Atmospheric and entertaining I enjoyed this historical mystery. Well drawn characters and an interesting story I pulled me in. However I didn't realize it was the 10th installment when I requested it, it's also the first of the series that I've read. I was able to keep track of what was going on but I would recommend reading the earlier books first.

Thomas Llewelyn is a young private enquiry agent who has worked for Cyrus Barker for 6 years. Thomas is to marry his fiancé Rebecca in two weeks, when an explosion destroys Barker's office and puts him in the hospital with serious injuries. Accordingly, most of the detective work in this book is done by Thomas, and I missed having more of Barker. Soon after the explosion, Barker's long lost brother Caleb suddenly appears and occasionally tags along with Thomas as he tracks down all of the people with the motive and opportunity to have attacked Barker. I didn't think that Caleb added much to this book, other than acting mysterious and adding red herrings.

I've read every book in this series. My favorites were the first three, and there have been one or two that were pretty bad. This one falls somewhere in the middle - 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. It held my interest and didn't make me want to skim through it. I didn't find the explanation of how, why and by whom the crimes in this book were committed very convincing. This book also did not have any of the historical details that have made some of the previous books more interesting. In the ARC that I read there were a couple of serious editing/continuity errors that were distracting. I hope that they will be corrected in the final version of the book. I stick with very few series, but I find the Barker/Llewelyn combination entertaining enough to keep me reading.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

While I haven't read all of the books in this series featuring Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewellyn, I've read quite a few and enjoy the historical elements as well as the characters.

Thomas Llewellyn was very young and fresh out of prison when Cyrus Barker hired him originally. He is now twenty-six and has gained much experience and confidence during his years working with Barker. When the current plot begins, Thomas is looking forward to his marriage.

Cyrus Barker is a bit mysterious, but through the books we have learned a little more about his past. In Blood Is Blood, we meet his brother Caleb, and the brothers may be cut from the same cloth, but the resulting garments are quite different in style.

When the office of Barker & Llewellyn Private Inquiry Agents is bombed, Cyrus is seriously injured and the brunt of the investigation is shifted to Thomas with the newly arrived Caleb taking an often questionable hand. As Thomas attempts to interview some of the enemies who may be responsible, it appears that someone is taking his suspects out.

NetGalley/St. Martin's Press
Historical Detectives. Nov. 13, 2018. Print length: 320 pages.

Have you ever had one of those friends that you can go for months without seeing, but once you meet up again it’s like no time has passed at all and you pick up right where you left off? That’s how I feel when I open a new volume of Will Thomas’s Barker and Llewellyn series. This has been my favorite mystery series since I came upon the second book, To Kingdom Come, on the New Releases shelf at my local library. Suffice to say that I was thrilled when NetGalley approved my request for a digital ARC of the latest installment, Blood is Blood. To describe my real reaction would be admitting that I might have lost all dignity for a few moments.

*ahem*

When the story opens, all is going well for our narrator, Thomas Llewellyn. Mostly. He’s preparing for his upcoming wedding and he knows nothing about flowers, though he is quickly learning to say, ‘Yes, dear, whatever you want’ when it comes to his fiancee’s wishes. This sweet opening comes to a sudden, explosive end when Llewellyn arrives at his workplace at the office of Cyrus Barker, Private Enquiry Agent. Someone sets off explosives under the building, and Barker and Llewellyn barely escape with their lives. Barker is badly injured, and so it is up to Llewellyn to solve the mystery of who, exactly, wants them dead badly enough to blow up a building. The list is long, but not beyond Llewellyn’s means to investigate alone, though matters are complicated by the unexpected appearance of Barker’s brother Caleb. Instead of simplifying matters, Caleb’s arrival complicates them and adds to the web of intrigue that could result not only in Llewellyn’s death but in the ending of his marriage before it even begins.

I will admit that I approached this book with sky-high expectations. I love this series more and more with each new volume, and it seems like every new book is better than the last. I was not disappointed. Blood is Blood is as fast-paced and witty as the previous books and left me guessing about the culprit right up to the reveal, which hasn’t happened for a while. I’ve been able to identify ‘whodunnit’ in the past few books, and I was happily in the dark for this one.

But I don’t read these books solely for the mysteries. I adore the characters, and from the opening pages of the first book, I knew Thomas Llewellyn’s voice was one I’d fall in love with. He starts out as a naive young ex-scholar/ex-convict from the Welsh countryside, and though he develops his gentlemanly manners (and combat skills) across the ten books of the series, he never loses his wit and charm. Other mysteries set in Victorian London might garner more acclaim and fame, but this one will always be my favorite. Their wry humor and gritty Victorian atmosphere drew me in, and their inherent humanism keeps me coming back. There are few mystery series I’ve found where the detectives are so devoted to the fundamentals of justice, no matter the race, religion, class, or sexual orientation of the victim. Or that of the perpetrator.

The morally upright, if rather intimidating Cyrus Barker necessarily takes a step back in Blood is Blood, forcing his protégé to take a step forward and use the skills he’s been honing for the past nine books. While Llewellyn does slip up a few times, its clear that Barker chose the right man all those years ago. Llewellyn has become a capable investigator, even if he doesn’t realize it himself. He will be taking a larger role in upcoming cases, I think, if not working his own caseload in a more solo fashion.

More changes are in the air for other key characters and while I welcome them, I approach them with the sort of trepidation one feels when facing a shift in one’s life. How will these changes affect Barker and Llewellyn? More importantly, how will they affect Harm, Barker’s beloved Pekingese? I have more questions, but to ask them here would spoil the surprises. Suffice it to say that Blood is Blood is a worthy successor to the preceding novels while acting as a turning point for future books.

Will Thomas’s narrative voice is unique among mystery novels, maintaining a gritty, atmospheric realism that does not rely on gore or sexual violence to emphasize the horrific nature of the crime or the urgency of the investigation. His tone moves from humor to drama to moments of grace as smoothly as the turning of a page while the plot maintains a quick pace, slowing down for moments of introspection that deepen the reader’s appreciation of the characters without dragging the story to a halt.

If I have one complaint about Blood is Blood, it’s that I will now have to wait an entire year before the next book comes out. In the meantime, I will simply have to reread Blood is Blood, listen to the audiobook, and then reread the entire series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC of the tenth Barker & Llewelyn novel. I have been reading this series since Some Danger Involved was released in 2004, and am always excited to read Thomas Llewelyn's next adventure. Because really, although Cyrus Barker does figure very prominently in the series, these books are the story of young Thomas Llewelyn's unlikely rise from scholar and former convict to private enquiry agent. Llewelyn is the apprentice and narrator, and Barker is the rather mysterious employer and teacher, and it is wonderful to see Llewelyn gain in skill and confidence over the course of the series, while we gradually learn more about. Cyrus Barker.

In Blood is Blood, the bombing of the Barker's offices puts him in the hospital, leaving Llewelyn to ferret out, in his first solo case, who is responsible for the attempted murder of his employer and friend. Llewelyn is also preparing for his rapidly approaching wedding, and yet a further complication arrives in the person of Barker's long-lost brother, Caleb, claiming to be a Pinkerton agent from the U.S. I enjoyed Blood is Blood very much, and look forward to book eleven in the series.

Another fun entry in the Barker and Llewelyn mystery series. Blood Is Blood by Will Thomas takes us back to the world of Barker and Llewelyn and the setting of Victorian London. This setting is one that I just love, and I always look forward to see what adventures Barker and Llewelyn get into. This time around, the adventures are mostly all Llewelyn’s as Barker is injured early on in the book in a bombing of their office, and Llewelyn is tasked with solving the case.
Thomas Llewelyn is a likeable character. He’s an everyman who complains about his job and his employer, but when push comes to shove, he’s there for Barker and will do anything for him. Llewelyn is about to marry his sweetheart, Rebecca, and I am not a huge fan of Rebecca. She’s quite bland, but I’m hopeful that she’ll gain more personality as the books go along. Cyrus Barker is, as always, a magnetic personality, and I miss him when he isn’t on the page.
A new character we meet in Blood Is Blood is Caleb Barker, Barker’s brother. Caleb is a Scotsman who lives in America and has turned cowboy and also Pinkerton agent. I enjoyed reading Caleb. He’s an unpredictable character, as you aren’t sure whether he’s good or bad, on Barker’s side or conspiring against him, and I liked trying to figure it out. Along with Caleb, we meet many old enemies of Barker’s as Llewelyn digs through old cases to see who wants Barker dead. The answer is that everyone wants Barker dead, so there are many suspects, and Llewelyn travels to Paris and to various prisons in London trying to interview suspects. I liked the mystery here, and while elements of it felt a bit far-fetched, it was fitting for the series, and was a great entry in the series. I can’t wait to see what happens to Barker and Llewelyn next!

Bottom Line: Another fun adventure with Barker and Llewelyn.

Reading a new installment of a series is always exciting. You connect with old friends and familiar characters. Changes are coming about at the Enquiry Agency run by Cyrus Barker and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn. Surprisingly, most are not brought on by the explosion that knocked the floor out from under the two detectives. However, with Cyrus in hospital suffering a crushed leg, Thomas has his hands full to deduce who the culprit or culprits responsible for this disaster and things get more complicated when Caleb Barker shows up on the agency’s doorstep. With his wedding mere days away, Thomas finds himself trying to tie up this case quickly but others have different ideas.

As a lover of historical mysteries, the Barker & Llewelyn series hits all the marks. In the latest, Thomas gives Llewelyn the lead and manages to keep you guessing. This novel has more turns, twists, and dead ends than a hedge maze. Along with these he tosses in the upcoming nuptials of Llewelyn and his lovely Rebecca. This is an engaging and exciting novel. It is filled with characters that are both quirky and serious in their endeavors. Don’t let your guard down.

I was lucky to be given a copy of Will Thomas’ latest book by Net Galley. I have read all the books in the series about Cyrus Barker and his associate Thomas Llewelyn. After being a successful inquiry agency, they are bombed by unknown enemies. Barker is gravelly hurt. This leave Thomas to work out the mystery with Barker on the sidelines. He is helped by other inquiry agents and Barker’s long-lost brother who is from America on a secret mission. A side story is Thomas’ upcoming marriage to his love interest the lovely Rachel.
In this book, Thomas has all his friends and associates helping him. He is shown that he is loved by many. This is a far cry from the first book when he was out of prison and not a prospect in sight.

This writing is superb. I am looking forward to the next one!

There are a few 19th century British mystery series out there that I’m almost too afraid to start with because they consist of roughly ten thousand books and counting (looking at you, Anne Perry) and there’s no way I’d be able to focus on (or care about) a single series for that many books. So when I saw that Will Thomas's Barker & Llewelyn series consisted of nine books and that all of them were under 350 pages, I was like “OK, I’ll give the first book a go, and see what happens.”

Yeah, I may have immediately gone from the first book to the second one. And then the third. And then the fourth and the fifth…I couldn’t stop.

The series is all about our audience surrogate, Thomas Llewelyn, and our substitute Sherlock Holmes, detective private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker. At the start of the series, Llewelyn is 22 and a widow who just spent eight months in Oxford Prison for theft. He’d been set to go places, having gotten a scholarship to Oxford, but the whole prison-sentence thing derailed all his plans. So he ends up in London (where else?) looking for work. After months of failed attempts to get a job (not a lot of job opportunities for ex-cons out there, even in the 1880s), Llewelyn decides to try for one last job before throwing himself into the Thames: an assistant position with a prominent private detective/enquiry agent, Cyrus Barker. Barker, like all Great Detective/Private Enquiry Agent types, is a Scottish eccentric with a mysterious past who knows everything about anything and anything under the sun. He’s got all sorts of weird scars and gang tattoos. He grew up in China and speaks like, eleventy-one languages. He wears sunglasses all the time. Like, all the time. Apparently he does so even when he sleeps. (Yes, they had sunglasses in the 19th century. No, they’re not called sunglasses in these books, but they’re referred to as his “dark spectacles”). Barker is, of course, filthy rich, and upon hiring the poor, unfortunate and 1000% broke Thomas Llewelyn, immediately provides him with room, board, and a whole new suit of fancy clothes. He also sets about correcting Llewelyn’s behavior and manners, a pretty tall order since Llewelyn is a super snarky Welshman. As far as Watsons go, Llewelyn is definitely one of the more amusing, which makes these books so goddamned fun to read.

Yes, this series is very much your standard, buddy-detective private enquiry duo present in basically all movies, TV and books, but they’re fun. And you know what we all need right now? Fun. Pure, unadulterated fun where the good guys triumph over the bad guys, where the mystery is solved and you’ve got your Sherlock Holmes and your Dr. Watson. Because have you seen the news lately? Yeah, I need some stories where pure good triumphs over evil, where people freak out at the concept of rubber tires and the telephone, and where the story of the day isn’t doom and gloom and horror. Just, you know, murder. But fun, because it’s not real. And because it was the 19th century. In Britain. And not real. Well, except Jack the Ripper, those were real but…you know.

A little more about Blood is Blood: so Thomas Llewelyn is only a couple of weeks away from happily marrying his lady love, Rebecca Cowan née Moccatta. Everything is hunky-dory. And then someone tries to blow up his and Barker’s office. Barker is badly injured, leaving Thomas to investigate who tried to kill them by himself. Oh, and, same day the offices are blown up, Caleb Barker, Cyrus Barker’s long lost brother, first mentioned way back in Limehouse Text, I think, shows up. Caleb had been a major plot point in Fatal Enquiry, but then was never mentioned again until this book. He’s been living in the lawless American West, acting as a Pinkerton agent. But can he be trusted? Also, Rebecca’s family is super against her marrying a detective/private enquiry agent who isn’t Jewish. Upon seeing just how dangerous the job can be, Rebecca starts having doubts. Will Thomas be unlucky in love yet again? Tune in November 13 for Blood is Blood, same bat-time, same bat channel.

Yes, this series can, at times, be formulaic and tropey, but… I love it. Sometimes there’s comfort to be had in a story where you know the good guys will solve the mystery, maybe picking up a few scrapes along the way. I tore through all of the books of the Barker & Llewelyn series in about two weeks, and finished Blood is Blood in about a day. I should’ve gone slower, because I need more. I need at least five more books, Will Thomas, and I needed them YESTERDAY. Aaaackgh. This is what I get for binging. How long until book 11? Will we be getting another novella soon? And when are we going to meet Thomas’s family?! 10 books and we’ve never met his parents or any of his nine siblings! I want a whole book dedicated to Thomas reconciling with his family and he and Barker and Mac running all around Wales. I NEED IT.

Write faster, Will Thomas.

Will Thomas writes the best historical mysteries. He makes Victorian London come to life, complete with corpses, cobblestones and fog. We always buy for our library. Great Reading!