The game is once again afoot in this thrilling mystery from the bestselling author of The House of Silk, sanctioned by the Conan Doyle estate, which explores what really happened when Sherlock Holmes and his arch nemesis Professor Moriarty tumbled to their doom at the Reichenbach Falls.

Internationally bestselling author Anthony Horowitz’s nail-biting new novel plunges us back into the dark and complex world of detective Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty—dubbed the Napoleon of crime” by Holmes—in the aftermath of their fateful struggle at the Reichenbach Falls.

Days after the encounter at the Swiss waterfall, Pinkerton detective agent Frederick Chase arrives in Europe from New York. Moriarty’s death has left an immediate, poisonous vacuum in the criminal underworld, and there is no shortage of candidates to take his place—including one particularly fiendish criminal mastermind.

Chase and Scotland Yard Inspector Athelney Jones, a devoted student of Holmes’s methods of investigation and deduction originally introduced by Conan Doyle in “The Sign of Four”, must forge a path through the darkest corners of England’s capital—from the elegant squares of Mayfair to the shadowy wharfs and alleyways of the London Docks—in pursuit of this sinister figure, a man much feared but seldom seen, who is determined to stake his claim as Moriarty’s successor.

A riveting, deeply atmospheric tale of murder and menace from one of the only writers to earn the seal of approval from Conan Doyle’s estate, Moriarty breathes life into Holmes’s dark and fascinating world.

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, December 2014: Like a caretaker whoâ??s been given the keys to the castle, Anthony Horowitz has been entrusted with the legend and legacy of one of fictionâ??s greatest characters, Sherlock Holmes. The estate of Arthur Conan Doyle endorsed Horowitzâ??s 2011 thriller The House of Silk, which was the first new Holmes novel in more than a century. In Moriarty, Horowitz explores trickier, uncharted territory: carrying forward the world of Holmes, without Holmes. Moriarty begins where Conan Doyle left off: with Holmes and his evil nemesis, Professor James Moriarty, having tussled right off the edge of Reichenbach Falls. The action begins when Pinkerton detective Frederick Chase and Scotland Yard inspector Athelney Jones meet in a Swiss village days after Holmes and Moriarty have disappeared. The two collaborate in their search for the ruthless Clarence Devereaux, a depraved criminal mastermind seeking to fill the void left by Moriartyâ??s drowning. But, as with all good Holmes tales, things are not always what they seem. Horowitz proves himself a worthy successor, packing this violent, energized tale with foot chases through Victorian London, clever disguises, encoded messages, feints and fakes, plus buckets of blood and a platter of red herrings. Horowitzâ??s fresh take on the legend of Sherlock Holmes pays homage to the original while infusing it with his own slick and twisty style. No surprise heâ??s been tapped to write about James Bond next. --Neal Thompson

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