Some Danger Involved: A Novel [Hardcover]

Will Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 18, 2004

An atmospheric debut novel set on the gritty streets of Victorian London, Some Danger Involved introduces detective Cyrus Barker and his apprentice, Thomas Llewelyn, as they work to solve the gruesome murder of a young scholar.

When a student bearing a striking resemblance to artists' renderings of Jesus Christ is found murdered -- by crucifixion -- in London's Jewish ghetto, 19th-century private detective Barker must hire an assistant to help him solve the sinister case. Out of all who answer an ad for a position with "some danger involved," the eccentric and enigmatic Barker chooses downtrodden Llewelyn, a gutsy young man whose murky past includes recent stints at both an Oxford college and an Oxford prison.

As Llewelyn learns the ropes of his position, he is drawn deeper and deeper into Barker's peculiar world of vigilante detective work, as well as the dark heart of London's teeming underworld. Together they pass through chophouses, stables, and clandestine tea rooms, tangling with the early Italian mafia, a mad professor of eugenics, and other shadowy figures, inching ever closer to the shocking truth behind the murder.

Brimming with wit and unforgettable characters, and steeped in authentic period detail, Some Danger Involved is a captivating page-turner that introduces an equally captivating duo while signaling the start of an exciting career for Will Thomas.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Modeled after the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, but with a verve all its own, this debut mystery introduces a likable pair of sleuths and explores the Jewish quarter of Victorian London. Fresh, self-effacing Thomas Llewelyn is a plucky lad down on his luck (he was booted out of Oxford and served eight months in prison for petty theft) when he becomes the unlikely assistant to idiosyncratic Cyrus Barker, a patently Holmesian private detective with an enigmatic background in China. Hardly has Llewelyn settled into his new quarters in his employer's residence when he is called upon to assist Barker in an investigation of the crucifixion death of a young Jewish scholar. The convoluted tale leads through the tightly circumscribed Jewish ghetto, as it appears that the murder may be the overture to a pogrom by vicious anti-Semitic factions. Barker's methods ("You see, I try to throw a web over London and sit like a spider in the midst of it all, my fingers on the strands") and Thomas's tone (" 'I must admit, sir,' I confessed, 'that I doubted you a little' ") may owe much to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but the author's lively, learned tour of the various foreign enclaves of 19th-century London is notably contemporary. Besides initiating Llewelyn into the rigors of detective work, Barker introduces his young associate to a number of exotic cuisines, Chinese and Italian among them. Such period curiosities and the growing friendship between Llewelyn and Barker are the chief delights of this engaging novel.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

This intriguing first novel introducing the pugnacious Cyrus Barker, whose Holmesian intellect makes him an intimidating "enquiry agent," reads like a grotesque Anne Perry mystery, sans manners. Nothing and no one are as they seem in the cobblestoned dankness of this Victorian London, including the bizarre crucifixion of a young Jewish scholar and the vile suspects who rise to the attention of Barker and his new assistant, the downtrodden Welshman Thomas Llewelyn. The author's brilliantly complex plotting sends detectives and readers chasing clues down the dark alleyways of immigrant Jewish communities and into churches harboring menacing pseudo-Christian hate groups, frantically seeking the maniacal killer whose murders take their twisted inspiration from biblical savagery. The exploration of the chasm between Christians and Jews, the details of Jewish customs, and the vivid period ambience lend philosophical depth to the action. "Some danger" is involved in the investigation, as the title suggests, but Thomas also peppers his debut with plenty of dark humor. Jennifer Baker
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; 1ST edition (May 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743273532
• ISBN-13: 978-0743256186
• ASIN: 0743256182
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,407,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thomas is the author of Some Danger Involved, the first novel featuring Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn, and now a Barry and Shamus Award nominee. He lives with his family in Oklahoma.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive research supports an entertaining story, July 20, 2006

By 

Andrew S. Rogers (Stamford, Connecticut) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Some Danger Involved: A Novel (Paperback)

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.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful Victorian mystery, May 27, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Some Danger Involved: A Novel (Hardcover)

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

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars retire the librarian, December 25, 2004

By 

Barbara P. Wise "garden composer" (nashville) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Some Danger Involved: A Novel (Hardcover)

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!!!