3.5

I enjoyed this, and didn’t exactly see the twist coming. I think it’s well written, but I was ready for it to finish when it did.

Sherlock Holmes and James Moriarty are dead. Frederick Chase - a Pinkerton agent, has arrived in Europe chasing a criminal mastermind who seems to have moved to Europe to cause more destruction. Assisted by Athelney Jones - a detective at Scotland Yard, he hopes to catch the criminal and all his associates before it is too late.

I wasn't flying through the book. The pacing of the book was good enough that you didn't have to tear through it, while at the same time, it wasn't so slow that you were bored. I liked the writing style, it was easy to follow. The characters were REALLY good. I really liked Chase and Jones and their chemistry, and hands down Jones was my favourite character. The plot twist at the end - chef's kiss - is SO GOOD. I had to put down the book because I REALLY didn't see it coming. It was unexpected, but going back and re-reading, it was right there in our faces. Definitely a five-star for me.

There's one thing though, halfway through the book you will probably question what the actual mystery is because everything seems to have been revealed. But trust me, stick around till the end - you're in for a treat (and a bit of tragedy too).

** spoiler alert ** A well written book, but due to the lack of Sherlock Holmes, I was somewhat disappointed. Had I started reading the book with the knowledge that Holmes would never appear in the pages, I may have rated it differently.

okay spoiler ahead ? My mom read it and recommended it to me because I love to read mysteries, whodunit's etc. Wel this one had the Biggest plot twist ever. I had not seen this comming :D I loved it, would totally recommend it to anyone who likes reading mysteries or is fan of the Sherlock and Moriarty universe

It was such a waist of time. Why oh why I'm such a cover whore?

Tons of fun. Reads like a great Sherlock Holmes novel. Feeling a need to read the other one (or two) he wrote that are Holmesian.

this book. THIS book. this BOOK. THIS BOOK. is freaking everything. like you have no idea how much i love this book like wow. i have always been a fan of crime novels/books and a big fan of the freaking genius big brain 1000 iq sherlock holmes so when i saw this book in my school's (low-key crappy but i actually think is pretty good now) library, i had to borrow it because the title was moriarty and 'sherlock holmes is dead' on the front cover/blurb. i was pretty confused at first because based on my understandings, sherlock holmes and moriarty fell at a waterfall thingy at their last battle or whatever but sherlock didn't die because he held on to a rock thing when he was falling. so i was like: um sherlock isn't dead but i was still intrigued and borrowed it lol. now this is getting too long and nothing has been relevant but yolo. honestly, if you want to know abt the book then just read the blurb lol but i just wanna say i love this book like i was intrigued and interested and all that throughout the whole book like yes, there sometimes was a lot of info but they were all crucial and anthony horowitz's way of writing it didn't make it boring. AND THE PLOT TWIST AND THE PLOT ITSELF I CAN'T SKSKADSALDSAKDJSLD. like i low-key cried at the end and yeh that's all i wanna say before i spoil too much of the book. i felt bad for one of the characters but yolo it was inevitable. i was so fricking shocked at the plot twist/plot because i was not expecting that at all. i had many predictions and theories but none of them was the actual plot dsakjdsajhadksl. i also gained respect for um- yeh after reading the book even when that person doesn't deserve it (i think) in the original sherlock stories/novels by conan doyle. aNyWaYs thanks for reading my crappy review lol

A thoroughly enjoyable read, if a bit mindless. Anthony Horowitz does an excellent job of recreating the Sherlock Holmes universe.