Infernal Device (edition 1981)

The Infernal Device or, How To Turn Moriarty Into Holmes. ( )

this is one of my favorite Holmes pastiches. Kurland's Moriarty is the evil twin version of Holmes--all-inclusive filing system, deductive power, superior intellect. The story also posits that Holmes might be just a little too obsessive about Moriarty, even blowing the discovery of some kidnappers because he thinks the Professor is behind it. In the meantime, Moriarty is hired by the czar to stop Russian anarchists from committing terrorist acts in England. Nice twists and turns in this one. ( )

First in a series of revisionist Moriarty stories, nominated for an Edgar. Since their original appearane more than two decades ago, Michael Kurland's two novels feature Professor James Moriarty--The Infernal Device and Death by Gaslight--have been among the most acclaimed of the works based on the characters first introduced by Authur Conan Doyle. In Doyle's original stories, Professor Moriarty is the bete noire of Sherlock Holmes, who deems the professor his mental equivalent and ethical opposite, declares him "the Napoleon of Crime, " and wrestles him seemingly to their mutual deaths at Reichenbach Falls. But indeed there are two sides to every story, and while Moriarty may not always tread strictly on the side of the law, he is also, in these novels, not quite about the person that Holmes and Watson made him out to be. In Kurland's fictions about Moriarty, the truth is finally revealed:
The Infernal Device--A dangerous adversary seeking to topple the British monarchy places Moriarty in mortal jeopardy, forcing him to collaborate with his nemesis Sherlock Holmes.
[Reviewed by Amazon]