This first book in the Barker and Llewelyn mystery series introduces the pair who will go on to star in at least 15 titles. The book is narrated by Thomas Llewelyn who is a young man down on his luck when he is hired by Barker to be his assistant.

Llewelyn is Welsh and a product of a poor family who is sponsored to public school and then on to Oxford where he falls in love with a poor young woman dying of consumption and then is accused of theft and imprisoned for eight months. When he gets out of prison, his wife has died and he doesn't see much of a future for himself. He's on the verge of suicide when Barker plucks him out of the bunch vying to become his assistant.

Barker is a man with a mysterious past and a huge variety of contacts in London. He's been hired to discover who murdered a young Jewish man and stage his death to look like a crucifixion. England is being flooded with a series of Jewish refugees from pogroms elsewhere in Europe which bring the usual resentments from those who feel that the refugees are taking resources that would be better given to them.

As Barker, trailed by Llewelyn, travels throughout London to visit people he feels might be able and willing to set up a united front against the Jews, we get a chance to see Victorian London and the variety of viewpoints among the populace.

This was an engaging mystery well narrated by Thomas who is a clear observer with a retentive memory and a sense of humor. I enjoyed meeting the variety of characters who are satellites of the mysterious Barker and look forward to more adventures in this series. ( )

Some Danger Involved - Will Thomas
Audio performance by Anthony Ferguson
3 stars

I’m always looking for a good mystery series with good audio production. This book set in Victorian London checks many of my boxes. The primary detective, Cyrus Barker, is eccentric and demanding with clear indications of having a heart of gold beneath a rough exterior. Thomas LLewelyn plays Watson to this great detective. Thomas is a desperate, unemployed, ex-con who accepts a job with ‘some danger involved’ as a last effort to avoid starvation or suicide.

The story jumps immediately to the investigation of the apparent crucifixion of a young Jewish scholar. The very active search for clues rushes the detectives through the poorer multi-ethnic neighborhoods of London. Non-stop risky adventures leading to a final near fatal denouement.

I loved the setting. The characters were interesting. I thought the mystery and its last second resolution were a bit weak. But, there are several more books in the series and I will at least listen to the next one. ( )

Set in Victorian London, a inquiry agent, Barker, hires a new assistant, Llewelyn. Llewelyn has been recently released from prison and is down on his luck. They are hired to investigate the crucifixion of a man in the Jewish ghetto by the Anti-Semite league.
Much of the novel is to get us familiar with the main characters. They are both smart and quirky.
There is a bit of a morality lesson in the story as well.
I had high hopes, but it was just OK for me.
**Edited 8/2/23 - I re-read this book to prep for book club, and I enjoyed it much more the 2nd time. I will read more of this series. Updated to 4 stars. ( )

3 1/2 stars, rounded up because it's such a good start to a new series.

An interesting glimpse into 19th century London where they are going through some similar problems as modern day America. Let's hope we are more enlightened than the average citizen back then, although I don't hold much hope.

Back then, jobs were scarce, people were poor, and the easiest scapegoats were the immigrant Jews, who were considered less than human - greedy and degenerate. They came into the country poor, and somehow were guilty of things like charging increasingly high interest rates on loans to the unfortunate citizens. How they became successful enough to have this extra money is a mystery to me, considering their low levels. But like many people in modern days, the poor working class people were duped by the fake news of those days into hatred and violence against the Jews, even the ones who had lived and worked there for 100 years or more.

When a Jewish man is killed and crucified, Cyrus Barker, a well-known private detective, or "enquirer" as he called himself, is hired by the Jews to find out who did it and why. Just before this, he had hired an apprentice, Thomas Llewelyn, a smart but down on his luck young man who was close to suicide, via an ad in the paper for an assistant, "some danger involved." That was a bit of an understatement, it turns out.

The story was very entertaining and interesting, with some unusual characters, especially Barker's staff, which included such people as a Jewish Butler, a French Chef, etc. I look forward to reading more. ( )

Wonderful series, totally immersed in the characters and plot twists. ( )