There are two parts to the novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The first part was twenty years after the second. In the first part “The Tragedy of Birlstone” involves a murder where Sherlock Holmes was called to assist in the investigation. The second part “The Scowrers” brought the readers back in time to see how some players back then who appeared in the current period to complete the full story. Why the author did this in the reverse order had not reduced the superb story-telling by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Readers had two stories for the price of one book. Both stories have a good and unexpected twist at the end. It was a very carefully crafted masterpiece and I could not guess the ending of each story.
In the epilogue, the author brought in Professor Moriarty, the evil, scientific schemer and criminal whose intellect equals that of Sherlock Holmes. The evil and the good would have to battle it out in the subsequent stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.