Some Danger Involved

This gripping Victorian mystery introduces another great detective pair. It starts off witb Thomas Lewelyen answering an add from detective Cyrus Barker for an assistant. Lewelyen passes the test and begins to notice some eccentricity of Barker. They go to investigate a murder in the slums of London and find a man crucified and dead. It was a great mystery with elements of the old Sherlock Holmes stories with the real underbelly of London. Lots of twists.

My wife and I were having lunch in the Museum Tavern in London last May when we had the good fortune to meet, entirely by chance, Will Thomas and his family on a combination business trip and vacation. I admit to not having been familiar with him or his work, but I immediately resolved to find his books and read them. Having just finished "Some Danger Involved," I can say that was one of the best resolutions I've made in some time. Calling something "a good first novel" is somewhat qualified praise. In fact, "Some Danger" is a good novel period, and one many more-often-published writers would be proud to have under their belts. It's a well-crafted story with engaging characters, but what I was particularly struck by was the solid framework of research on which Thomas hangs his story. London of the late 1800s is familiar enough to us to feel comfortable ... until we are jolted by a sight, or a saying, or an attitude that's disorientingly unfamiliar. Mastering that would be challenge enough. But Thomas then adds, in this novel, the *additional* foreignness (to most readers, I'd imagine) of London's Jewish community and gives us a thorough and believable portrayal of that, from top (Lord Rothschild) to bottom (East End slum-dwellers). It's all a very impressive job: about the only clear error I could find was several references to the "Royal Army" (while several units have "Royal" in their names, the organization as a whole is called the "British Army"). But this is, I admit, a pretty small point. Of course, this isn't a history text. It's a novel, and the center point is the characters of Thomas Llewelyn and his new employer Barker, the private enquiry agent. Barker is an intriguing invention in his own right, but it's Llewelyn who draws you in and takes you along on the ride. As the first novel in a series, this book struck me as weighed more toward character-development than mystery-resolution. But now that I know whodunit, perhaps I'll re-read the book and follow more closely the way Thomas wove together the strands of his murder tale. This is certainly a book that would replay more than one reading. But first, I intend to move on to "To Kingdom Come" and, fresh out in print, "The Limehouse Text." For several years, I've said that San Antonio mystery writer Rick Riordan is the only novelist for whose next work I'm always anxiously waiting. I'm happy now to name Will Thomas as the only *other* novelist whose next work I'm always looking forward to -- and happier still that his next two novels are already sitting on my shelf waiting for me.

What a pleasant surprise this book was. The characters are first rate, likable, interesting and just enough off beat. The story was interesting with a mystery that had a surprising conclusion. A great mix of sleuthing with an intimate look at Victorian London. And just the right amount of devilish humor. I can't wait to read the next one.

Get this gentleman a desk and typewriter and set him loose to writing for all of us who devour a well-spun mystery. This novel kept me from making my christmas pies and wrapping gifts due for delivery the next day. My poor husband sat in dismay as his otherwise responsible wife sat in rapt repose until Thomas's mystery web was revealed. Set Will Thomas upon his pen and get him writing again!!!

After being expelled from Oxford and spending several months in prison, young Welshman Thomas Llewelyn responds to a Times ad in the "Situations Wanted section that an Enquiry Agent needs an assistant. Thomas applies for the "SOME DANGER INVOLVED" position. Following a unique interview culminating with dodging a knife tossed at his chest by the employer Cyrus Barker, Thomas, not losing his aplomb, gets the job.The Jewish Board of Deputies retains Barker to investigate the crucifixion murder of Jewish student Louis Pokrzya by perhaps the brutal Anti-Semite League. Barker leads his recruit through the Jewish ghetto where few want to talk with a person seemingly of authority out of fear of governmental reprisal even if the two sleuths have no such credentials. Meanwhile the case provides Thomas with an on the job training through the various dangerous ethnic underground factions teeming in the London ghettos with several folks wanting the sleuths silent and others just despising or fearing outsiders.If it sounds like Holmes and it reads like Holmes, it must be Holmes. Wrong!! Instead SOME DANGER INVOLVED pays homage to Holmes, but also furbishes a delightfully refreshing Victorian mystery starring two wonderful protagonists. Barker in many ways is as enigmatic as Holmes and Llewelyn is the chronicler like Watson. However, this team is clearly different and their journey into the London ghettoes is fast-paced, vividly alive, and filled with action and awe as Barker introduces Llewellyn to a mini globe inside the city. Their camaraderie as they share foreign cuisines inside an exciting who-done-it makes for a wonderful Victorian mystery tale that brings to life a unique segment of late nineteenth century London.Harriet Klausner

With wit, historical detail, amazing characters, and a vivid setting, SOME DANGER INVOLVED is a brilliant beginning to what I hope will be a long-running mystery series. Thomas's characters inhabit a Victorian London that comes to life before your eyes. The story is narrated by a Watsonesque detective's assistant recently hired through a newspaper ad for a position with 'some danger involved.' Though only 5'3 and with a checkered past including a questionable trip to the slammer, he finds himself hired on by London's most famed (and notorious) private investigator and immediately embroiled in the midst of a murder investigation.Someone has murdered a prominent Jewish man and publicly displayed him crucified above the marketplace. Is it a singular murder or the start of something bigger? With racial tensions, backalley intrigue, religious zealotry, and murder, SOME DANGER INVOLVED is gripping, riveting fun.The best elements of a mystery series, to me, are when you have individual cases to solve but also the slow unraveling of the personalities and back-stories of the sleuths. There is so much to learn and know about our trusty main characters that I'm sure Mr. Thomas can keep the magic going into more volumes in this series.Read it, and you will be as eager as I am to eat at Ho's secret restaurant as I am. I can't WAIT for the next! The best debut in the mystery genre in a long time.