"We are the Sherlock Holmes, english-speaking vernacular...."

"He is the Napoleon of Crime, Watson, the organiser of half that is evil and nearly all that is undetected in this great city..."

— Sherlock Holmes, "The Final Problem"

by Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle

So spoke the great detective on the subject of Professor James Moriarty, styled as Sherlock Holmes arch-nemesis by their creator Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle. Despite only appearing directly in two stories of the Holmes canon ("The Final Problem" and "The Valley of Fear") and being referenced in a handful of others, he has gained an importance alongside the great detective that is, possibly, ill-deserved. While Conan-Doyle himself described the adversarial

relationship as a months-long battle of wits culminating in the well-known wrestling match at the Reichenbach Fall, this all happened in the pages of one short story. It is only through the embellishment of the canon by other writers and by films, television, radio and

theatre that Moriarty's stature has become equal to that of Holmes himself. 


Kim Newman's "Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Urbervilles" is not the first time an author has expanded Moriarty's role and told tales from his side of the fence (Former James Bond novelist John Gardner, detective and science-fiction writer Michael Kurland and fantasy author Neil Gaiman have all written stories with Moriarty as the 'hero'), but it is, potentially, the most entertaining take on the subject. 

"The Hound of the D'Urbervilles" expands to novel-length a number of previously published short stories which run to a template of, as the author puts it, "one Doyle 'guest star', one other Victorian literary source, a parody title" and "a 'case' that doesn't turn out so well." "A Shambles in Belgravia" therefore is Irene Adler plus "The Prisoner of Zenda" equals the anti-"A Scandal in Bohemia". Written ostensibly by Colonel Sebastian "Basher" Moran, formely of the first Bangalore Pioneers, Moriarty's right-hand man and the chief protagonist of "The Empty House", "Hound..." takes us though seven 'cases' from Moriarty and Moran's first collaboration "A Volume in Vermillion" through encounters with the characters and situations of H.G. Wells, Thomas Hardy, Sax Rohmer, J. Milton Hayes and others through to an ending with "The Problem of the Final Adventure."

Styled (by the use of the character of Moran himself) as one part boys-own rollicking adventure yarn, one-part Holmesian pastiche and one-part comedy tale, much of the fun of the book (As with Newman's "Anno Dracula" series) comes from playing 'spot-the-reference.' The author is a noted expert on movies and genre fiction and his knowledge of his subjects (and research into them where there have been holes) fairly pours out onto the page successfully bringing to mind the feel of the victorian literature that it emulates.

Highlights abound.

• "Shambles..." starts with the single-greatest line associated with anything Sherlock Holmes-related, "To Professor Moriarty, she is always that bitch."
• "The Greek Ivertebrate" makes merry with the thorny issue of the multiple Moriarty brothers referenced in the canon (the Professor, the Colonel and the Station master) and which of them is called James.
• Moran scoffing at the references to various depictions of Moriarty in other fictions including as a time-traveller, a hologram and as Holmes himself.

With, not one, but two new interpretations of Moriarty on the screen thanks to the BBC's Sherlock and the Hollywood Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, this volume is a timely release. It can't, and doesn't, pretend to present a definitive version of Holmes adversary and potentially could put the Holmes purists into a state of apoplexy (I imagine their reaction to be somewhat like the more reactionary Doctor Who fans, only with more walking sticks and Horlicks...), but as a purely escapist entertainment or as a primer to other pieces of genre fiction that you may not have previously encountered then it can only be strongly recommended.

Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Urbervilles by Kim Newman. Titan Books. RRP £7.99
With thanks to Matt Anson

Recommended Further Reading:-
The Amateur Cracksman by E.W. Hornung
The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu or, The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer
Carnacki the Ghost-Finder by William Hope Hodgson
A Bid for Fortune: or, Dr Nikola's Vendetta by Guy Boothby
Dr. Mabuse The Gambler by Norbert Jacques
Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar by Maurice Leblanc
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope
The Jewel of the Seven Stars by Bram Stoker
Anno Dracula by Kim Newman (Recently republished by Titan Books)