The Great Game: A Professor Moriarty Novel (Professor Moriarty Novels)
Sherlock Holmes as a bit player? The great detective as a somewhat bumbling doper? The reluctance of authors to let go of Conan Doyle's fog-enshrouded London has led to a new subgenre of mystery: Holmes stories in which Holmes himself has largely faded from view. This example of the new breed get the feel of Victorian London just right, while offering innovative perspectives on the character and the era.Kurland, whose four previous Professor Moriarty novels have been acclaimed for their historical accuracy and adept plotting, returns withThe Great Game, which is every bit as successful as its predecessors at bringing fin de siecle Europe to brilliant life and presenting the reader with a wild alternative--that Moriarty may actually be a force for good. The action starts at 221-Baker Street, with an encounter between Holmes and Moriarty designed to bring Holmes into a case that involves both the British and the Austro-Hungarian Empires. But the center of the action remains 64 Russell Square, Moriarty's book-lined lair. The professor, helped by Holmes, works feverishly to circumvent assassination plots on Queen Victoria and Emperor Franz Josef. With the pair moving from European capital to capital, the action veers and twists like that in a contemporary spy thriller.Connie FletcherCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved