Moriarty

The Internet, GPS, DNA testing, and cities filled with security cameras are the new detective tools and perhaps that's why the world's greatest detective—no, not Batman, London's own Sherlock Holmes—is enjoying a surge in pop culture. There's a Sherlock for everyone—Robert Downey Jr.'s shirtless, slow-mo boxer; enough nerdy sexiness for all of BBC's Cumberbitches; and Elementary's female Watson. Yet none of these detectives carries the blessing of the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the detective's original scribe. That honor is reserved for Anthony Horowitz and his new novel, Moriarty. The story picks up following the events at Reichenbach Falls, where Holmes and his nemesis Moriarty disappear, and the book is filled with moody London alleys, colorful if not filthy characters, and plenty of references to the original Holmes canon. On its own, Moriarty is a clever mystery in a gentleman's world. While the characters are shocked at the brutal methods of a new criminal gang fresh from the New World, the violent atrocities are tame compared to those of today's 24-hour news cycle. Yet under Horowitz's deerstalker hat, the understated violence—coupled with the reliance on simple clues, intelligence and perceptiveness over modern tech—seems all the more impactful for its simplicity.