I've been a fan of Antony Horowitz's writing for a long time. I grew up (like so many others around my age) gripped by his Alex Rider series, and felt the gap in my reading list when I graduated to more 'grown-up' fiction. This made discovering his most recent novel Moriarty a pretty great start to an otherwise chilly Monday morning.

Frederick Chase, an American detective, teams up with Athelney Jones from Scotland Yard to confirm Moriarty's death after the Reichenbach Fall. They soon end up on a wild crime hunt around London looking for notorious new york criminal Clarence Devereux. But all is not as it seems...
Horowitz is one of Britain's most loved authors, so much so he has been handed the reigns to write both the new Bond and Sherlock Holmes novels. Prior to reading Moriarty, I had no idea that this was the case. The Daily Mail describes Moriarty as 'the finest crime novel of the year.' I couldn't agree more.

A truly wonderful crime novel, Horowitz has managed to weave all that the nation loves about Sherlock Holmes into a new, fast-paced adventure. Whilst Holmes is (surprisingly) only eluded to and hinted at, his usual Victorian London setting has hardly changed from Conan Doyle's works; nor have the presence of characters such as Detective Lestrade.

I can tell you know that you will very early on draw a conclusion as to who did what, when, how and with whom. But in true Horowitz style, you will change your mind at almost every chapter, and will be blown away by the time you have turned the last of the 362 pages.

I don't want to say anymore as I truly feel that reading this novel should be an experience. I picked this up expecting your typical crime thriller starring Holmes, Watson and Moriarty. But I ended up with something much more than that...

Beth x