Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Urbervilles
by Kim Newman
Titan Books (e-book)
It's been quite a month for Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. First, there was Anthony Horowitz's 'new' case for the Baker Street detective, The House of Silk. Now Kim Newman has produced this rollicking anti-Holmes story, starring his nemesis, Professor Moriarty. In his day-job, Newman is an authority on horror and genre fiction. Like most of Holmes' adventures, the book comprises several short stories. Newman echoes many of Conan Doyle's familiar motifs to create the impression that Moriarty is some form of dark twin, a figment of Holmes' razor-sharp imagination. A close friend narrates: Moriarty's Dr Watson is sharp-shooter Colonel Moran. I love the nasty take on Holmes' encounter with Irene Adler in A Shambles in Belgravia: 'To Professor Moriarty, she was always that bitch' (as opposed to 'the woman'). My favourite is The Problem of the Final Adventure, in which the professor's final conflict with Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls is told through a glass darkly: 'You know how this ends. Someone goes over a waterfall.' The Hound of the D'Urbervilles is a terrific read.