Now a letter signed "Moriarty" has arrived that Reggie tosses aside while he ponders the possibility of taking a criminal case after many years in corporate law. He has been approached by an attractive solicitor, Darla Rennie, to defend a Black Cab driver, Neil Walters, accused of murdering two Americans. While all the evidence seems to be against Walters, Reggie finds something that might just help the driver. But if Walters didn't commit the murders, than who did, and are they responsible for the recent rash of rapes, burglaries and murders in London?

As he tries to get his business back on its feet, Reggie's private life is not in great shape, and not really private any longer, as he sees a picture of his girlfriend Laura being groped on the beach by Daily Sun owner Robert Buxton, in the man's own paper and now Laura has announced the couple's impending engagement.

Written with an easy style and yet a lot of tension, The Brothers of Baker Street will appeal to fans of both American and British crime fiction; and they needn't be fans of Sherlock Holmes to appreciate the allusions to the fictional sleuth whose legacy has grown to mythical proportions.

Reggie is a splendid character, often self-deprecating, but with good humor. He grapples with his past, the man he defended for killing his wife who in turn murdered his mother-in-law, and is introspective when he first meets Walters, thinking about how his own father had hoped for his two sons to have more than he had, but wondering if he and Nigel really do.

While some of Reggie's case rests on an anonymous letter written to Sherlock Holmes that has the key to exonerating Walters, Reggie has good instincts and doesn't deter easily. The final chase is very frightening, for both readers and Reggie; once the pieces all fall into place, things that were a bit odd earlier now make easy sense. A fun, surprisingly quick yet complex read.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry