In 1885 London Professor James Moriarty now works in the Patent Office. Due to past circumstances his aim is to ridicule a Lord Netterfield. To this end he attends the International Exhibition, but everything starts to go wrong when an exploding steam engine kills a man. An engine which has been promoted by Netterfield. But it gets worse when Holmes and Watson get involved.
For me a new perspective on the character of Moriarty, which I liked. Who really is the villain - Holmes or Moriarty. Liked the mystery, the characters and the style of writing. Hoping that there will be more in the series.
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Moriarty, as in Professor Moriarty of Conan Doyle fame, is out for revenge: revenge against a man that cost him his position in life. He has gone from teaching at a reputable school to working in the Patent office and earning enough to survive on.

When Moriarty attends the International Exhibition to watch a demonstration of a steam engine being promoted by the man who destroyed his life, he winds up seeing a steam engine explode, killing a man, while the man Moriarty wants revenge against survives.

Moriarty’s knowledge of machine and mathematics makes him curious about the cause of the explosion. His curiosity is further piqued when he meets Mrs. Angelina Gould, a striking beauty with bronze coloured hair, amber eyes and an independent manner. She is a widow visiting from America. They both are attracted to each other and they both have secret goals and past secrets. And both are very strong-willed personalities who respect that about each other.

As Moriarty and Gould work to achieve their separate goals, they find there is a commonality between the goals, along with a building of attraction between the two.

Sherlock Holmes and Watson make a couple of short appearances, and it is apparent Holmes is distrustful about Moriarty. But the story is about Moriarty.

This is the first of a short series and I’m curious to see what happens next. ( )

I am not overly familiar with the Sherlock Holmes universe, but from what I do know, Holmes and Moriarty are adversaries. I'm not quite sure where this book fits in with the Conan Doyle Holmes timeline. Holmes and Moriarty are not true adversaries, yet not really friends either. In the beginning, it almost seems like they will work together to solve the case, but then, Holmes begins to suspect Moriarty--so while they are not truly adversaries, Moriarty is motivated to prove his innocence by solving the mystery.

I did suspect the culprit before the author revealed it. I am rarely right when trying to guess who done it, so I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I did enjoy reading the book. ( )