Customer Reviews

Some Danger Involved: A Novel

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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

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!!!

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.

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.

"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."

Thomas has created a marvelous cast of characters with Llewelyn, Barker, the manservant Mac, French chef Dummolard, and even the feisty Pekinese Harm. The sense of time and place of Victorian England, taking us from elegant drawing room to the Jewish ghetto and the back alleys of London add richness to the story. Because the story is told from Thomas' point of view, you share a bit of his frustration from being kept in the dark by Barker. This does make the ending seem rather abrupt. But that's a minor point when weighed against a very well written, enjoyable story. I eagerly await the next case.

I was pleasantly surprised by the storyline and character-development. I received this book as a gift. I have since read the second novel,"To Kingdom Come" as well.
I was intrigued and inspired by the Enquiry Agent, Cyrus Barker. I find him more mysterious and interesting than Holmes. He is well-rounded, resourceful, and dangerous.
I appreciated the mention of Rev. Spurgeon as Barker's Pastor. This was a good move for a cultural and historical background piece.

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.

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.