The Great Game

From BooklistSherlock 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 with The 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 reservedProduct DescriptionLabeled the "Napoleon of Crime" by an obsessed Sherlock Holmes, Professor James Moriarty is a prominent scientist, a keen analytical mind, and a dabbler in less than savory doings. Two friends and former associates of Moriarty - Benjamin Barnett and his wife, the former Cecily Perrine - are travelling in Europe in early 1891 when they realize that they have become objects of scrutiny from persons unknown. Things turn deadly when they find themselves in the midst of an attempted assassination of a German prince. Meanwhile in Vienna, the younger son of a British nobleman - indulging in what was then known as "The Great Game" of amateur spying - finds himself framed for the murder of his paramour and the assassination of an Austrian Duke. In London, an unknown caller arrives at Moriarty's door on a matter of great urgency. But before Moriarty can be summoned to speak with him, the stranger is shot by a crossbow bolt loosed by unseen hands. While a lesser man might be daunted, Moriarty is merely intrigued and begins to investigate. What Moriarty uncovers is a cabal that seems to be using assassination to destabilize the rule of the crowned heads of Europe. But he also senses that there is something even bigger than this operating - a conspiracy behind the conspiracy - and detects the workings of a mind quite possibly as clever as his own. Using his contacts, friends, and the not-so-desired help of his often nemesis Sherlock Holmes, Moriarty must save his friends and outwit his most cunning opponent while the fate of history hangs in the balance.