Interesting little historical mystery with Barker and Llewelyn trying to save the tsesarevich Nicholas of Russia while he is visiting England. Barker is not above trying a bit of underhandedness to get his way while poor Llewelyn is ever the honest and forthright follower. The story has several twists and turns and keeps the reader engaged. I enjoyed the book.

Another favorite book in the Barker & Llewelyn Series by Will Thomas! I have been enjoying these stories since the first book. The point of view character, Thomas Llewelyn, gives a lively and sometimes snarky description of all the action and fills us in on behind the scenes. All the foundation characters that we have gotten used to in the previous books are back in this adventure (Etiene, Ho, Israel, Jenkins, Rebecca, Philippa and of course Harm) and there are many new and interesting characters as well. The case involves protecting the young, upcoming Tzar of Russia, Nicholas II Romanov from a mysterious assassin and his own misadventures. The Tsarevich (Nicholas) is in London to attend a royal wedding. There is plenty of action and history in this story. The Tsarevich is an entitled and bored but interesting young man. The tsar entourage are full of great characters that add to the story. This is definitely one of my favorite books in the series.

DANCE WITH DEATH: A Barker & Llewelyn Novel
Will Thomas
Minotaur Books April 2021

Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn, with Thomas risen to partner in their inquiry agency, are drawn into mystery and danger when they are contacted by an American Negro. Jim Hercules is not the most common fellow one would ordinarily find in 1893 London. Intrigued by the fact Jim is a ceremonial bodyguard to Nicolas, the tsarevich of Russia, who is in London for the wedding of one of his royal relatives. The agency complies with Jim’s request to protect Nicolas from assassination. In fact, Thomas is nearly killed when an assassin shoots at the bridegroom, having mistaken him for Nicolas. The question remains. Why is the tsarevitch being targeted, and by whom? Cyrus and Thomas must discover the assassin before the scheduled wedding. And the clock is ticking.

The cast of characters in the Barker & Llewelyn novels is, as always, terrific. From Barker’s household staff, to Jeremy, the alcoholic in charge of the agency office, to the East End youngsters who run errands, to the Chinese underground restaurant, they’re all here. Each is well characterized, each important, all willing to toe the mark for “Push.”

Cyrus is as enigmatic as ever. Thomas is as humble—maybe too humble considering his new wife’s status within the Jewish community. Both men are brilliant in different ways. The story moves from the East End, to Scotland Yard, to the palaces of royalty and back again, giving the reader a good taste of the historical period. The writing, as always, is excellent, the action moves forward swiftly, the conclusion is intriguing and satisfying. Highly recommended.

I LOVE BARKER AND LLEWELLYN!
I am not sure how Will Thomas does it, but each book gets better and better! You can read the summary, but what you need to know is these books take you into them and and you just get lost in the story and characters! You can read it as a stand alone, but starting from the beginning is the way to go!!!

"Dance with Death” was an enjoyable work of historical fiction. Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn, two of the premier private enquiry agents in London, have been approached by Jim Hercules, the personal bodyguard of Nicholas II, the tsarevich of Russia, who is in London for the marriage of his cousin, George. Hercules is concerned that an assassin is planning to kill Nicholas. Making the situation more complicated is that Nicholas is rather self-absorbed and more interested in having fun than taking his duties as a royal and heir to the Russian throne seriously. He also has a complicated personal life, as Queen Victoria is working to arrange a marriage between him and Princess Alix of Hesse, whom he has known since childhood and does love, but Nicholas has a mistress of sorts in Mathilde Kschessinska, a ballerina whose beauty is matched by her fiery temper.

One of my favorite characters is Jim Hercules, in part because, quite improbably, he is a real person. The various royals are obviously real people and it is not surprising that Mathilde turned out to be a real person. However, I would never have guessed that Jim Hercules, a black man born on a Caribbean island, raised in America, with a career as a boxer, and fluent in multiple languages, including Russian, would end up as a personal bodyguard for the heir to the Russian throne. Hercules just goes to show that sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction.

Barker and Llewelyn have a Holmes-Watson vibe and make a good team. The book is set in the 1890s, at a time when socialists, communists, and anarchists are a growing and concerning presence in England and elsewhere, and the author utilizes members of these groups, including quite prominent individuals such as Eleanor Marx, the daughter of Karl Marx, as potential suspects for the assassin or the assassin’s paymaster/mistress. The choice of a female assassin adds to the uniqueness of the story. The identity of the assassin is known by the middle of the story, but who hired her and how she plans to fulfill her mission remain secrets. The assassin also has connections to Barker and Llewelyn, especially Llewelyn, and that leads to one of the best surprises in the book. The method that Barker utilizes to thwart the main assassination attempt is quite clever. I would definitely recommend this book and I will likely investigate other books in the series.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I had not read any books in this series previously but will seek them out now. I found the story really interesting and can't wait to read more.

Haven't read the series, but this is a good historical stand-alone mystery. Enjoyed the characters, especially the portrayal of future Tsar Nicholas.

another great read from Mr. Thomas, I really enjoy the series and am glad I was able to read this book. The characters were great and I really enjoyed the time period and mystery.

What I didn't know when I started reading Dance With Death was that it is the latest in the Barker/Llewelyn series of historical fiction/detective novel. While it does stand alone with a fascinating story of an assassination attempt of Nicholas II while in London to attend the wedding of Mary of Teck to George, the future George V. Nicholas is portrayed as a man ill suited to his destiny of being the tsar. Nicholas also brings his mistress along, who seems to be unhinged and who regularly says that she will kill "Nicky" if he doesn't marry her. The mistress is the first of several red herrings that Will Thomas puts in the path of the reader. Barker and Llewelyn are both interesting characters and I think I liked Llewelyn's character better than the Barker. If you enjoy historical fiction, this paints an interesting look at London on the brink of the 20th century. I was surprised at who the assassin was, but I think the identity was revealed a bit too soon.

Book Review for Dance with Death by Will Thomas
Full review for this title can be found at: @fyebooks on Instagram!

Thank you to Saint Martin’s press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book. Our latest Parker and Llywelyn adventure has our heroes attempting to thwart an assassination attempt on the future tsar Nicholas of Russia. There is very little to complain about here. The atmosphere as always is very rich and evocative. One of the more interesting aspects is the portrayal of Nicolas. The author clearly does not have a very high opinion of the future tsar of all the Russians. He is shown here as a spoiled brat with very little maturity or judgment. As usual, there are other actual historical figures in the novel that make it a very compelling read.

Set in London in 1893, Dance with Death follows two private investigators, Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn, as they seek to prevent an assassination of the Russian Tsarevich. Nicholas is in London to attend a royal wedding and seems to have no concern for his own safety. As the identity of the assassin unfolds, Thomas realizes his life will likely never be the same.

I enjoyed this Sherlock Holmes type mystery novel. The characters were very English in nature(though they were actually Scottish and Welch). I also enjoyed the London setting with great descriptions of several landmarks. The book is relatively clean with only a few curse words. There are no sex scenes contained in the novel. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good clean mystery.

Dance with Death by Will Thomas was a satisfying good English mystery about enquiry agents who investigate attempted murders of English and Russian nobility. Because of the English and Russian backgrounds of the characters, following the details of the investigations was quite interesting and more perplexing than an American mystery novel. However, it was a good read.

private-investigators, historical-fiction, historical-places-events, historical-research, action, danger, suspense, mystery, assassins, 1890s

In 1893 it was early days of the young man who would later marry Aleksandra and be doomed by the Bolsheviks but he was in London as Russian representative to attend a Royal British wedding. The tale begins with a bang as an anarchist makes an attempt on the young man's life which is foiled by the pair of Private Enquiry agents as well as another assassin who annihilates the unsuccessful shooter. Lots of intrigue, farcical characters, and more! Loved it!
The publisher's blurb is a pretty good hook and no need for spoilers. Excellent read!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

I love the partnership Will Thomas has created for this series and really enjoyed the interplay between the two characters. That was far more interesting to me than the protagonist's challenge of protecting the future Tsar of Russia from harm while visiting London for a Royal Wedding.

Historical novels are my method of choice to add some color and depth to my sketchy knowledge of history and Thomas's book was both interesting and entertaining. I did not read any of the previous books in the series and think that the principal characters are intriguing enough that I would have benefited by "meeting" them at the beginning of the series, rather than dropping in after their partnership was well established.

The author did a very credible job of including some back-story for the characters, but it still felt like some valuable information about the characters was missing for me. It didn't hamper my enjoyment of this book, but I simply think it would have been even more enjoyable if I encountered the characters as old friends when I started reading.

Netgalley provided me a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for a candid review.

I haven’t read any of the other books in this series, but I will be looking for them. The story takes place in 1893 London and reminds me—vaguely—of a Sherlock Holmesian type story with two detectives (enquirers). Llewelyn is Watson to Barker’s Sherlock with Llewelyn being the note taker and Barker the enigmatic genius. Though this is not the first book in the series, it is not hard to get to know all the characters and where they fit in the story/series. Though a fictional story, the historical facts about Nicholas were mostly correct. He was related to a lot of European royalty; he did travel to London in this time period; he did marry Alexandra; there was a lot of unrest concerning the Russians, anarchists, socialists, communists, etc. I will note that I found the story slow, and yet I couldn’t put it down because it was fascinating at the same time.

What I liked: the characters of Llewelyn and Barker are fascinating, especially Llewelyn—who is telling the story. The supporting characters are well-done and interesting—especially Hercules, a Black man guarding Nicholas who is forced to wear bizarre clothing ala “genie”. It is noted at the end of the book that this character is actually based on a real person.

What I didn’t like: This was an ARC so I expected some minor editorial gaffs, but there were more than a few which put me off. I assume they’ll be corrected in the final proofread. Also, as noted above, the story was a bit slow to read, but at the same time, I couldn’t put it down.

Recommendation: If you’re looking for a decent historical mystery in the style of Sherlock, I’d definitely pick this one up. Or even start at the beginning of the series so you don’t miss anything and go from there.

I received this from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press and thank them for allowing me to read this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Prior to reading this tenth installment in the series, I had only read the initial book, and had given it a three star review. The characters have developed very well, and Lleweyn has come into his own. Novels with the formula of a wealthy, charismatic or enigmatic lead, accompanied by a cast of supporting characters with their own quirks and talents can be tedious due to the adored status of the lead, and the lack of any real energy put into the other characters. Others are engaging and interesting by utilizing the supporting cast to advance the plot and further develop their own relationships while acknowledging the prowess of the lead (Barker). This series falls into the latter category.

The plot may have been somewhat implausible. I do wonder if the tsarevich was as irresponsible and mindless as portrayed. I also wondered about the character of Hercules, however, in an epilogue at the end of the book, he was apparently based on a real historical person. I enjoyed the banter back and forth between Barker and Llewelyn, and Llewelyn's wry sense of humor and perspective. Will now go back and read earlier books in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this advance copy in exchange for an honest review