Some Danger Involved

Rating:
Summary: Like Sherlock, with an attitude
Review: Will Thomas's SOME DANGER INVOLVED owes a big bow to Arthur Conan Doyle, but if anyone thinks he is channeling the old spiritualist, think again. This is Holmes with an attitude.
Thomas Llewelyn is a sassy curmdgeon of an ex-felon, living by his wits in London. As a last resort, he applies to work for a "private enquiry agent". For the next 300+ pages, the little Welshman is kept busy dodging bullets, knives, vicious Pekingese, sullen servants, and feminine wiles, while keeping up a steady stream of Victorian rant, on every subject from eugenics to Chinese cooking.

Cyrus Barker, the draconian detective for whom he works, is a larger than life character with more layers than an onion. What
fun it is peeling them. I hope for more of this Victorian Age
Morpheus and Neo.

Rating:
Summary: an intriguing read
Review: "Some Danger Involved" is the first in a brand new series set in Victorian England, and features a duo of private enquiry agents (modeled along the lines of Holmes and Watson) as detective heroes. But the question is, is it a book and series a worth while read? Well, although I had a few reservations about "Some Danger Involved," I'm going to vote that this is a book/series worth taking note of.

Thomas Llewelyn has his back to the wall: recently released from prison, with practically no job prospects or money, he is starving, and unless his luck changes soon, he's resolved to take the plunge off a nearby bridge. So that when he sees an advertisement for a private enquiry agent's assistant in the newspaper, he decides to try his luck one last time. And against all odds, and his wildest expectations, Thomas gets the job, as assistant and secretary to Cyrus Barker, a well known detective, and an uniquely eccentric and frighteningly intelligent individual, with a mysterious past. Almost as soon as he's hired, Barker is hired by the patriarch of the Jewish population, Sir Moses Montefiore, to investigate the brutal murder of a brilliant young scholar, Louis Pokrzywa. Was Pokrzywa's murder a hate crime, or was he murdered for more personal reasons? Barker and Llewelyn crisscross all over London questioning several anti-Semitic groups, criminal personalities and Pokrzywa's friends and peers in search of answers, all the time deeply aware that the feelings of resentment towards the Jews are being fanned and that time may be running out for them to find Pokrzywa's murderer(s) before another murder takes place...

It is irrefutable that Will Thomas is very knowledgeable about Victorian England and knows how to spin an intriguing yarn; and while the series and characters will bring Doyle's Holmes & Watson to mind, I found myself unwittingly comparing "Some Danger Involved" to Anne Perry's "Farrier's Lane" and found that what I really missed in "Some Danger Involved" was the level of human pathos that Ms Perry seems to be able to imbue her books with, and the characters she creates that exhibit human frailties and sensitivity. Will Thomas' novel was crisp and well written, but even though the pacing was swift, I got the sense that the plot was unfolding in circles; and the murder victim, frustratingly, remained a nonetity for far too long. And like the previous reviewer, I found the sudden resolution of the mystery to be highly anti-climatic. However, I did find myself enjoying the book, esp the close working relationship that's developing between Barker and Llewelyn. so, to answer my previous question: is it a good read? In spite of my nitpicking, I'd say "yes."

Rating:
Summary: Murder in Victorian London.
Review: "Some Danger Involved," by Will Thomas, is a murder mystery set in London during the 1880's. The two protagonists are reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, but Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn are not merely pale imitations of Doyle's inimitable characters. Barker is a brusque "enquiry agent" who is shrewd, versatile, and an expert at martial arts. Llewelyn, Barker's newly hired assistant, is a poor Welshman who, thanks to a wealthy benefactor, studied at Oxford. Sadly, his career as an academic was derailed when he was unjustly sent to prison for eight months at hard labor. With no job prospects in sight and not a penny to his name, Llewelyn is thrilled to have a job, but he is a bit worried when he finds out that the gentleman he replaced as Barker's assistant was shot and killed in the line of duty.

Sir Moses Montefiore, the patriarch of London's Jewish population, hires Barker and Llewelyn to investigate the brutal murder of a young scholar named Louis Pokrzywa in London's Jewish quarter. Montefiore fears that resentment against the Jews of London is on the increase, and he wants Barker to find out whether anti-Semitism was the motive for Pokrzywa's murder.

For a first novel, "Some Danger Involved" is an impressive achievement. Thomas, who is a librarian and a Victorian scholar, gets the physical atmosphere and the feel of London's disparate neighborhoods just right, and he has a flair for creating colorful characters. The novel is fast-paced and Thomas writes with dry wit and a good ear for dialogue. Whether he is describing an elderly rabbi, a Chinese chef, an aloof butler, or an Italian thug, Thomas brings each individual to life.

The book's one weakness is its anticlimactic ending. I was expecting a better payoff after a rather lengthy buildup. However, I still give Thomas high marks for creating a promising new series featuring a clever and mutli-talented sleuth, Clive Barker, and his eager young apprentice, Thomas Llewelyn.

Rating:
Summary: wonderful Victorian mystery
Review: 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

Rating:
Summary: Hard Boiled London
Review: Amazing, amazing novel.

Well-written and impeccably researched, SOME DANGER INVOLVED is a portal into Victorian London, where a traveler is apt to meet the Prince of Wales on one street and Jack the Ripper on the next. Barker and Llewelyn are a team that can be very favorably compared to sleuthing partners created by the likes of Conan Doyle, Stout and Hillerman. Don't let the nitpickers stop you from reading SOME DANGER INVOLVED.

Rating:
Summary: retire the librarian
Review: 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!!!

Rating:
Summary: Desperately Needed an Editor
Review: Most of the Holmes pastiches -- and that's essentially what this is -- are badly written, and this is better written than most. Plus, the essential theme -- murder in London's Jewish community in the late 19th century -- is richer and offers more scope than many of the "perplexing cases" that crop up in the genre.

BUT, the book desperately needed an editor, and preferably an editor who had at least basic familiarity with Jewish tradition and law. For example, one plot point has the protagonist, a Gentile, hired on to act as the "shabbas goy" for a rabbi's family. That's fine: it was (and is) common for observant Jews to employ a Gentile to light fires and do other things that Jewish law forbids on the Sabbath. But first, there is no reason for this employee to be forced to stay awake all night "tending the fires" -- the fires could simply be allowed to go out, and then relit in the morning (relighting the damn things is what the sabbath goy DOES). Furthermore, we're told that the rabbi and his family employ a houseful of Gentile servants, who would presumably be lighting the fires and so on every day. The point of a sabbath goy is to do things that the family would, on non-sabbath days, do for itself. If they've got servants, the family isn't doing those things anyway, and if the servants are not Jewish, the sabbath presents no problem. Dumb.

Second, we're told that sabbath lunch at the rabbi's house consists of roast beef and trifle. Delish. But uhhh.....not kosher. An observant Jew, much less a rabbi, would never mix meat (roast beef) and dairy (trifle is made of custard and whipped cream, and Cool Whip wasn't around in the 19th century) at the same meal.

Then there are small, non-Jewish details that are just...wrong. The protagonist enters a house that is described as "spartan" and "working-class"...but the furniture is upholstered (if shabby) and the pictures on the wall are framed. By the standards of the 19th century, that's hardly "working class" decor.

A lot of the pleasure of historical fiction, for me, lies in the extent to which it provides a window on another world. But the window offered by "Some Danger Involved" is grimy with lousy research and streaked with sloppy plotting. Feh.

Rating:
Summary: Stunning Debut
Review: Once in a great while, a writer comes along who introduces a pair of memorable characters who deserve to live forever, such as Archie Goodwin and Nero Wolfe, Siegfried Farnon and James Herriot, or Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. It has happened again in this beautifully written debut novel by Will Thomas, who brings to life his main characters, Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn, a detective and his young assistant solving a crime in Victorian London.

Barker and Llewelyn are hired to solve the murder of a rabbinical student who resembled artists' renderings of Jesus Christ. Leading us through a maze of underground London, from the early Italian mafia to the mad professor who is desperate to keep the Jews from pouring into London, the pair must investigate all manner of suspects to get at the truth behind the crime. The backdrop of this book is one of the most thoroughly detailed descriptions of London that I have read, and has obviously been impeccably researched, from the very streets of Whitehall to the customs of the day.

For me, the mystery, though involving, took second place to the incredibly beautiful writing of the novel. It is as satisfying as a classic, full of wit and humor and fun, along with the pathos of Llewelyn's heart-breaking past.

"Some Danger Involved" is a complete delight. Treat yourself to a helping at once.

Rating:
Summary: Some Danger Involved
Review: Some Danger Involved is an excellent, modern day, Victorian novel that evokes the flavour of the times. The story is fast paced with intriguing well drawn characters whom I hope to meet again. Though set in the latter part of Victoria's reign the theme is one that resonates well in today's troubled world. The writer also introduces us to some remarkable historical characters and displays a detailed knowledge of London Town. I could not put the book down.

Rating:
Summary: Cracking good yarn!
Review: This first-person detective story has the ring of the Victorian novel about it, although it steps briskly along at a decidedly 21st century pace. The author evokes the sights and sounds of 19th century London as young Thomas Llewelyn helps his new employer, enquiry agent Cyrus Barker, solve the case of a young Jewish gentleman found crucified in a public place. The writing and research are exemplary, and fans of Sherlock Holmes should be right in their element with this little novel.