The London Borough of Hackney is run by the crime syndicate Bai Ze. One night an expensive horse carriage arrives at their headquarters. Behind the carriage is the leader of the Bai Ze, Mr.Quin, hanging at the end of a bloody rope. The journey here has stripped him of his clothes and shredded most his skin off him. He rasps one final word to his second in command: ‘Mogwai’. It’s the Cantonese word for the devil.

In London the normal order of the criminal syndicates has been broken and a new dangerous villain is playing to win the entire game. It is also ruining the business of the Bohemia – the secret underworld club. The members are being killed and club owner, Irene Adler, must seek the help of the only person who can solve these mysterious murders – her strange friend, Sherlock Holmes.

Somewhere at the other end of all these murders lies the truth about Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty

‘Becoming Sherlock, The Magician‘ was an entertaining end to this innovative trilogy about a near-future Sherlock Holmes. It brought together the threads from ‘Becoming Sherlock: The Red Circle‘ and ‘Becoming Sherlock: The Irregulars’ via a complex and surprising mystery with Moriarty at its heart. 

This was a solid mystery, full of spectacular violence, designed to be dramatic and distracting. The killings were vivid and bloody, but Sarah Naughton went beyond the splatter and shock and populated London’s gangs with engaging, credible characters.

Beneath the performative slaughter lay a deeper plot that pitted Sherlock against Moriarty. Moriarty’s manipulations led Sherlock down a path that brought him closer and closer to confronting his origins and his relationship to Moriarty. I loved that Sarah Norton gave enough information for the reader to work out where Sherlock and Moriarty came from without lengthy exposition. I particularly liked that the final confrontation between Sherlock and Moriarty was so subtle and unexpected that, despite occurring in front of others, only the two of them would have been fully aware of it.

I admired the way the plot moved forward the stories of all members of the ensemble cast, allowing their relationships to develop. I’ve watched Sherlock become increasingly aware of not only who he is and where he came from, but who he could choose to become. Watson has moved from being a lonely man on a path to alcoholism to a man with a purpose, friends and self-respect. His relationship with Sherlock was pleasingly complex and dynamic. I enjoyed the subplot with the Le Strade family. I admired how Sarah Norton used the thread to move the Moriarty vs Sherlock plot along by temporarily sidelining Le Strade while also providing an engaging emotional situation that pulled in Watson, Mrs Hudson and Sherlock in ways that illustrated their characters. 

I’ve enjoyed the whole trilogy. I think it stands up as a complete story arc: Sherlock has, over the course of the three books, truly become Sherlock, but I hope that Sarah Naughton will write more books in this series. so that I can see what Sherlock does next. 

This was another fine performance by Alfred Enoch, whose narration brought this trilogy to life for me. Click on the YouTube link below to hear a sample.