"After Professor Moriarty survives Reichenbach Falls and Sherlock Holmes dies, Moriarty finds himself caught up in a locked-room mystery Holmes couldn't solve.

This time, it's up to Moriarty to crack the mystery, perfect for fans of Sherlock Holmes ingenious retellings like the ones by Anthony Horowitz and Laurie R. King.

Upon escaping from Reichenbach Falls, his empire in ruins, criminal mastermind James Moriarty takes the identity of wealthy inventor Hugo Strahm and embarks on a dark pilgrimage to the cliffside manor of Schloss Alber in Bavaria.

When medical student Clara Mendel returns to Schloss Alber, she finds her childhood home on the verge of ruin. A deadly feud over a priceless heirloom has thrown the Alber family into chaos while its walls play host to an unusual cast of characters - the obstinate Lord Alber, his strange and beleaguered children, their cantankerous butler, and of course, their mysterious new guest, "Hugo Strahm." When one of them is poisoned at dinner, it's the first act in a spiraling criminal conspiracy, in which any and all of them are suspects.

Working with the sharp and inquisitive Clara, the former crime lord attempts to solve the mystery whilst trying to keep his true identity concealed. Yet despite taking on the role of detective, Moriarty does not share Sherlock Holmes's methods, nor his interest in justice. Only one thing is certain, for James Moriarty, dying at the hands of Sherlock Holmes would have been an elegant end...The question of what comes next is far more complicated.

This cleverly plotted mystery is a faithful and inventive take on the Sherlock Holmes legacy, paying homage to Arthur Conan Doyle's signature style while adding its own devious tricks to the story that is destined to become a must-read classic for Sherlock Holmes fans."

My guess is Moriarty might hire or kill the culprit...

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.

While the beginning of the book was a little slow and convoluted, I am so glad I didn't put it down. Otherwise, I would have missed a gem. What a unique perspective on what became of Professor Moriarty after his encounter with Sherlock Holmes at Reichenbach Falls which resulted in Sherlock Holmes' death. Recovering from his wounds, Moriarty journeys to the Bavarian home of Lord Alber under the identity of Hugo Strahm for nefarious reasons. There he encounters Clara Mendel who has returned home from medical school at her step- grandfather's request to find the manor on the brink of ruin. What follows is a cat and mouse dance between "Strahm" and Clara as he tries to recover a stolen priceless heirloom and Clara seeks to discover his true identity. But, all is not as it seems as slowly the past history between Clara and the Alber family is revealed. The intricate layers are slowly revealed in ways that are not expected even until the very end. It was hard to put this book down once I got past it's slow start. I loved the flawed but relatable characters and found myself rooting for each of them as the story progressed. Thank you NetGalley, Jack Anderson and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC.

The book picks up after Moriarity’s supposed death at Rickenbach Falls. It begins with letters and diary entries. Eventually, we meet Clara Mendel, a medical student and stepdaughter of the aristocratic Alber family. Although she’d like to have nothing more to do with them she complies with the patriarch’s summons to return to the family “fortress”. A treasure has been stolen. Can she find it? Why is a disguised Moriarity here?

The Return of Moriarty - Jack Anderson – Crooked Lane Books TP $19.99 – 9798892422826 9/9/2025
A badly beaten man who is near death is brought to a remote cabin in Middle Europe where a physician has been employed to save his life. The mystified doctor, who has been told little but is in desperate straits financially discovers a letter that implies his anonymous patient is a master criminal. He manages to preserve the man’s life but not his own. Following this revelation the reader hears from several people who have tangential contact with the enigmatic victim. Their stories are told in letters and notes sent to family members and associates.
The narrative moves to a young woman (Clara) who is a medical student returning to her childhood home to find her adopted family in disarray. The Alber clan is fragmented emotionally but moreover their finances are shredded. As the story emerges we find that an inestimably valuable artifact buried with Clara’s stepfather if disinterred could salvage the family’s name and fortune. Upon discovering that it has been stolen from the grave Clara essays to secure its return. An enigmatic guest in the Bavarian schloss shows a proclivity for deductions about the whys and wherefores of various criminal enterprises and is enlisted to help unravel the puzzle of the precious artifacts whereabouts. As the story unfolds Clara and Hugo Strahm (for this is the name he gives) forge a relationship with the goal of finding and restoring the object to the family. A series of mysterious adventures follows including several deaths and nocturnal expeditions designed to solve the mystery.
Written with a sensitivity to modern readers the story, reminiscent of Doyle’s Holmes tales is filled with subtle clues, sinister characters and strange occurrences worthy of the master of detective fiction. Any reader of whodunits should enjoy this dark sojourn through the halls of crime and detection with a delightful twist at the end, as all good sleuth stories must have.
Shelf Talker: A mysterious and vaguely sinister character who seems able to unravel criminal enterprises works with a young medical student to restore a valuable artifact to a struggling aristocratic family. A satisfying twist ends this clever whodunit.
Please note the MPIBA Reading the West What to Read entry will not appear until near the time of publication.

pretty fun murder mystery with some interesting vibes and good strategies. i really like the moriarty writing nad the new characters are really cool, too. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

This book is told through a series of diary entries/letters and it took me several chapters to become invested in the storyline. Overall, the plot was engaging with its twists and turns. However, the formatting on my Kindle was somewhat distracting as the page numbers and author's name would appear randomly in the middle of a sentence. Overall, I would give the book 3.5 starts and recommend it to fans of Sherlock Holmes. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

May be a 3.5 star for this one.
Good for the fans of Sherlock Holmes.
Just need some time to get good things out of it.
May be its me not the book!

I have been a huge Sherlock fan ever since I read my first book on my own as a child, which was a children's version of the Hound of the Baskervilles. Naturally I am the target audience for this, a novel that imagines what arch-villain Moriarty did after surviving the Reichenbach Falls. Turns out he heads to a manor house where young aspiring Doctor Clara Mendel. There the patriarch of the family is poisoned and a priceless family heirloom is stolen from a locked tomb. I think Anderson made a strong choice to not have Moriarty be the the narrator of this story, so we get to watch things unfold and learn about them through the young Dr's eyes as she tries to unravel the mystery and keep ahead of the danger! I don't want to go too much into the plot because I felt this story had some great twists and reveals that make it worthy of a Sherlock retelling, but this was well worth it for me. I felt transported back to being a kid and reading these great stories with fantastical elements that always surprised me by the end.

Author's writing style marvelously captures the time period set for this fictional character. So, too, the dialogue.
But became a double edged sword as had to muddle through the prose making it a more challenging read. Think that fans though will appreciate this author's unique take.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


#TheReturnofMoriarty #NetGalley

As a huge fan of Conan Doyle's Holmes and Moriarty, I was eager to read this new mystery featuring Moriarty himself. And for the first part, I was intrigued and engaged as a series of journal entries and letters reveal that Moriarty did indeed survive after Reichenbach Falls in 1891 - these narratives explain this quite well, with each new narrator picking up where the previous one left off.

It is not until we meet our final main narrator in Clara Mendel and we reach our destination of Schloss Alber, that for me, events stagnate - characters become passe and even Moriarty himself is a bit wishy-washy. The actual mystery, was rather formulaic - just set in a different geographical location and timeline.

Whilst the use of a number of difference narratives does - at first - maintain a certain continuity, they actually begin to distract and detract from the mystery itself, bogging down the narrative to the point that I found myself wondering if the author was ever going to get to the point.

I was not a fan of this rendition of Moriarty, which was most likely one of the main reasons that this story just did not resonate - I would hardly describe it as a homage to Conan Doyle's own style nor being faithful to the Holmes legacy. One for the Holmes corpus ... I think not.

Thank you to NetGalley for the early copy to read and review.

I admit, I have a soft spot for all things Holmes and Moriarty. When I saw this novel, I knew I would be reading it.
I was compelled to finish the book, but didn't have the drive to devour it. As the ending came near, it definitely was getting much better, but having finished it, I am unsure how I feel about the ending. While it kept me guessing until the end, maybe I had a different resolution in my head on how it should have ended.

The story picks up soon after the events at Reichenbach Falls and starts with letters and journals sharing snippets of a story about a man feared, yet in need of help. We quickly come to realize that this is the Moriarty we all know.
Then the story shifts to its permanent setting and we are introduced to the main cast of characters. We are able to learn some of the backstory to these characters but still have many questions. None of them are particularly endearing, even the main character, Clara.
I don't know what to think about Moriarty. Here is this master villian, evil, conniving, who is presented in a different light. We see different motivations for him, but even his persona seems different.

The story is written well and similar to a Holmesian story. I think the more I think about this book, the more I enjoy it. I would say 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I chose nostalgic as one of my descriptive words, which may or may not be a true word for this story. But I have loved the Sherlock Holmes stories for many years. I can't really decide how I feel about this book. I wonder if I should let it sit a bit.
1. For most of the book, Moriarty was evil, then we might get a glimpse of something good. But it was so fleeting, I felt it was a trick of the word.
2. Neither main character was all that appealing. For the most part none of the characters were.
3. The plot was somewhat weird, but the way the end twisted made it intriguing.
4. The story sort of made Holmes a saint. He was not.
Would I recommend it? Yes.

Clara has been summoned from her studies in Copenhagen to her family home, a valuable item has gone missing and other family members are threatening to bring an army and forcibly gain entrance to track the item down.

On arrival she meets a guest, called Hiram, but who exactly is he and what does he really want? He has inveigled his way into the heart of the family and can do wrong in anyone's eyes, unlike herself......

An engaging mystery, twists and turns abound,

Great for fans of Sherlock Holmes and who always wondered what if Moriarty also survived!

A fascinating storyline. Compelling that Holmes could speak beyond the grave and still solve riddles and mysteries.

Rate a 4.6 out of 5. I throughly enjoyed the book. I thought the idea of focusing on James Moriarty and his survival from the final encounter with Sherlock Homes was different. Seeing him take on the role as detective in helping try to solve the case for Clara and her family was interesting. In reading you weren't sure if Moriarty was going to be the villain still or if he had turned over a new leaf and was going to become a good man now. I thought I had figured out who had done it, but was pleasantly surprised by the ending. The only issue I had with the book and this could be formatting issues due to it not being release yet and reading it on my kindle, the font/typing at times had really large spacing gaps in it where there shouldn't be. There was also at times where the author's name was just randomly in the middle of the page with the page number in parentheses. I'm assuming this has to be formatting and it not being compatible with the kindle quite yet. If I had a physical copy to read at the start I don't believe that this would have been an issue.