REVIEW: Moriarty

Fiction by Anthony Horowitz

Moriarty is the second in the Sherlock Holmes series by Anthony Horowitz, the first being House of Silk. This is one of the few written works endorsed by Conan Doyle Estate Ltd. The plots from these two books are completely different and therefore they do not have to be read in order.

Moriarty picks up from Doyle’s short story “The Final Problem” at Reichenbach Falls. The death of Moriarty has created a void in the criminal underworld of London. Two detectives, one from American Pinkerton Detective Agency and one from London’s Scotland Yard, begin an investigation into Clarence Devereux, an American criminal mastermind who has come to London to either join forces with Moriarty or to take over the criminal underworld. The investigation leads the two detectives through multiple murders, throughout all of London, elegant squares to shadowy wharfs to alleyways filled with the unknown, and even a bombing of Scotland Yard.

Horowitz creates two leading detectives that are played up as a version of Sherlock and Watson. The fast pace plot keeps the reader intrigued and is enhanced with Horowitz’s ability to create an atmosphere of suspense and mystery that is dark but not overly gory. Horowitz also ties in original Sherlock Holmes short stories such as: “The Sign of Four” and “The Red Headed League” as well as the book A Study in Scarlet.

— Whitney Lebron, Mt. Pleasant Regional Library

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