Published By: Raven
Pages: 368
Released On: 06/11/2025
Sherlock Holmes is dead. But his nemesis is not.
James Moriarty is severely wounded, his organisation has been dismantled and Sherlock Holmes is dead. Fleeing to recover, desperate to rebuild his empire, Moriarty must assume a new identity.
Months after Sherlock’s death, aspiring doctor Clara Mendel returns to Schloss Alber after a six-year absence. The vast estate, which hangs high upon the cliffs of Bavaria, is home to the noble Alber family. A priceless sword, on which the family’s wealth and reputation depends, has been stolen from the grave of the intended heir, Clara’s step-father.
Lord Alber has placed his trust firmly in his esteemed new friend, a Mr Hugo Strahm, to find the sword and prevent the noble family’s ruin. Once they have spent more time together, Clara becomes intrigued by Strahm’s formidable intellect: finally she has an equal at Schloss Alber.
But Clara isn’t naïve. She knows the secrets a great house like Schloss Alber can hide. And as she spends more time in Mr Strahm’s company. she begins to suspect him of hiding his true identity. Can she really trust him to find the missing sword?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Raven for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I actually had this book pre-ordered, but due to a drop in income, I had to sadly cancel it, and so I was doubly happy to be sent an early copy to read.
It started off well with a map – I love a map in a book. But then it tailed off quite quickly.
I really struggled to get into this. I was confused from the off because it sort of flitted from one time to another, one character to another and I wasn’t always sure what I was reading. A lot of what is happening is suggested, which is fine, I like a bit of mystery, but I also do like to know who and what I’m reading about.
I can’t say I really didn’t like it, because there were some good parts, but I expected to really like it, but I found I couldn’t get to the crux of the story.
It’s not written in the standard way, instead it’s told through diary entries, interviews, letters, recordings etc. which can work, and I’ve read books where it definitely does work, but I felt it was a bit weak here, more style over substance.
I found it didn’t have enough of Sherlock Holmes about it to be successful. I know he’s not trying to copy Arthur Conan Doyle and I appreciate that, but if you’re going to write a book inspired by him and the characters he created then there still needs to be that link, but apart from using the same names, I didn’t feel it had enough of a link to the Holmes novels.
I just didn’t think it was enjoyable to read. I like a mystery and I don’t mind being in the dark when reading a mystery, but I was so in the dark I might as well have been reading something else. I just couldn’t keep on top of it and found myself really confused throughout it. But even though I didn’t really understand what was going on, I still wanted to see what happened at the end, which did perk it up a bit but I fear it was too late.
It’s an interesting mystery; I think if you focus less about who it’s meant to be, and more about the mystery itself, then it’s fun, but as a Sherlock Holmes-esque book, it didn’t live up to it for me.
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