The Limehouse Text (Barker & Llewelyn Series #3)

BRILLIANT!!!

I don't think I've ever wished more desperately for the next book in any series! I love these characters. They practically walk right off the page and into life. The stories are all geniusly plotted, revealing things about the characters as well as clues to the mystery. This is my favourite one of the series. Read them!

Great series

Wonderful mystery series. Just the right amount of humor and drama with a bit of historical fact thrown in. The characters are slowly developed in each book but it is possible to read them out of order.

There's a new sheriff in town.

Sherlock Holmes. Sam Spade. Cyrus Barker. Will Thomas has managed to put his Victorian enquiry agent alongside the heavyweights of mystery fiction. His predecessors might be a bit more established, but whatever Barker might lack in pedigree he more than makes up for in sheer force of persona. From his myriad tattoos, dark glasses, and equally shadowy past to his love of tea and his small dog, Barker wills himself from the page into three vivid dimensions in your imagination. The Limehouse Text brings Barker's Oriental past and his London present together in a clash of events and cultures that will determine the future of many. The author reveals much about his two main characters in his third, and best, novel of the series. Llewelyn finds that he is still very green, but grows in confidence and experience by the story's end. Barker, his strength and skills seemingly inexhaustible, goes to amazing lengths in the name of justice. Thomas' best work reaches beyond the confines of genre to offer widespread entertainment. Highly recommended.

Great series book

Will Thomas has certainly found his niche. Barker and Llewelyn. are at it again in Limehouse Text which is the third book in the series. This time, we get to find out a little more about Barker's first assistant Quong who Llewely replaced because Quong was killed. Limehouse is an area of London that's where the Chines live plus it's one of the most dangerous parts of London. The text referred to in the title was stolen from the Xi Jiang Monastery in the Jiangsu Province of China and was later brought aboard ship to London. The book is an instruction manual containing secret and highly dangerous martial arts techniques practiced in China, and if the volume should fall into the wrong hands, the consequences could be disastrous. An unknown assailant has already murdered several people in an attempt to get his hands on this prized work. And there are too many people to count looking for this text. A pawn ticket that was in the effects of Quong when he died may lead to this text. This was just a great book. I finished this one and then read the next two in the series. Unfortunately right now there aren't anymore to read for awhile. I look forward to the next one.

A reviewer

This was such a great book. I love Agatha Christie and this was a nice change of pace since the time period is a little different. Great mystery, great story, great characters. I really felt like I knew them & can't wait to read the other books by Will Thomas.

Will Thomas tops my list of historical mystery writers

Some Danger Involved, the first of the Cyrus Barker/Thomas Llewelyn partnership mystery series, caught me so pleasantly by surprise that I could hardly wait for the publication of his next book. For me, To Kingdom Come was slightly disappointing, yet it was still a good read. I retained my conviction in Will Thomas's very fine writing ability. Limehouse Text brought Thomas back up on his game. I found each page to be a pleasure better than chocolate. The unfolding lives--past histories and present exploits--of the main characters keeps a reader's interest growing. I am eagerly awaiting the next case of Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn!

terrific Victorian mystery

In 1885 Inspector Nevil Bainbridge visits enquiry agent Cyrus Barker holding a pawn ticket found sewed in a robe owned by the late Quong, who was Barker¿s assistant before Thomas Llewelyn. Confused as Quong had no secrets, but assuming his former assistant was just learning about western ways with trips to out of the way shops, Cyrus, Nevil and Thomas visit the pawn shop in the Chinatown Limehouse section of London. --- They learn the pawn store owner recently fell down a set of stairs and died, and someone broke into the shop. They retrieve a Chinese book so they next go to see Chinese cuisine Chef Ho for an interpretation of what they possess. He cautions them that the book is a sacred ¿hidden text of a boxing school¿ that should never have found its way to Europe. They soon learn first hand why Ho gave a ¿death touch¿ warning when several people, some willing to kill as Cyrus believes happened to the pawn shop owner and Quong, want to possess the book. --- THE LIMEHOUSE TEXT is a terrific Victorian mystery that pays homage to Holmes and Watson as did the two previous enquiry thrillers (see SOME DANGER INVOLVED and TO KINGDOM COME). The whodunit is fun though the killer seems obvious early on while readers will appreciate Cyrus¿s tour of 1880s Limehouse section where many Chinese expatriates lived. Sort of like a cross between Derek Flint (see movies IN LIKE FLINT and OUR MAN FLINT) and Holmes, readers especially the Baker Street Irregulars will enjoy Cyrus¿ latest escapades. --- Harriet Klausner

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.