Valley of Fear Part 2 Chapter 5 - Epilogue
And so the novel has ended much like the way it started: with an inexplicable murder. I had a sneaking suspicion that McMurdo and Douglas were the same person the moment Ettie mentioned Ted Baldwin, but I did not expect him to also be Birdy Edwards. As I look back at the story, I am impressed at how everything fit together. Captain Marvin's relationship with McMurdo was particularly impressive, given that a core part of his personality was his apparent hatred of the police. I had found it a bit interesting that Marvin just happened to come to Vermissa Valley from Chicago so soon after McMurdo mentions that he fled from there, but I never considered that their meetup had actually been staged, Even his lover had no clue what was going on, and the setup to the final reveal was extremely well done.
I also found the epilogue to be particularly interesting, but also a bit disappointing. I had mostly forgotten about Moriarty and was slightly annoyed that we never see him make an appearance in the novel. On one hand, this makes Moriarity seem like a true criminal mastermind, controlling everything from behind the scenes. On the other hand, the novel could have been written without mentioning him at all. I assume that this is simply a setup for future stories, but I found it a bit too forced. I also feel like the only reason Mr. Douglas died in the epilogue was to showcase Moriarty's skills and personality, but given that Moriarty didn't do anything else in the novel, I felt that the death was completely unnecessary.
I also found the epilogue to be particularly interesting, but also a bit disappointing. I had mostly forgotten about Moriarty and was slightly annoyed that we never see him make an appearance in the novel. On one hand, this makes Moriarity seem like a true criminal mastermind, controlling everything from behind the scenes. On the other hand, the novel could have been written without mentioning him at all. I assume that this is simply a setup for future stories, but I found it a bit too forced. I also feel like the only reason Mr. Douglas died in the epilogue was to showcase Moriarty's skills and personality, but given that Moriarty didn't do anything else in the novel, I felt that the death was completely unnecessary.
This was very interesting. I had a lot of "me too!" moments while reading your blog post. I too had a "sneaking suspicion" that McMurdo and Douglas were the same person but I too was thrown for a loop when Birdy Edwards was thrown into that mix. I agree that the set up to the final reveal was masterfully orchestrated. I would have thought that his lover would have given off some inclination but being that she had no idea of what was going on it makes sense that she did not. The second part of your commentary brings up a point that I wrastled with in my mind. I concluded that Moriarty is both looming and absent from the novel to show that he is the ultimate mastermind but not actually uncover much about him for the very reason you pointed out: to keep the reader coming back hoping to get more about him in later Sherlock adventures.
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