in New York meets Scotland Yard Inspector Athelney Jones in Switzerland to examine Moriarty's corpse hoping to find a clue to the whereabouts of Clarence Devereaux, a shadowy figure known to have orchestrated horrific crimes in America and who, Chase suspects, has now set his sights on filling the hole left by Moriarty's death, enabling him to expand his empire into England. Jones, an avid student of Sherlock Holmes's methods, agrees to work with Chase, and together they follow a trail back to London and into its seedy underworld as they attempt to save the city from the likes of Devereaux and his thugs. The crimes Jones and Chase get caught up in aren't typical London crimes, though. They find themselves at the scene of gruesome murders and tortures, a bomb goes off at Scotland Yard, Jones's family is threatened, and Jones and Chase themselves are beaten, abused, and barely escape with their lives after one particularly grueling encounter that takes place amid the slaughterhouses deep below Smithfield Market.

From grim settings to harrowing interaction with particularly violent and ungentlemanly characters, this novel is disturbingly dark on the one hand and great fun on the other. Holmes fans will recognize any number of subtle and not-so-subtle references to Holmes's cases, and while Chase sometimes seems a little too dull-witted to have believably made his way successfully through the ranks of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, for the most part, he is a perfect Watson-type foil to Jones's Holmes. The mystery itself is also incredibly well played, with its gasp-worthy conclusion being well-earned, fairly presented, and easily explained after the fact, while keeping the reader in suspense and in the dark until the crucial moment. Overall, Horowitz earns high marks all around. No wonder he is one of the only writers to get the seal of approval from the Conan Doyle estate—neither Holmes fans nor Horowitz fans will be disappointed by MORIARTY.

§ Meredith Frazier, a writer with a background in English literature, lives in Dallas, Texas

Reviewed by Meredith Frazier, December 2014

[ Top ]


QUICK SEARCH:

 

Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]