The Black Hand

I thoroughly enjoy this series. The stories are told from Llewelyn’s point of view – as if he is writing the stories from much later in his life. Llewelyn is a bit sarcastic and his quips are thoroughly entertaining – though they just pass right over Barker’s head. I came into the series late and read from my entry point through all of the later books and I’m now trying to read all of the earlier books. I love the main characters – Barker & Llewelyn – and the secondary characters are intriguing and fun to know.

Barker and Llewelyn are called to the docks on the Thames because a body was found floating in a barrel. It turns out that is a practice used by the Sicilian Mafia and the body belongs to a man named Serafini who is show more an assassin. The Mafia in London? At least one of the Mafia wants to expand their territory and they have decided to start with the London docks. Apparently, it will be up to Barker and Llewelyn to find the villain and put a stop to his plans.

It seems the villain is one step ahead and has begun causing harm to those Barker cares about. Those who stand in the villain's way receive a note with a warning and a black hand – and that is soon followed by a violent death. The government wants Barker’s help to eliminate the threat, but they also have tied his hands with what he can and cannot do. Finding the villain and eliminating the threat will definitely stretch even Barker’s inimitable skills.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and cannot wait to get into some of the others I’ve missed. While the stories have a progression to them – as shown in the lives and relationships of Barker and Llewelyn – the mysteries and the meat of the stories can easily be read out of sequence. Sometimes it is even fun to be reading an earlier book and know what is going to happen several books down the line.

I can definitely recommend this book and this series. The writing is excellent with strong plots that are perfectly paced. The characters are unique, refreshing, interesting, and definitely not your run-of-the-mill supporting cast. Happy Reading!!! show less

As any reasonably serious reader knows, one of the disadvantages of having an author whose next release you're always anxiously awaiting is that once the new book comes out, you tend to devour it quickly. You savor the experience, but then, almost before you know it, are left asking, once again, "How long until the next one?"

That's the experience I'm having this morning after reading "The Black Hand" during evenings and travel times on an out-of-town trip. Can this really be the fifth Barker and Llewelyn mystery already? The characters continue to intrigue, Llewelyn particularly continues to mature as a person and as a character, and Will Thomas continues to impress not only with his research, but with his ability to take us deep into show more the economic and ethnic subcultures of 1880s London. Each of the Barker and Llewelyn novels have been an intriguing balance of the somewhat-familiar (late nineteenth century London, at a time when Sherlock Holmes is in the early stages of his own career) and the very unfamiliar (the worlds of the Irish, Chinese, Jewish, or in this case Italian urban underclass). Thomas' ability to maintain this balance is one of the remarkable features of the series.

For all its merit as a story of murder and mayhem (have the other books been quite as bloody as this one? I can't entirely recall), "The Black Hand" is a particularly noteworthy milestone in the relationship of our principal characters themselves. For one thing, we learn more about Barker the man and his mysterious background than in any volume since he was introduced. Llewelyn, for his part, is visibly maturing -- a fact Barker acknowledges in a way fans may find touching. As Barker becomes less of a man of mystery (if only slightly) and Llewelyn grows in confidence and ability, it suggests an interesting new dynamic for -- one hopes and assumes there will be -- later volumes.

Most of my review has been in the context of "The Black Hand" as part of a series, and that's certainly how it works best. But it also works well as a standalone murder mystery and I think fans of the genre will enjoy both the twists of the tale and the distinctive narrative viewpoint. As well, of course, as the author's ability to synthesize a huge amount of information into a convincing but not overwhelming level of period detail. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. show less

Will Thomas’ Barker & Llewellyn Victorian murder mystery series is beyond the shadow of a doubt, the best out there in the gaslight and cobblestone genre. And it seems that not only are the reading public fans saying this, but many very popular other mystery authors are touting it as well. With every installment the characters get more developed, the stories more intriguing and exciting. The author has an incredible talent of blending the ingredients of mystery, murder, action, adventure, history, ethnic culture, and humor, so well, that you simply can’t lose by picking up one of his books. And once you pick one up, you can’t put them down.

From the very first book in the series, Will Thomas creates a rather mysterious and elusive show more character for his lead hero, Cyrus Barker, who is rather a bit like Sherlock Holmes only more colorful, a lot more shady, and with more tricks up his sleeves. With each added novel in the series the author slowly gives us more and more tidbits of information on Barker’s past. Each book makes you more curious as to who he is, what he was in his past, and how his mind works while detecting London’s more difficult crimes. In the previous four books we the readers not only got great mysteries to unravel, but were allowed superb insight into various ethnic neighborhoods and inhabitants dwelling amongst London’ various members of both elite and gutter-life population. We’ve been introduced to the Jewish community, the Irish mob, the Chinese quarter and with this newest book Black Hand, the Italians and Sicilians who make up the organized criminals of the Mafia. I have learned many new facts and have been introduced to a lengthy menu of compelling information about daily life in Victorian London at this time while reading this series. One can’t help but wonder just what these books will teach us next.

I found this installment even better than the first four because the author finally throws us a bone, and sprinkles a few awaited crumbs of Barker’s past that we fans have been hungering for, yet still dangles threads not revealing all. Barker’s sidekick Thomas Llewellyn also gets a boost in Black Hand, finally getting to use his hard earned defensive training skills to kick some butt and to shine a little brighter in Barker’s black glassed eyes. As he hardens into his new life as Private Enquiry Agent, he gets tougher, smarter and sassier as he conquers his own demons of the past. As always, in the Barker & Llewellyn adventures, The Black Hand had a great deal of Some Danger Involved, a lot of mischief and mayhem, quite a lot of belly-laughing sarcastic humor, and a host of background regular characters that are quite loveable and unique in their own right. You will find yourself waiting for their arrivals as well, cheering the whole cast of players on as they band together to battle for good against evil. Checking the author’s website, I find he is hard at work penning book six leaving me with much anticipation, counting the days until it hits the press. The Black Hand was Fantastico! show less

With each mystery in this series, author Will Thomas explores another area of Victorian London. In The Black Hand, after the body of a well-known Italian assassin is found floating in a barrel in the Thames, we're taken to Clerkenwell. It seems that Sicily has grown too small and the Mafia is seeking to increase its territory by moving into London. The bodies begin to pile up, rival gangs are pitted against each other, and private enquiry agents Barker and Llewelyn have their hands full.

As always in this series, it is the characters and the setting that shine supreme. Barker is a mysterious Victorian version of James Bond, and his young assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, is the perfect callow foil to all his seriousness. Llewelyn talks us show more through the streets of Victorian London, tries to figure out his enigmatic boss, and never misses an opportunity to appreciate a pretty female. That Llewelyn genuinely wants to learn and be the best assistant to Barker that he can only adds to the story.

A bonus in The Black Hand is that we get to go on a short journey away from London and learn about the woman in Barker's life. There's so much testosterone and action in these books that the feminine touch felt like a lovely sea breeze through the pages. It also added another character about whom I want to know more!

As long as Will Thomas writes about his private enquiry agents, I will read their adventures. Thomas brings nineteenth-century London to life, his characters are interesting and fun, and the action keeps the pages turning quickly. If you're in the mood for some Victorian mystery and adventure, Will Thomas is an excellent author to try. show less

The Black Hand by Will Thomas. This series is another one of my favorites (I know. I’ve got lots of them, but really, it is). The setting of 1880s London would not be my first choice, but the characters are so good and the plots filled with such mystery and action that one has trouble putting the books down for any reason. In their fifth adventure, Cyrus Barker, a private enquiry agent, and Thomas Llewelyn, his apprentice, accept a commission from the Home Office to repel the attempts of the Mafia to enter the London underworld. The Sicilians are fighting with other Italians for control of the docks and have begun terrorizing other businesses around the city by following through on the threats described in their Black Hand notes. As show more is sometimes the case, Barker and Llewelyn find themselves working with both Scotland Yard and with various established criminals who want to see this even more dangerous foe sent back to Palermo and kept off English shores.
Barker was the son of a missionary and a one-time adventurer in China and it is this combination of East and West that makes him such an interesting character. He owns a prize Pekingese dog and is master of several martial arts, yet also attends the Baptist Tabernacle each week and voraciously reads the daily newspapers, ignoring all other light pastimes. He is quite stern with everyone around him, speaks only when necessary, and hides his expressions behind dark glasses. Yet the secondary characters he has surrounded himself with: the French chef Etienne Dummolard, the Jewish butler Jacob Maccabee, the office clerk Jeremy Jenkins and especially Llewelyn are all devoted to him. Even after five books, readers who think they know what to expect from him still find him mysterious. The author builds interest by introducing new facets of Barker’s background and current life in each tale. The current book finally brings followers of the series face-to-face with the woman in Barker’s life, previously only described as “the Widow,” in whose presence Barker’s personality undergoes quite a change.
Given the setting and the private investigations business in which Barker and Llewelyn are engaged, several critics have compared the pair to Holmes and Watson, but I have never felt that there was much similarity between Conan Doyle’s works and these stories. Holmes and Watson are by no means sedate, but the action here seems much more furious. Holmes relies heavily on his intellectual abilities to work out his challenging puzzles and frequently uses disguises to infiltrate criminal organizations and gather information whereas Barker seems to seek confrontations head on. I actually feel that Barker shares more in common with Boris Akunin’s mysterious Russian Erast Fandorin. The supporting characters are completely different as there is no mention of any Barker siblings like Mycroft Holmes and Dummolard, Maccabee and Jenkins cannot be compared to Mrs. Hudson. Further, Watson and Llewelyn are even more dissimilar as one is a trained doctor with military experience and seemingly happy with his medical career and the other is a convicted felon (with extenuating circumstances) training to become an investigator in the future.
One nice feature of each book that I wish were more common in others is the inclusion of a brief author interview at the end describing how the book came together and the research involved.

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Interesting installment of the Barker/Llewelyn private investigator series. This one dealt with the Mafia in Victorian London, something I never considered before. Looking forward to the next book.

The 5th installment in Will Thomas' Barker/Llewellyn series, The Black Hand tells how our heroes deal with an incursion into London by the Mafia. The series has been a favorite, and I thought this one was easily as good as the rest, both for the plot itself and for the new information revealed about Barker. The plotting was tight, the prose was outstanding, and the characters as real as ever. On top of everything else, I got to read it front-to-back on an airplane ride - a great way to pass the time!

Highly recommended, but those new to the series should start with the first one to get the full experience.