"Upon escaping from Reichenbach Falls, his empire in ruins, criminal mastermind James Moriarty takes the identity of wealthy inventorHugo Strahm and embarks on a dark pilgrimage to the cliffside manorof Schloss Alber in Bavaria. When medical student Clara Mendel returns to Schloss Alber, she finds her childhood home on the verge of ruin. A deadly feud over a priceless heirloom has thrown the Alber family into chaos while its walls play host to an unusual cast of characters?the obstinate Lord Alber, his strange and beleaguered children, their cantankerous butler, and of course, their mysterious new guest, "Hugo Strahm." When one of them is poisoned at dinner, it's thefirst act in a spiraling criminal conspiracy, in which any and all of them are suspects. Working with the sharp and inquisitive Clara, the former crime lord attempts to solve the mystery whilst trying tokeep his true identity concealed. Yet despite taking on the role ofdetective, Moriarty does not share Sherlock Holmes's methods, nor his interest in justice. Only one thing is certain, for James Moriarty, dying at the hands of Sherlock Holmes would have been an elegant end...The question of what comes next is far more complicated."--