Moriarty Meets His Match: The Professor & Mrs. Moriarty Mystery Series, Book 1

I love the Sherlock Holmes genre. When I saw the title of this book, I felt it would be worth the read: I was wrong. Though Watson and Holmes had a cameo, half way through the book, it turned very sexual. I immediately stopped reading the book. If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes genre, I could not recommend this book.

I am a devotee of Conan Doyle's Holmes. I am aware that authors are exploring the character of Moriarty. As Moriarty is specter in Conan Doyle's work there are many possibilities. In the other works I read, Moriarty emerges as lovable rogue. Holmes seems to appear as bungler. Both characters seem to reside in Conan Doyle's world.Not so with this work. Moriarty in this work is a honorable man. Holmes seems more human. The author has slapped the names of Doyle's characters on someone else.The story is not without merit. The mystery is well constructed. The solution is not obvious. The book does provide a plausible story line describing how Holmes and Moriarty became rivals. There are other well developed characters to enliven the plot. The book is as much a romance as a mystery. As the romance drives the mystery, the choice show the author's whit and flareMy 3 star rating is based on the author's use (or abuse) of the names of Doyle's characters. She seems to be a good enough writer not to need this crutch.

I incorrectly assumed that with this title we would be off on another adventure with Sherlock and his arch nemesis....Wrong!The famous detective only has a minor role here. He comes across as a curmudgeon like creature who's mindset cannot be changed even when obvious clues would lead him to a different subject.But the largest gripe is the story is,actually, a silly love story between Morarty and an actresses of dubious character. To much love story..not enough Sherlock. Not my cup of tea.

Overall, this is a pretty good book. It is part romance/part mystery. I must say, it gives a very different view of Sherlock Holmes. I never cared much for his stories, but I like the way he was presented in this book--a total incompetent IMO. I didn't much care for the brothel revelation. It didn't seem to fit with the idea that Moriarty was such a moral man. Also, farther on in the book, the relationship moved into sexual relations. Though not graphic sex, I wasn't really expecting that. I have the next book in the series and have already started it.

Ms Castle does a wonderful job of immersing us in Victorian London and showing us the minds of the folks who lived there. These include the famous Sherlock Holmes and his arch enemy Dr Moriarity. This book reveals a different face to those well known anti heroes. The narrative here is different from that of Dr Watson, who dictated his tales to Mr Doyle. The picture of Holmes and Moriarity which has come down to us is filtered thru the bias of Dr Watson, just as the history of any war is written by the winners. Ms Castle is doing her best to set the story straight: Holmes was not a saint, nor Moriarity a villain. It's about time for a fresh perspective. BTW, yes there really was a spherical steam engine. I looked it up.

In this historical mystery,drama,you have Moriarty out to find the man who hurt him and tried to destroy his life. Along the way he finds a woman who he can't live without and falls in love and then in the mist of looking for this man who hurt him,he runs into Sherlock Holmes who is after the same one who committed a crime,but is it that man or is it Moriarty? Not like Moriarty doesn't have enough problems,he now has to convince Homes that he didn't commit this crime,so now he has to prove his innocence or hang! The adventures that Moriarty has,you will really wonder did he or did he not do this! The woman he loves,he has to not only prove his innocence with her,but prove that he loves her! Will Moriarty get a break and have the woman he loves help him or convince Holmes top believe him and get his help?? Such a great deal drama mystery that you feel like you are right there trying and rooting for Moriarty, shaking your head,will this guy ever get a break?? Such a fun and interesting myself and this is the first of many stories of Moriarty in Merry Old England!! Ohh, NO, here comes Scotland Yard!! Enjoy this writer, did a excellent job of making this story come alive for me and I hope for you!!

While I liked the alternate viewpoint and a chance to show Holmes as an obsessed stalker that created his own nemesis, there were times I didn't know which persona viewpoint I was looking out from because it seemed to change several times in the same chapter. Also, some of the details would change. Being detail-oriented, those things distracted from the story. If you're not OCD then you'll not notice and enjoy the story.

A very interesting take on the Sherlock Holmes vs. Prof. Moriarty sagaMs. Castle has really flipped the roles of Sherlock Holmes & Prof. Moriarty in this cozy mystery, Moriarty Meets His Match. I've read 99% of Doyle's Holmes books and don't recall Holmes as the bad guy & Moriarty the good guy. That said, I think Ms. Castle has written a very intriguing, interesting and entertaining novel. With her introduction of Mrs. Angelina Gould to the script she has added a terrific new character to the script. In fact, in my humble opinion, she alone stands out as the lead player in this drama. You find yourself wondering what the next chapter holds in store for our heroine. Ms Castle throws in some missing letters which actually starts the quest that Mrs. Gould must endure throughout this novel, somewhat shady backgrounds for members of Mrs. Gould's traveling troop and a few murders just to get the juices flowing. All in all you will find this a very well written book with a lot of obvious time spent creating and laying out the characters & plot of this fine novel.

Professor Moriarty works at the patent office and falls in love with the beautiful leader of a gang of likeable criminals trying to catch less-likeable criminals. They are present at two murders which Moriarty eventually has to solve himself to avoid being the chief suspect. An unconvincing and far-from-authentic Sherlock Holmes makes a couple of ineffectual appearances, accompanied by a similarly out-of-character Doctor Watson - which is nonsensical because, in “The Final Problem”, Watson says he has never even heard of Moriarty! Moriarty shows no sign of becoming the great master criminal and this story could really be written using any name; I suspect that the name “Moriarty” is used in the title to entice people to buy what is little more than a trashy love story. I'm glad it was free when I got it – I would have hated to pay for it! Fans of the real Sherlock Holmes will be dismayed.

Moriarty Meets His Match by Anna CastleI came to this book, the first in the Professor and Mrs Moriarty Mystery Series, because I so much enjoy the author’s Francis Bacon historical fiction series. The Moriarty books are different from the Francis Bacon books, as you would expect from such an accomplished writer, and it’s a mark of just how accomplished she is that – with just a couple of niggles, which I’ll come to – she manages so well the switch from Tudor times to the late Victorian age.This book turns on its head the relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty. In Anna Castle’s version, Moriarty is an upright citizen of impeccable moral standing and honesty, while Holmes is a conceited, self-regarding bungler. Holmes is out to get Moriarty and to pin on him a series of murders, the unravelling of which is at the heart of this book. As with her Francis Bacon books, Castle brings us an outstanding heroine who would inspire in any man the thought, “My dear woman, just say the word.” And she does say the word (to Moriarty) and he responds as any red-blooded man might be expected to.The niggles? They are not enormous, but they do matter. Anna Castle is American and writing a book set in Britain among British people is no easier for American writers than the reverse is for British writers. All the big, important stuff she gets right, but I found myself unwilling to believe that a London club of the quality Moriarty belongs to would serve its members American whiskey – and, sure enough, a few lines later she confirms that he is, in fact, drinking Scotch so it’s whisky and not whiskey. There are a few similar examples and, while they don’t detract from the quality of the book, they are there. There’s also a tendency, when her characters get into a real mess and you are wondering how on earth they are going to get out of it, to resort to the “With one bound she was free” solution. Finally, as a long-time fan of AE Housman, I was delighted in the early stages to discover that – like Housman and the object of his unrequited love, Moses Jackson – Moriarty is employed in the London Patent Office. Sure enough, Jackson turns up quite quickly and Housman immediately afterwards and I had great hopes that they would feature prominently in the novel, but that doesn’t happen. Perhaps in later books? We shall see.Those are the reasons why I give this book four stars and not five, but I repeat that they do not detract from the enjoyment. I recommend this book without reserve to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, the unravelling of a crime, characters who emerge alive from the page and have completely believable motivations, a good love story, and/or first-class writing.

Generally the story rattles along, but it ha its longeurs. The re-imagining of the Holmes-Moriarty relationship is nicely done and quite convincing. American authors attempting English settings, however, tend to get little things wrong - the British Library did not come into existence until 1973. What Moriarty visited would have been its predecessor, the British Museum Library. And I doubt whether a well educated man of the time would have used "gotten", which dropped out of general use in England in the 18th century.

It started off well, I particularly liked the engineering biased opening. However it doesn't hang together well with the original stories. There is no way this could be the same Moriarty. Perhaps it wasn't! Gripes: the author has Moriarty using Baker Street underground station some 10 years before it was built. The use of the word 'gotten' has been remarked upon by others. There is also the use of the word 'sabotage' which I believe is at least 10 years too early. Still I made it to the end.

As intriguing as any Sherlock Holmes book but with a quizzical "will she, won't she " get her man. Class division runs through the storyline and women's role in society is highlighted throughout. Entertaining and funny while leaving clues for the reader to contemplate. Brilliant.