This excellent 15th novel of Will Thomas’s Victorian private enquiry agents in the Barker & Llewelyn series opens in the spring of 1894 with four men claiming to be Confederate exiles ready to take back their country after thirty years. They require Barker and Llewelyn ensure a meeting with the Prime Minister to enforce a secret treaty from all those years ago, a treaty advantageous to the Confederates. While mostly filled with southern gracious behavior, these men are dangerous as Barker and Llewelyn are well aware. Soon, the American and British governments and the inquiry agents are entangled in pursuing the truth about these four men, their motives, and their immediate dangerous plans.

The author takes a different, effective, and engrossing tack from previous works. A wider history plays a part from the beginning, which is not done pedantically. Understanding these four men, and who they are – or who they are not - increases the intensity and pace. Even some possibly dubious identity connections to other famous individuals arises. This writer has done his research well and weaves such possible connections into the plot. While there is a wide range of well-developed characters over the fifteen books, the ones involved in this politically entangled story are the main characters and the rest may show up in passing. A wise choice by the writer. After ten years working together, Barker and Llewelyn have matured during their dedicated partnership. Barker is 50 and showing subtle signs of aging but is still the same enigmatic man. Llewelyn is confident and content with his life which may hold a change very soon. As ever, Llewelyn's dry wit in his chronicling stands out while Barker lacks even a hint of it. The contrasts are not forced but strengthen the characters. Jeremy, their ex-forger, pub-addicted office worker is a character to watch ahead as he quietly and perhaps unwittingly enhances his research and inquiry skills and his commitment to inquiry work grows.

After reading and/or hearing all the previous books in the series, I enjoyed every page of this book – I could not put it down. I look forward once again to hearing the exceptional, talented reader of all the previous audiobooks read this one. Barker and Llewelyn are a far more interesting, well-developed pair than the famous Baker Street duo. I am an avid reader of this series, and I hope for many more Barker & Llewelyn adventures.

I am grateful to Minotaur Books, NetGalley, and Will Thomas for giving me early access to this memorable and exciting book. This opinion is all my own.

I love this series!
Death and Glory, the latest in the series, does not disappoint. I loved how it let us get even closer to Barker & Llywellen. This book was full of. history and I was sucked in from the first page. I highly recommend this book and if you haven’t started this series, what are you doing!?

London enquiry agents Barker and Llewelyn learn about the American Civil War when a group of Rebels hires them.

The clients want an audience with the prime minister. They have come to claim a ship the Confederacy ordered from England before war's end. The Rebels are ready to have another go.

This is book 14 in Will Thomas's series. Several regulars make appearances: the chef, the butler, the dog, the office clerk. They make up a fascinating family.

Death and Glory are another great installment of the Barker/Llewelyn series. They were inquiry agents in the Victorian era.
A group of Americans hire Barker to introduce them to the Prime Minister – They claim to be Confederate officers and want to get the help of the British government. They also want a British war ship that the confederate government paid for during the war.
There is subterfuge and deceit throughout the book: Barker and Lewelyn do not know what truth what is false.
I really enjoyed this book. I have read several of this series and this one was one of the best. The writing is good, and the period is interesting. I love the methods used.
I highly recommend this book and the entire series.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC
I'm a huge fan of this series because the history is good, the writing is great, and the characters are quite unique. The author always finds a piece of history to use as a starting point, and builds a fascinating plot from there.
Although this is the latest in a series, this book would read well on its own, and would probably entice you to go back and find out all about Barker and Llewelyn and their history together.
The story involves more of a puzzle than a mystery, when a group of Americans come to London and hire Barker as a liaison with the British government - they say they are the Confederate government in exile and want to revive a 35 year old treaty with Britain. Neither the reader or Llewelyn is sure what's going on until the very end.
A great addition to the previous books, would recommend to fans of solid historicals like Outlander and the Falco series. I'm always looking forward to the next instalment!

This was the first book in the Barker and Llewelyn series that I read. I received a free copy for an unbiased review.
I found the book entertaining, if not a little silly at times. The main characters, Barker and Llewelyn were well created and believable. The protagonists in the story --- supposed Confederate Civil War military men (30 years later) at times seemed more caricature than reality. But the story of how this band of men tried to revive the South was fun and engaging. I am sure I will go back and read more books in this series.

I really enjoy Cyrus and Thomas and their private enquiries stories. This is a good mystery and the historical facts incorporated made it an intriguing read. The story moves at a good pace and the characters are relatable.

In the latest entry in the Barker & Llewelyn series, the enquiry agents walk a fine line between men who claim to represent the Confederate States of America —or may be conmen making that claim— and their wealthy supporters in Britain, and the British government. It’s an interesting premise, though it was at times difficult for me, a modern reader, to step back to a time when the Civil War was only thirty years ago and realize how many things we take for granted today were very different then.

That said, Barker and Llewelyn remain captivating characters, facing their own issues outside the main plot line of the Confederacy. The men who claim to represent the Confederacy are also well drawn, as is the American ambassador in London (I wish more had been done with his character).

This would be a fun entry into the series for someone who has never explored this world and is an excellent read for those looking for the next Barker & Llewelyn mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy.

Private enquiry agents Barker and Llewelyn tackle a strange case in "Death and Glory." Four men claiming to represent the Confederate States of America (one of whom, General Woodson, claims to be president, having been appointed by Jefferson Davis to succeed him) and to be members of a secret society, The Knights of the Golden Circle (of which Woodson is also the leader), have approached them to obtain an audience with the Prime Minister. The four men had become successful businessmen and landowners in Cuba, Mexico, Brazil and Colombia respectively. Of course, the American Civil War was thirty years ago, and the Confederacy ceases to exist (or at least it should). They bring with them a treaty between the Confederacy and the United Kingdom, as well as a bill of sale for a warship (blockade runner) built by Britain and currently being used as a training ship. They intend to take the ship to Brazil and copy the design to create a fleet of warships to be used in their attempts to reclaim the United States. If the British government does not turn over the ship, the men plan to publish the treaty, which will create a rift between the US and UK, and possibly even spark a world war. Barker and Llewelyn have to create the appearance of assisting the men, while trying to uncover and disrupt the larger plot. The four men are rather interesting characters, especially St. Ives. Two of the men may actually be rather infamous individuals. Adding to the chaos, the current US Ambassador to the UK is Robert Todd Lincoln -- certainly no fan of the confederacy or them of him. Also, Llewelyn's life is going to change in a very unexpected way. There is plenty of intrigue and surprises.