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.

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

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.