I LOVE THIS SERIES!!! I love the characters, the storylines, and the author’s writing. I get sucked in from the first page and stayed up all night to finish this one!

A strong 4.. These books are easily what I might consider my guilty pleasures. I love a good police procedural; I love Sherlock Holmes and Victorian history. This combines them so well. This book follows the sudden death of a man in the office of Barker and Llewellyn with his dying breath asking for help. It’s the 13th book in the series so you know what to expect, and it delivers. I am already looking forward to the next book, especially with the massive twist that we got at the end Dance With Death, and hopefully Sarah will be able to feature a bit more, for purely selfish reasons. Will Thomas does seem to do quality research and the years he is starting to write about is when a lot of the more well-known female detectives are active. For fans of historical fiction, historical mysteries I could not recommend this series and this book more highly. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the copy of this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this historical mystery. I have not read all in the series but plan to do so now. Very enjoyable.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I’ve read every book in the Barker and Llewelyn detective series, thoroughly enjoying each one. This newest entry is another strong addition to the series. I enjoyed the continuing partnership of Thomas and Llewelyn, as their dynamic is engaging and simply fun to read.

This newest offering has the duo chasing down a poisoner who has decided to make the detectives their next victims, having successfully taken the lives of a newly minted MP and a poor family. The poisoner strikes right at their home and office, disrupting their lives and relationships. The mystery was solid, the investigation interesting, and the villain not too easily guessed. I enjoyed seeing the “original” cast of characters we’ve come to know over the series.

My only gripes are relatively small. There were several errors that stood out as I read. They didn’t impact my reading but they were noticeable and more than I would expect (these were in the final, published book as well). Additionally, I find Rebecca to be a thoroughly unlikable character. I tend to skim though pages featuring her.

Overall, an excellent addition to the series that leaves me hopeful for another installment.

Will Thomas' newest Barker and Llewelyn mystery, Fierce Poison, is excellent! A member of the House of Commons drops dead from poison in their office while trying to hire them. Seemingly unrelated, a family dies from poison in the East End. After the two are hired by Prime Minister William Gladstone to investigate, the poisoner infiltrates' their home.

Poison as the weapon is terrifying in the many ways it is used in the plot and takes the reader through so many twists and turns. When the murderer's identity is revealed, I am surprised but yet it makes so much sense. All of the characters are interesting and I love seeing how they develop in each new book.

I started reading this series in the middle but enjoy it greatly. I am looking forward to the next book. Thank you to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of #FiercePoison,

Will Thomas immerses us in 1893 London in the Barker and llewelyn historical mystery Fierce Poison. Private Enquiry agent Cyrus Barker and his partner are tracking the murderer of Liberal MP Roland Fitzhugh, poisoned by a tart. Former Prime Minister Gladstone is funding the investigation. Then a family is poisoned and dies. Attempts are made on the partners. Whodunit? Is the dead parliamentarian as good a man as rumored? An intricate case with multiple candidates as the poisoner. Read and enjoy.

This is latest in a long series bout the two detectives. This one has a really interesting plot and twists that I think many will enjoy.

Another winner in the Barker and Llewelyn series. The search for a killer who poisons people has a surprise twist in his/her identity. And does Barker really intend to travel to China for a year to get medical help? Thanks to #NetGalley and #FiercePoison for an advanced digital copy.

When a man falls dead, gasping for help at the feet of Cyrus Barker, he determines then and there he will find the culprit - much to Llewelyn's dismay for if the client is dead, who is to pay them?! Before you know it, Barker and Llewelyn are in the cross hairs of this new poisoner. They have to quickly find the culprit before they find themselves poisoned for their trouble.
Will Thomas threw me for a loop with how this one unraveled. I can usually keep up and figure out what's going on but I didn't see this one coming. Thoroughly enjoyed.

I have not read all the books in this series, but I very much enjoyed those I have read, including this latest installment. Barker and Llewelyn are always entertaining and richly drawn characters to spend some time with in Victoria's London. I appreciate a mystery that makes me think and has a twist that actually makes sense! Well done and highly recommended.

***I accidentally posted this review under the wrong book and I am unsure how to delete it. I will post my correct review once I've finished this novel!***

A gentleman rushes into the offices of Barker & Llewelyn, asks for their help because he fears he is being poisoned and drops dead at their feet. Cyrus Barker attempts to revive him, but nothing works. A detective from Scotland Yard arrives to tell Barker and Llewelyn that the man had just been at the Yard reporting the same thing. Soon, several other people around London are poisoned by various different poisons. William Gladstone, Prime Minister of England, asks Barker and Llewelyn to investigate, since the dead man was a Member of Parliament. Who was his enemy? Why are there more poisonings happening? Even their butler is attacked and everyone has to move out of Barker's house until it is completely inspected. Another interesting read from Will Thomas.

What a delightfully convoluted mystery! I have read and loved each of the thirteen books in the series – and each new book is better than the last. At first, I wasn’t a huge fan of Barker but he has definitely mellowed – and now, the mighty Barker is beginning to feel his age and he doesn’t like it a bit. Llewelyn has also nicely matured into a formidable investigator on his own. This book is a great addition to the series with non-stop action, an intriguing mystery with a maze of clues and suspects that will keep you guessing right up until the last.

Thomas Llewelyn and Cyrus Barker are at their detective agency when a man rushes in, says “Help Me” to Barker, and drops dead on the office floor. He is a relatively young man, did he have an apoplexy? No, it turns out he was poisoned and Barker insists they solve the case even though they won’t be paid for it. They will cooperate and work alongside Scotland Yard, but the cunning murderer is well ahead of both the detectives and Scotland Yard.

The murdered man is a former solicitor and newly elected member of parliament. Was he murdered because of his stance on a bill before parliament? Could someone involved in one of his legal cases bear a deadly grudge? Or, is it something else entirely? As they are investigating everything in the man’s background, an entire family is found murdered – poisoned. Then, a servant is murdered – and several attempts are made on the lives of Thomas, Cyrus, and their staff – even Barker’s beloved Koi fish are killed in the fish pond.

When the murderer was revealed, I was in total shock – and that just never happens. The murderer had absolutely no scruples, no morals, no compassion, no remorse, and no conscience, so I was really, happy to see how things ended up. Sadly, I almost understood his motivation for one of the murders, but the others were just beyond the pale.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and did not put it down from beginning to end. The writing is excellent, the characters are compelling, and the mystery is riveting. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Fierce Poisonby Will Thomas is another Barker and Llewellyn mystery, the story of a set of very different partners in an enquiry agency. Thomas Llewelllyn is married and the two of them share Cyrus Barker's home. In that home there is a cook and a male factotum who manages everything else. One morning a man rushes into the office and asks for a glass of water says, "Help me," and promptly drops dead. Llewellyn rushes to Scotland Yard, which is nearby and returns with Inspector Poole who identifies the man as Roland McHugh, MIP. He knows this because McHugh had just visited him for help. He believer he was being poisoned. Apparently he was correct. Barker, being the man he was, assumer the inquiry into this man's death and started by notifying Gladstone, at the Whitehall, who promptly hired them, with the promise of payment being made upon completion of the investigation. This took the duo to many place and meeting many people, including McHugh's fiancée, who was rude and belligerent; his previous law partner; several people he had successfully prosecuted and sent to prison; his best friend, a priest and his man servant; et al. It was a thorough investigation with multiple leads but not much substance. Sadly, McHugh's death was not the only one by the poisoner as he tries to cover his tracks. An interesting mystery.

Cyrus Barker is an interesting man who has lived a full life, traveled the world, been in the military, and so much more. Thomas Llewellyn is twenty years younger, spent a time in prison, from which he is reformed, and had a wife. Thomas was a partner in the agency but he knew that it was Cyrus Barker who had all the contacts, and all the experience. He was and had been nothing more than a trainee. This is the 13th book in the series and is always a good read. It takes place in London, in 1893, that is a changing time for England and the world. Barker is a huge fan of Chinese medicine and is aware that his body is aging. He is not happy about it, at all. This is an inspiring series, one that tests the reader's observation skills as the story unfolds. I highly recommend it.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Fierce Poison by Minotaur Books, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #minotaurbooks #willthomas #fiercepoison

Barker and Llewelyn are faced with an opponent so deadly that he manages to invade their offices and home with deadly traps. The private enquiry agents in late 1800’s chase around London, meeting up with Chinese immigrants, crooks, socialites, and politicians. All of my favorite characters are here, and every book tells a little more of their back stories.

Book #13 in the series is enriched by being read in series order, but if this is your first exposure to the duo, there is plenty to enjoy.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a good read. I hadn't read any of the earlier books in the series, and still felt like I could keep up with who everyone was and what was going on - but I was aware it was a series book, and didn't feel there was clunky exposition that would have dragged down a reader of the series to catch up a new reader.

This is a mystery about a poisoning, obvious in the name. It kept me guessing and brought the reader all around London in the 1890s, which was enjoyable. It didn't fall into the "copy of Sherlock Holmes" trap, which it could easily do, and presented a more multicultural and multiclass and generally nuanced view of London than Conan Doyle did - much appreciated.

I'd recommend this book.

Deadly poisoner wreaks havoc!

Well the unrelenting action here had me on the edge of my seat and scratching my head. Truly a mind boggling maze that became even more complicated as I flipped each page. This time the two Victorian private investigators, Cyrus Baker and Thomas Llewellyn have become involved in a deadly game of cat and mouse with a clever and unscrupulous killer.
When a potential client drops dead in their office from poisoning, and his last words to Baker are ‘Help me!’ well you know that’s just what Baker and his partner Llewellyn will do, even if the great man Gladstone hadn’t subsequently asked them to investigate.
Cyrus and Thomas, indeed their household and office employees become targets for this cold blooded maniac who had little regard for the collateral damage they inflicted.
Finding the poisoner will challenge the pair in ways that cut to the quick.
When the poisoner was finally disclosed I was stunned. I was compelled by the killer’s motivation but repelled by their absence of conscience for the swathe of destruction that trailed in their wake. Fierce indeed was their motivation and fierce the execution of their grievance.
A gripping read!

A St Martin’s Press ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Will Thomas’s Barker and Llewelyn mystery series has become one of my favorite mystery series. The books capture a real sense of late 19th century London and are full of interesting characters and absorbing mystery plots. This newest entry is no different as the two private enquiry agents Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn race to try to find out who poisoned a Member of Parliament and others who might have information about the plot.

I couldn’t put the book down. I had my guesses about the line of questioning that they needed to follow up and it turned out that I was right though the eventual revelation of who the murderer was was truly surprising. My only complaint about the book is that now I’ll have to wait another year for one more entry in this great series.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

“Fierce Poison,” by Will Thomas, Minotaur Books, 304 pages, April 12, 2022.

By 1883, Private Enquiry agent Cyrus Barker has just about seen it all―he's been attacked by assassins, his office has been bombed, and people have nearly killed his dog. Thomas Llewelyn, his partner, thinks nothing new can happen.

But never before has a potential client dropped dead in Barker’s office. When Roland Fitzhugh, Member of Parliament for Shoreditch, arrives to consult Barker and Llewelyn, he is visibly ill. Within seconds, he falls to the floor, dead.

Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Terence Poole is sent to the agency. Fitzhugh had gone to see Poole right before he went to Barker’s office. He thought he had been poisoned. Poole didn’t believe him.

They soon learn that Fitzhugh’s been poisoned with a cyanide-laced raspberry tart. Then a pie laced with arsenic poisons the Burke family in the East End: Clarence and Judy and sons Peter, 14, and Tommy, 10. Only the baby is spared.

Labelled the Mad Pie Man by the press, Barker and Llewelyn are hired by former Prime Minister William Gladstone to find out who killed Shoreditch, the House of Commons newest member.

But before they can even begin, they find that they themselves are the latest target. Jacob Maccabee, who is Barker's butler, and Barker’s dog are poisoned and other traps are discovered at their home. On the run, Barker and Llewelyn must uncover the threads that connect these acts.

This is well-plotted. The murderer was a total surprise, but the reveal makes sense. The main characters are very likable. This is the 13th in the series, but can be read as a stand-alone historical mystery.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

August 1893. Early in the morning newly elected M.P. for Shoreditch, Roland Fitzhugh arrived at the offices of Barker and Llewelyn. After asking for help he promply dies. Barker feels obliged to investigate his death. But what could be the motive and by whom. But soon there are other deaths linked to his.
An entertaining, well-plotted and well-written historical mystery. With its two likeable and interesting main characters. Another good addition to the series which can easily be read as a standalone story.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.