Old Scores by Will Thomas

Published by St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books on October 3, 2017

After showing his garden to the Japanese ambassador, Cyrus Barker disappears for a few hours. Thomas Llewellyn searches for him and is promptly arrested. He discovers that Barker was arrested earlier for shooting the ambassador through an open window at the embassy. Llewellyn, having committed no provable crime, is released, but Special Branch thinks it has a case against Barker. It turns out that Barker does, in fact, have a motive, if he were the type to settle old scores with a pistol.

Barker’s ward, a young Chinese woman who has married a man with questionable business enterprises, is also peripherally involved with the ambassador’s death. There is no shortage of other suspects, including the Ambassador’s bodyguards (who were selected by the Japanese military), local Chinese criminals, and officials of the British Foreign Office. Identifying the true killer becomes the reader’s mission.

Old Scores delves into Barker’s past, revealing secrets about the time he spent in Japan (hint: there is a reason Barker knows so much about traditions of the samurai). The novel starts as a mystery but by the end, it is Barker’s story. The philosophical question Will Thomas poses is whether it is better to settle old scores or to promote the healing of old wounds by understanding the motivations of those who have wronged us.

The story has some poignant moments. As usual, Will Thomas mixes action and humor into the plot (the humor primarily stems from Llewellyn’s ongoing frustration with Barker), but the glimpse into Barker’s past gives Old Scores more depth than some other entries in a series that has always been surprisingly entertaining. I’m not generally a fan of Sherlock Holmes clones, but Will Thomas tells his stories in a distinctive voice that I have grown to appreciate.

RECOMMENDED

Fatal Enquiry by Will Thomas

Published by Minotaur Books on May 13, 2014

If you can imagine Sherlock Holmes as a bulky action hero, you might have a picture of Cyrus Barker. Fatal Enquiry, the sixth novel in the Cyrus Barker series, takes place in 1886. Barker is a private enquiry agent in London. His younger version of Watson is his assistant, Thomas Llewellyn, who narrates the story. Barker's Moriarty is Sebastian Nightwine, who made an appearance in a previous novel in the Barker series. Barker is no match for Holmes as a thinker but he is clearly a better brawler.

In Fatal Enquiry, Barker reveals how he came to know Nightwine and explains why Nightwine is his mortal enemy, a tale that has Barker fighting with and against the British in China during the middle of the nineteenth century. Early on in the novel, Barker falls victim to Nightwine's scheme to frame him for a crime. He and Llewellyn spend the first half of Fatal Enquiry prowling the alleys of London at night, trying to avoid arrest. Much of the second half belongs to Llewellyn as Barker hatches a plan behind the scenes.

Meanwhile, Llewellyn has a chance encounter with the lovely Sofia Ilyanova, who wishes to become a client of the Barker Agency. Her problem, of course, is related to Barker's, much to the smitten Llewellyn's dismay. Unlike Barker and Llewellyn and even Nightwine, Sofia does not come across as a credible character. She is the novel's only weakness.

Fortunately, the strengths of Fatal Enquiry overcome that misstep. While Barker is no Sherlock (there is very little deduction in this novel), his backstory is intriguing. Most of Fatal Enquiry centers on Llewellyn, a sympathetic character for whom it is easy to root. On the whole, this is a flavorful novel that tells a fun, engaging story in literate prose with a Victorian flair.

RECOMMENDED