Mostly Murders

Book 1 in the Barker & Llewelyn series.

When Cyrus Barker advertises for a new assistant, a job that is described as having “some danger involved”, Thomas Llewelyn applies for the job. Barker is a Sherlock Holmes-style private detective possessing great knowledge, impressive fighting skills, a vast network of contacts and informants and firsthand experience in Oriental studies. Thomas Llewelyn is a fresh out of prison and down on his luck young widover, desperate for a new start in life. He gets that as an assistant in Barker’s Enquiry agency in Victorian London, embarking not only on a new job, but on a completely new life. Vigorous physical training in fighting and shooting, strange, exotic foods in secret, hidden restaurants and clubs and meticulous studies of various tomes of knowledge found in Barker’s private library are but some of the requirements of Llewelyn’s new position.

Told from Llewelyn’s perspective, Some Danger Involved describes Llewelyn’s first case with Barker, a murder inquiry with potentially devastating anti-Semitic consequences. A popular young Jewish man is murdered and strung up on a post in the middle of the Jewish part of London in a crime scene mimicking a crucifixion, anti-Jewish sentiments are being aired in pubs all over town, and several Jews are harassed and attacked in the streets. Barker and Llewelyn’s investigation takes them all over London, from the highest society to the lowest slums, and along the way, Llewelyn gets to know much more about the Jewish society while learning the ropes of being an assistant to a great detective.

Despite being down on his luck, Llewelyn is quick-witted and bright, and his quips and Barker’s enigmatic brilliance, coupled with vivid descriptions of Victorian London, make for very entertaining reading. Darker than a cozy mystery but more light-hearted than a thriller, Some Danger Involved sit somewhere in-between the two extremes, as an entertaining historical mystery well worth reading for anyone who enjoys a good Holmesian detective story.

Historical mystery – Historical fiction – Mystery thriller