Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Ubervilles, by Kim Newman, is a brilliant work. Based on a manuscript recently found in the vaults of a collapsed European banking institution written by Colonel Sebastian Moran, it tells the story of the so-called Napoleon of Crime from a new perspective. Not simply a retelling of tales from the canon, the stories here give a glimpse of what was going on in the criminal underworld of London and the Empire during the time the "thin man" of Baker street was coming to fame.

As one might expect from the title, the stories contain references to and uses of many fictional and real characters of the period. It's outrageously funny in many places, and a total blast to read.