Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Urbervilles (Professor Moriarty Novels)

What Kim Newman has done here in this LONG (nearly 500 pages) collection of stories is to hold up a distorting, funhouse mirror to various adventures of Holmes and Watson, creating adventures for Moriarty and Moran that are roughly similar in some way. There are huge numbers of references to other characters from Victorian-era literature, many well-remembered even today, others quite obscure. For example, Moriarty's greatest enemy and competitor is Dr. Mabuse, a German criminal mastermind and master of disguise. Only in the last story in the volume do Moriarty and Moran participate in an actual recorded Holmes adventure, "The Final Problem." I enjoyed all these tales, and I think any fan of the Holmes canon, and of Victorian "pop" fiction, will like them too. Don't neglect to read the footnotes! Recommended.

Much as the character of Moriarty can be taken at face value as a mathematician by society and the Napoleon of Crime when one looks deeper, so does this book work on two levels that make it a good read not just once, but over and over again.On it's surface, Moriarty is the flip side of the coin: Many of the stories serve as mirror images of Sherlock stories, told from a darker point of view and by a different hand. There are obvious examples of reflections: Moriarty and Sherlock (the eccentric masters of their field), Watson and Moran (the injured soldiers and biographers), Mrs. Hudson and Mrs. H (the kidnly land lady and the landlady...who runs a brothel), and even minor characters, like Stamford (Watson's boyhood friend and the criminal Moran knows and dislikes, both of whom introduce the pairs).But there is more to it than that when it comes to the reflections and different outlooks. While Watson sought to bring out the best in people, Moran brings out the worst, focusing on their faults. For example, while Watson writes that Irene Adler was a cunning woman and an accomplished singer, Moran reveals she sang very poorly, was kicked out of her theater troupe, purposely used her...assets...for her gain...and most amusing, actually had a 'Noo Joosey' accent (and not the proper English accent Watson seemingly gives her).And that is where the second layer comes in.This book will force the reader to ask themselves a simple, yet complex, question: Who was being honest? Whose word should we take as truth?Could it be that Moran is the honest writer, not having to alter characters like Watson does (and admits too)? Where Watson creates a world where even murder was a gentlemen affair settled in parlors with smoking jackets, Moran presents a more realistic, more truthful view of the world, making us question everything Watson writes.And yet, Moran is a killer, a cutthroat willing to murder a feeble minded teen and idly comments that if he forced himself on Irene when he first met her, she would have been broken like a horse and come to heel. Can we honestly believe a word a man who looks at the world so darkly says?That is where the fun of this book is revealed. You will find yourself flipping back through the famous Sherlock stories, wondering just whose side to believe, how much each is hiding and just what the truth might me.

I found this novel while wandering through Barnes and Noble one day, and immediately purchased it on Amazon for the discount. I was overjoyed to read this since I love the world of Sherlock Holmes. Moriarty and the Hound of the D'urbervilles is an excellent counter to the typical Holmes story, and Moran is a wonderful mirror for Watson. Where Watson was precise, detailed and reverential in his retellings, Moran is reckless, ambiguous and down right egotistical.- This is a collection of short stories(longest is around 100 pages) as well as an appendix of notes and associated works- Moran acts as narrator and main protagonist, describing a handful of jobs as well as providing how he and Moriarty came to work together(all told in the past tense after his capture)- The stories are often mirrors of famous Holmes tales, as the title suggests, or they involve/mention characters from those talesTo me this books is very similar to a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and weaves in and out of the famous stories so many of us are familiar with. They poke fun at the classics, and often provide counter solutions. Moran is every bit the villain and isn't shy about enjoying it. His narrative often drifts off into self-reflection and day dreaming, which lends even more character to the stories since the whole book is meant to have been a retelling of his past.If you're a fan of Sherlock Holmes then I highly suggest this book. It is a very quick read. It has great character, and the appendix is filled with other great novels and collections that make these stories even more enjoyable if you're familiar with them.

I've never read any of the Sherlock Holmes tales - so I've very little literary baggage coming into this review. I've obviously come across Holmes on the TV in various series - but I never realised that Moriarty had his own side-kick.I've got to say that I thought this book was great. Firstly because its told from the other side of the Holmes/Moriarty coin. Secondly because It rolls along at a good pace, packing in the shady schemes of various villains. Thirdly because the character of 'Basher' Moran is excellent. He's a total rogue of the highest order. He'll shoot you, steal your money and diddle your wife - before you're even cold. He is characterised as probably the worlds first diagnosed [by Moriarty] "adrenalin junky" and very much the strong right arm of Moriarty's operation. Told through his eyes, there's less focus on the high-brow scheming that you'd associate with Holmes/Moriarty; and more of the down-and-dirty day-to-day work. Basher knows he doesn't have the brains to keep up with Moriarty and contents himself with the required physicality.One of the things I thought was excellent was the almost total dismissal of Holmes as an effective nemesis. He is painted as a minor character who never truly appreciates the scale of Moriarty's interests.You could treat the book as a collection of short stories - each detailing a crime or two. Dip into it as and when you see fit. I read it in about three sittings - it was that engrossing.If you like a good crime tale that doesn't take itself too seriously; and you don't mind hearing it told from the wrong side of the tracks - I don't think you'll be disappointed.

A real treat. A collection of stories (or more properly one story in several distinct parts) that may seem familiar but are each unique. Moran - the unreliable narrator - is excellently characterised and complex enough to be likable while also being dreadful. Worth a read.

Kim Newman has done it again. As well as creating the greatest vampire story since "Dracula" ("Anno Dracula") he's written a devastatingly funny parody of the Holmes stories. The line I quoted in the title is my favourite, and will be instantly recognisable to anyone who knows Conan Doyle's "A Scandal in Bohemia". Newman's genius lies in being able to transform the original material, while working in characters from other stories famous and almost forgotten. And all of this seemingly without effort.So the story that gives this collection its title not only mirrors "The Hound of the Baskervilles", but brings in all sorts of minor characters from "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" - and in a far livelier way than anything Hardy ever wrote for them. If you like you can play spot the reference (to genuine Victorian works, like Baring-Gould's "Book of Were-Wolves", to pulp fiction and even Tintin) or just sit back and enjoy Newman's comedic invention. I already love the Holmes stories, minor Victorian novels, and Newman's work. However, I think you'll have a great time reading this even if you don't know any of them.

I'm so glad to see Newman's new novel being published (and indeed his older work like Anno Dracula making a reappearance). I didn't really think Anno Dracula could be topped, but this is another excellent piece of work. Slightly different, in that there's no vampires stomping around, but Newman mines a rich seam of ... well, pretty much everything from the 19th and 20th century. I'm only part-familiar with Arthur Conan Doyle's work, and only semi-literate insofar as turn-of-the century literature goes, but even though I'm probably missing half the references (in a book that is absolutely wonderful with its cloud of ironic footnotes) there's still more than enough to take in: the Tay Bridge Disaster, redolent of Topaz McGonagall, an explanation for H. G. Wells' inspiration, a monster mashup of every cursed jewel of legend ... all just wonderful.Bad if you want to get a good night's sleep though - it didn't cause any nightmares, it just kept me awake reading it well past the time I should have gone to bed...

Colonel Morant finds himself back in London without a penny or a roof over his head. Fortunately he finds the solution by taking up employment and lodging with Professor Moriarty. Above a brothel in Conduit Street Moriarty receives a variety of clients with a wide range of problems: Irene Adler is once again in trouble due to romantic entanglements, A Mr. Carew is being pursued by cult members and yetis due to his theft of a gem from a golden idol, a man has problems with a vengeful hound and Crooked mormons are hunting an heiress so they can steal her gold mine. Moriarty also takes time from his busy schedule to settle personal scores with great vengeance and enthusiasm, which the astronomer royal finds out in a story involving martians!. No one can accuse Moriarty of being boring and Morant of being politically correct, and this book is certainly worth reading if you like a dark sense of humour