Cathy C. (cathyskye) -
I am a longtime fan of Will Thomas's Barker & Llewelyn historical mystery series set in Victorian London. These books are a marvelous blend of history, characterization, action, and humor. Thomas always does his homework when dealing with historical figures, and Dance With Death has a few. For those readers who don't like real people in their fiction, I'd just like to say that the author uses these historical figures as a framework for his story. They are not main characters, and that's a good thing because he already has a marvelous cast of fictional ones.
As always, the story is told by twenty-eight-year-old Thomas Llewelyn, and I love his narration. Through the course of the series, readers have seen this young man grow and learn, and thankfully the years have honed his fine sense of humor and quick tongue. Barker is the strong, silent type, more like a Victorian James Bond than anything else, although he does play a good straight man to Thomas. As the two investigate further, two secondary characters are brought in: female detective (and typist) Sarah Fletcher, and habitue of the British Museum's reading room, Liam Grant. They have appeared in previous books, and I was glad to see them in Dance With Death. I hope Will Thomas continues to bring them both into future books because I love watching their stories unfold.
The mystery is a good one, and Thomas's setting of Victorian London is hard to beat. I always learn something about that city when I read one of these books. If you like historical mysteries set in London, you really can't go wrong with a Barker & Llewelyn novel. You can read Dance With Death as a standalone, but I've enjoyed the unfolding of Thomas's story so much that I hope you'll think about starting at the beginning with Some Danger Involved. This is a consistently high-quality series that shouldn't be missed.
(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)
As always, the story is told by twenty-eight-year-old Thomas Llewelyn, and I love his narration. Through the course of the series, readers have seen this young man grow and learn, and thankfully the years have honed his fine sense of humor and quick tongue. Barker is the strong, silent type, more like a Victorian James Bond than anything else, although he does play a good straight man to Thomas. As the two investigate further, two secondary characters are brought in: female detective (and typist) Sarah Fletcher, and habitue of the British Museum's reading room, Liam Grant. They have appeared in previous books, and I was glad to see them in Dance With Death. I hope Will Thomas continues to bring them both into future books because I love watching their stories unfold.
The mystery is a good one, and Thomas's setting of Victorian London is hard to beat. I always learn something about that city when I read one of these books. If you like historical mysteries set in London, you really can't go wrong with a Barker & Llewelyn novel. You can read Dance With Death as a standalone, but I've enjoyed the unfolding of Thomas's story so much that I hope you'll think about starting at the beginning with Some Danger Involved. This is a consistently high-quality series that shouldn't be missed.
(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)
