I often question whether I should post about books I read. Then I remember that more often than not, I only read that book because some blogger I follow posted about it!
Now I understand that just because someone praises a book doesn’t mean I will enjoy it. If, however, it sounds like something I find interesting, I will pick it up. That’s what happened with the latest book I just finished.
I don’t recall who suggested it, but the title caught my attention. As a fan of Sherlock Holmes, I recognized the name of his arch nemesis. Sure, enough, that is who the title is referring to.
I found out after I had the local library order it for me that he has actually been commissioned by the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write a new Sherlock Holmes mystery. It was called House of Silk (which I have on order from the library now).
Moriarty takes place after Holmes and Moriarty are “killed” at Reichenbach Falls. A Pinkerton Security man arrives to investigate something connected with Moriarty. He meets a man from Scotland Yard who is working a case closely connected with him too.
At any rate, Sherlock is mentioned in the book, but is not a character. It did not take away from a good story. I found it entertaining enough to not only order the Sherlock Holmes story from the library, but to pick up another one of the author’s books. I am reading that one right now.
It starts with a woman who walks into a funeral home and pays for and plans her entire funeral. Six hours later she is murdered. That was enough to hook me. I just started it, but so far I am enjoying it.
I hope that the Sherlock story will be as good as Moriarty. You never know what you are going to get when you have a new author writing for a familiar character.
In the past that has worked. I enjoyed the new Columbo novels, the new Perry Mason stories, and hope the Sherlock one is just as good.
We’ll see….
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 
I always find it interesting to read about what other online friends and bloggers are reading. Might do such a post in the next day or two if I get the time actually. This one sounds interesting. As you suggest, there’s a high bar to get over if you’re working on stories using existing well-loved characters, but at times it is done well and I think would make the original author proud. Of course, one has to be careful with legalities too… I once looked into writing a novel about a secondary character from a well-known book and quickly learned I’d likely get sued should it ever have seen the light of day, because recognizable characters are subject to copyright like the books themselves. But after a certain number of years, they’re all public domain.
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sounds interesting….let us know-
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Are you going to give a review of the book Moriarty?
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I debated it, still might. I never saw the ending coming. I should have, but didn’t.
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