Customer Reviews

The Hellfire Conspiracy

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First Sentence: I recognized the sound, though I had never heard it before.

Private Equity Agent Cyrus Barker and his assistant Thomas Llewelyn are hired to find the young daughter of a Queen's guardsman. The fear is of white slavers. The police find the body of another young girl who had been abused, strangled and maimed and the hunt is on for a serial killer who is taunting Barker with bad poetry.

The biggest problem I had with this book is that I couldn't put it down until I'd finished it. But who needs sleep when you've a book this good. The story is told by Llewelyn; a young man with a painful past. Barker is fascinating and because you learn about him as Thomas does, and it's interesting to watch bits of his past unfold. I love the historical detail both of life in that period and police procedures. The style is one of a traditional mystery but it takes to the dark side of Victorian London. The story has emotion, danger, politics, humor and I wanted more.

I've read the first 3 novels in this series and have enjoyed them. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for The Hellfire Conspiracy.
It seems that Barker has lost his "voice" and there was too much focus on Llewelyn and his "romance".
While the historical setting and facts were interesting, the topic of a serial killer of young girls seemed primarily chosen for its sensational value. The story feels too slow, plodding and disjointed in the beginning and wraps up too rapidly.
It also seems that Thomas is a bit too pleased with himself and his inclusion of real people in his stories--and the actual story suffers for it.
Well, at least he has cured me of this series. Now, I will get more done!

It is 1885 in Victorian London, and private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker is retained by Major Trevor DeVere to find the abductor of his twelve-year-old daughter, Gwendolyn. Major DeVere informs Barker that his wife, Hypatia, was in the habit of bringing her daughter to the squalid East End to witness her work for the Charity Organization Society; Hypatia was hoping to sensitize her spoiled child to the needs of the poor. The little girl resented having to spend her time in this way, and she fled, never to be seen again.

In "The Hellfire Conspiracy" by Will Thomas, Barker and his Welsh assistant, twenty-two year old Thomas Llewelyn, are faced with a daunting task--tracking down a sadistic fiend who kidnaps and slaughters young girls and then disposes of their bodies in sewers or in the Thames. The killer sends Barker mocking poems, in which he defies the agent to find and capture him before he kills yet again.

Will Thomas, as he did in his previous Barker/Llewelyn novels, skillfully contrasts wealthy Victorians with those unfortunates who live in such places as Bethnal Green. The indigent come to London looking for work and are condemned to life in a "bland, seedy quarter, choking daily on the reek of factories and dung of dust-covered streets." While members of the upper class have servants to do their bidding, the impoverished slum dwellers eke out a meager subsistence in filthy and overcrowded conditions. Some, in desperation, turn to prostitution or petty theft in order to survive. Against this backdrop, it is small wonder that depraved individuals are able to prey on innocent victims with impunity.

The varied cast of characters includes the brusque but compassionate Cyrus Barker, the callow and ambitious Llewelyn, a man who has yet to put his tragic past behind him (his wife, Jenny, died two years earlier in horrific circumstances), as well as a host of snitches, dandies, and do-gooders. The police prove to be ineffectual and uncooperative; the Thames Police and Scotland Yard are rivals who refuse to share information with one another. In addition, people of means with high-powered connections pay off and pressure those who are supposed to enforce the law to turn a blind eye to their misdeeds.

Barker and Llewelyn have a difficult time trying to locate a criminal who always seems to be watching them and anticipating their next move, and the two agents nearly lose their lives in their search for the murderer. In addition, Thomas comes across his old nemesis, Palmister Clay, who challenges him to a boxing match presided over by "the Marquis of Queensberry himself, creator of the famous rules of boxing." Barker's old friend, Reverend Andrew McClain (Handy Andy), a former heavyweight bare-knuckle champion, has the unenviable task of trying to teach young Llewelyn how to box four days before the dreaded bout.

"The Hellfire Conpiracy" combines an intriguing murder mystery with black humor, biting social commentary, and well-researched historical information about the chasm between the rich and poor in urban England during the latter part of the nineteenth century. To the author's credit, the book does not culminate in an unrealistically happy conclusion. There is a cliffhanger ending, however, which indicates that Will Thomas is busily preparing the next installment in this extremely entertaining series.

About a third of the way through this book, I realized with a pleasant start that not only was I enjoying the specifics of this particular mystery, but I was even more pleased simply to be once again in the company of Thomas Llewelyn, Cyrus Barker, and the other characters who have populated this series for four books now.

I think that's a pretty good sign of Will Thomas' skill as an author. I read the first three books in the Barker-Llewelyn series in close succession about a year ago, and have been waiting, somewhat impatiently, for the fourth book to come out. I (and Thomas' other fans) have been rewarded by a book that is in many ways the best of the four. I've always been impressed by the author's ability to take a familiar setting -- the late-Victorian London so many mystery writers have used as a backdrop -- and twist it in a way that reveals its essential foreignness. In earlier novels, he did that by immersing us in London's Jewish or Asian subcultures. In "The Hellfire Conspiracy," the setting becomes unfamiliar -- even uncomfortable -- much more subtly, described by attitudes and actions as much as by nationality or race.

I also need to commend Will Thomas' ability to weave real-world historical figures into his narrative. Some authors do this as a way of showing off: "Look! Robert Louis Stevenson right here in my novel!" But Thomas does it subtly (that word again), without telegraphing their future significance, and their appearance seems entirely appropriate to the demands of the story. In fact, I admit with some chagrin, it wasn't until this volume that I realized Llewelyn's close friend and smoking buddy Israel is (or will become) the famous author, playwright, and Zionist Israel Zangwill.

One of the most satisfying things about this series so far has been watching Thomas Llewelyn develop -- gaining confidence, expanding his abilities, and becoming more of an asset in his employer's investigations. In "The Hellfire Conspiracy" he again takes important steps forward, while also dealing with vital matters from his history. With every volume, we learn more about Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn both, and they continue to be intriguing and interesting characters. While readers unfamiliar with the series thus far will find "The Hellfire Conspiracy" a solid murder mystery in its own right, it's as part of the series that it really shines.

I'm pleased, as you can probably tell, to give book and author both a rousing endorsement. Will Thomas remains, along with Rick Riordan, one of my two favorite active mystery authors, and as before, I'm again looking forward to the next work from Will Thomas' (as I understand literal) pen.

Will Thomas's "The Hellfire Conspiracy" is set in Victorian London in the late 1800's and is conceived in similar fashion to Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes adventures. Story narrator young Welshman Thomas Llewelyn and his employer and mentor Cyrus Barker are private enquiry agents commisssioned by a distraught Major DeVere of the Royal Horseguards. DeVere's young daughter Gwendolyn has gone missing during a visit accompanying her mother to the seamy, lower class neighborhood of Bethnal Green. The mother Hyapatia is a volunteer at the Charity Organization Society designed to provide aid to the underprivileged denizens of the downtrodden area.

Barker and Llewelyn soon learn after consorting with Scotland Yard Inspector Swanson that a rash of serial murders of young girls have plagued the area. The unfortunate victims had been strangled after being ravished, their bodies tossed into the murky waters of the Thames. Barker and Llewelyn receive a series of notes from a mysterious Mr. Miacca, a children's literature bogeyman, claiming resposibility and taunting them.

The enquiry agents unwittingly have stumbled into a political firestorm. It seems that local socialists are pushing for legislation raising the age of consent for young women from 13 to 16 years of age. Members of the upper crust long involved in licentious behavior have made a habit of procuring mistresses from among the poor needy inhabitants of the more distressed areas of London, like Bethnal Green. Such legislation favored by a wide array of characters with socialist beliefs, are the bane of the upper class.

While setting up surveillance across from the Charity Organization Society, which seems to be the center of all the criminal activity, Barker and Llewelyn are being thwarted in their investigative efforts owing to a lack of cooperation from the police.

Thomas has an aptitude for descriptively creating the historical settings of his plots which are populated by a wide variety of charcaters, giving his novels a true feeling that they were penned back in the days of Victorian England.

As usual with Will Thomas's series, plot follows place and Thomas demonstrates how a good writer can use his librarian skills to soak up and then show us London in the 1880's. It has been three weeks since I finished "The Hellfire Conspiracy" and I couldn't name the killer -- but I remember the characters who didn't kill but who add the zest and flavor. As usual, LLewelyn falls in love too easily (this time with the future author of the Peter Rabbit stories) and Barker is a pistol.

A distraught father barges his way into private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker's office at sabre-point, urging them to search for his twelve-year-old daughter who went missing while she was with her mother doing charity work in Bethnal Green, London, in 1885. Barker and his aide, Llewelyn, investigate the case which at first hints at white slavery in young girls, but then points to a serial killer, with the slavers or murderer so far unchecked by authorities because the victims have been of the underclasses.

The murders seem connected somehow to the Charity Organization the mother volunteers for... or perhaps to an upper-class conspiracy. There are hints of Masonic intrigues whose reach influences Scotland Yard, and politics (with socialists versus conservatives and tales of legislation being blocked), and with dissolute aristocrats who keep underage prostitutes or who seek their thrills in reviving the decadent rites of the 18th. century Hellfire Club. Barker and Llewelyn also have to deal with (and take advantage of), rivalry between the Yard and the Thames Police. And there are personal issues, when an enemy from Llewelyn's past is encountered and a challenge for a boxing match is issued under the new Queensbury rules

The historical details and personages and the complexity of the social and political situations adds greatly to the mystery. The mystery itself felt more like a vehicle to explore the times and the people, although it was interesting in itself. There was also a fair amount of action and suspense in the mix. Barker and Llewelyn are intriguing and sympathetic sleuths, very distinct characters who balance each other very well in their investigation, although Barker is clearly the mentor and Llewelyn the mostly eager student.

This is the fourth book in the series, but the first one I've read (yes, bad me, jumping in the middle of it), and it seemed to work fine as a stand-alone. I'll certainly be going back and reading from the start, however, since this seems to be a worthy and enjoyable series, judging from this example.

Like all of the Barker & Llewelyn series I found this book to be extremely entertaining and education. Always a good read. Anxiously awaiting the next one.

This was my first Barker & Llewelyn reading experience. It is a fast, entertaining read--something to take to the beach or on a cross-country flight. I thought the story and the history was very interesting.

However, the antagonist was easy to predict very early on. In spite of that, I would be willing to read the previous books in order to get a better feel for the history of the characters.

I've read every book in this terrific series! Very well researched and historically accurate with intriguing unique characters. My only regret is that Mr. Thomas can't write faster!!