Gardner, John (Edmund) - Marguerite Young

MARGUERITE YOUNG

"The Return of Moriarty," by John Gardner, [is] based on the concept that Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes did not perish in the Alps and that Moriarty resurfaced in the London underworld…. Something of the vitality of the old Dickens London of crime, which also inspired Doyle, may be found in these highly researched tales.

From these tales American readers may learn that a "dollymop" is a whore, that a "drum" is a building, house or lodging, that a "dipper" is a pickpocket, and a "duffer" is a seller of stolen goods. We learn that a "lackin" is a wife, that a "macer" is a cheat, a "magsman" is an inferior cheat, that a "monkery" is the country, and "palmers" are shoplifters. Not surprisingly, the mastermind of crime, when last seen, is heading for America, a new world for the establishment of his dark empire. (pp. 24, 26)

Marguerite Young, "The Great Detective," in The New York Times Book Review, February 2, 1975,...

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