Author Will Thomas had me from the first sentence of his Victorian era mystery, Fatal Enquiry (#402) - a gentle parody of the opening sentence of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. My own personal enquiry is "Why haven't I come across any of the five previous entries in this Barker & Llewelyn series before?"
Cyrus Barker and his much younger assistant Thomas Llewelyn are both men with checkered pasts. But that poises them admirably to deal discretely with the situations which their private clients find themselves in, unhampered by the due processes required by the police. In Fatal Enquiry, the police bring the case to them in the form of a restraining order against Cyrus Barker. The complainant turns out to be Barker's old and deadly nemesis, Colonel Sebastian Nightwine. Nightwine is returning to England with diplomatic status from the British Government after a long absence and with influential friends in extremely high places. His machinations involve a grab for power in Asia with the added bonuses of increasing his own fortune and the disgrace and deaths of his archenemy Cyrus Barker and company. Cyrus may not be able to prevail in their battle of wits this time.
I found this a thoroughly engaging and enjoyable read set in 1880s London. (Think Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper.) I was not surprised to learn that Will Thomas is a librarian himself; it shows in the breadth of casual references to the time and place scattered throughout the story. The cast of characters are wonderfully drawn both from real life and the author's imagination. Although the present case is resolved in Fatal Enquiry, a tidbit is thrown out in the book's last paragraph that promises more adventures to come. In the meantime, I intend to catch up on Barker & Llewelyn's previous cases.
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