What do you think?
Rate this book
Barker & Llewelyn #3
The Limehouse Text
In The Limehouse Text, Barker and Llewelyn discover a pawn ticket among the effects of Barker's late assistant, leading them to London's Chinese district, Limehouse. There they retrieve an innocent-looking book that proves to be a rare and secret text stolen from a Nanking monastery, containing lethal martial arts techniques forbidden to the West. With the political situation between the British Empire and Imperial China already unstable, the duo must not only track down a killer intent upon gaining the secret knowledge but also safeguard the text from a snarl of suspects with conflicting interests.
Prowling through an underworld of opium dens, back-room blood sports, and sailors' penny hangs while avoiding the wrath of the district's powerful warlord, Mr. K'ing, Barker and Llewelyn take readers on a perilous tour through the mean streets of turn-of-the-century London.
Prowling through an underworld of opium dens, back-room blood sports, and sailors' penny hangs while avoiding the wrath of the district's powerful warlord, Mr. K'ing, Barker and Llewelyn take readers on a perilous tour through the mean streets of turn-of-the-century London.
337 pages, Paperback
First published July 4, 2006
103 people are currently reading
1180 people want to read
About the author
Will Thomas
52 books1,097 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Will Thomas, born 1958 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is a novelist who writes a Victorian mystery series featuring Cyrus Barker, a Scottish detective or "private enquiry agent," and his Welsh assistant, Thomas Llewelyn. The Barker/Llewelyn novels are set in the 1880s and often feature historical events, people, and movements. Martial combat is a recurring theme throughout this hardboiled series.
Prior to writing novels, Will Thomas wrote essays for Sherlock Holmes society publications and lectured on crime fiction of the Victorian era.
Will Thomas' first novel, Some Danger Involved, was nominated for a Barry Award and a Shamus Award, and won the 2005 Oklahoma Book Award. In 2015, he won the Oklahoma Book Award a second time for Fatal Enquiry. Will Thomas has been featured on the cover of Library Journal, and was the Toastmaster at the 2007 Great Manhattan Mystery Conclave in Manhattan, Kansas. His fifth novel, The Black Hand, was nominated for a 2009 Shamus Award. He is married to author Julia Bryan Thomas.
Series:
. Barker and Llewelyn
Will Thomas, born 1958 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is a novelist who writes a Victorian mystery series featuring Cyrus Barker, a Scottish detective or "private enquiry agent," and his Welsh assistant, Thomas Llewelyn. The Barker/Llewelyn novels are set in the 1880s and often feature historical events, people, and movements. Martial combat is a recurring theme throughout this hardboiled series.
Prior to writing novels, Will Thomas wrote essays for Sherlock Holmes society publications and lectured on crime fiction of the Victorian era.
Will Thomas' first novel, Some Danger Involved, was nominated for a Barry Award and a Shamus Award, and won the 2005 Oklahoma Book Award. In 2015, he won the Oklahoma Book Award a second time for Fatal Enquiry. Will Thomas has been featured on the cover of Library Journal, and was the Toastmaster at the 2007 Great Manhattan Mystery Conclave in Manhattan, Kansas. His fifth novel, The Black Hand, was nominated for a 2009 Shamus Award. He is married to author Julia Bryan Thomas.
Series:
. Barker and Llewelyn
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 298 reviews
August 3, 2023
Book 3 in this highly enjoyable series delves into the East End of London, specifically the Chinese community who live and work in the Limehouse area of the city. The text refers to a secret book that was removed from a temple in China and is now in London. The book deals with a secret martial arts technique know as "dim mak" which is a way you can touch a person very lightly that can cause either immediate or delayed death. This is a really fine effort and Barker and Llewelyn try to solve the murder of Barkers former assistant Quong, as well as what appears to be at least 6 other deaths that have resulted in London as the killer searches for this secretive text. From the foreign office to translators, to pawn shop owners and more there is a real host of people who have some interest in this text. Well researched and written, this is my favorite book in the series, granted I have only read 4 of the 14 books, but the characters are more fully developed, the plot is intricately designed and the solution is ingenious, both as to discovering the killer as well as locating the text! Give this a 4.5**** rating and look forward to more great books from Will Thomas!!
March 7, 2023
Review to follow
June 22, 2014
"The Limehouse Text" by Will Thomas is the third book in the series set in Victorian London featuring the eccentric and mysterious private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker and his young assistant Thomas Llewellyn. A new lead has been uncovered in the year-old murder of Barker's previous assistant Quong. A pawn ticket recently found in the dead man's effects by a police inspector leads them to London’s Chinese district of Limehouse where they find a small, nondescript book that turns out to be a secret Chinese text containing lethal martial arts techniques (including what is known as "dim mak" or the "death touch").
As Barker and Llewellyn investigate further, they discover a number of deaths are connected to the book's theft from a Nanking monastery, convincing the enquiry agent that a clever killer will stop at nothing to retrieve it. But Barker is determined to keep the book hidden from any and all who would misuse it, while fending off the killer and even Her Majesty's government.
Will Thomas is obviously well-versed in the history of Victorian London. Racism, classism and sexism are quite evident in that history, but Thomas plays against those prejudices, creating rich, diverse characters that are still appropriate to the time period, all the while showing parallels to conflicts that are still plaguing society in the present day, and hinting at the future to come. At the same time, the author has created a riveting mystery and is very good at keeping you guessing at not only the identity of the murderer, but also where did he hide that blasted book?
However, there are just a few missteps for anyone who decided to begin the series with this novel. It had been a while since I read "Some Danger Involved" and "To Kingdom Come," so I was a little fuzzy on some details, such as Barker's clerk Jennings. I don't recall reading any introduction that explained exactly who he is and his role in Barker's business, though it becomes apparent in subsequent chapters. Also, I had forgotten from the first two books that Barker's offices are at a separate location from his house, but again you figure it out if you keep reading.
Aside from those little bumps in the road, it was still a great read, and I'm looking forward to Will Thomas' next novel featuring the canny private enquiry agent (not "private detective," as Barker would be quick to point out) and his intrepid assistant.
My actor choices for a Barker and Llewellyn movie? Ciarán McMenamin (seen in UK productions like "Inspector Jericho," "Death in Paradise" and "Agatha Christie-Marple: What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw") as Llewellyn, though he's not as short as the assistant has been described. If I thought he could pull off a Welsh accent, I'd also vote for Jackie Earle Haley. As for Cyrus Barker, the big burly Scotsman who always wears dark spectacles that hide whether his origins are, as someone from his time period would say, Oriental or Occidental: Sean Connery (who else?).
As Barker and Llewellyn investigate further, they discover a number of deaths are connected to the book's theft from a Nanking monastery, convincing the enquiry agent that a clever killer will stop at nothing to retrieve it. But Barker is determined to keep the book hidden from any and all who would misuse it, while fending off the killer and even Her Majesty's government.
Will Thomas is obviously well-versed in the history of Victorian London. Racism, classism and sexism are quite evident in that history, but Thomas plays against those prejudices, creating rich, diverse characters that are still appropriate to the time period, all the while showing parallels to conflicts that are still plaguing society in the present day, and hinting at the future to come. At the same time, the author has created a riveting mystery and is very good at keeping you guessing at not only the identity of the murderer, but also where did he hide that blasted book?
However, there are just a few missteps for anyone who decided to begin the series with this novel. It had been a while since I read "Some Danger Involved" and "To Kingdom Come," so I was a little fuzzy on some details, such as Barker's clerk Jennings. I don't recall reading any introduction that explained exactly who he is and his role in Barker's business, though it becomes apparent in subsequent chapters. Also, I had forgotten from the first two books that Barker's offices are at a separate location from his house, but again you figure it out if you keep reading.
Aside from those little bumps in the road, it was still a great read, and I'm looking forward to Will Thomas' next novel featuring the canny private enquiry agent (not "private detective," as Barker would be quick to point out) and his intrepid assistant.
My actor choices for a Barker and Llewellyn movie? Ciarán McMenamin (seen in UK productions like "Inspector Jericho," "Death in Paradise" and "Agatha Christie-Marple: What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw") as Llewellyn, though he's not as short as the assistant has been described. If I thought he could pull off a Welsh accent, I'd also vote for Jackie Earle Haley. As for Cyrus Barker, the big burly Scotsman who always wears dark spectacles that hide whether his origins are, as someone from his time period would say, Oriental or Occidental: Sean Connery (who else?).
September 14, 2021
Like the last two books, I got exactly what I expected. I did not open it seeking a nuanced exploration of the characters as they exist in this world, a super surprising plot, or even something that stuck with me after I closed the page. I opened this book looking for something mildly entertaining that would let me escape for a couple of hours. This is what I got, with a big ol' slice of frustration after realizing that this author loves dropping in smokin' hot women with very little personality or depth to distract Llewelyn for approximately 40 pages (or so). They then fade into the night and do not play large roles in the books that follow. Stay tuned to see if Miss Petulengro breaks this cycle and actually does anything at all in the next book!
In the first book, it was a red flag. In the second book, it was perhaps a coincidence so I held onto hope that the author wouldn't pull a Dan Brown. But alas, the third time is the charm (or curse) and Will Thomas has chosen to morph this Llewelyn-with-a-hot-lady-every-book dynamic into a full-on Robert Langdon. Do you know what the switch-up was? This book had TWO OF THEM.
One could ask why I continue reading these books. Very valid question. The answer? I need a relatively entertaining mystery to plunge into at the moment and I have read through the bulk of my library's section. Recommendations would be appreciated.
In the first book, it was a red flag. In the second book, it was perhaps a coincidence so I held onto hope that the author wouldn't pull a Dan Brown. But alas, the third time is the charm (or curse) and Will Thomas has chosen to morph this Llewelyn-with-a-hot-lady-every-book dynamic into a full-on Robert Langdon. Do you know what the switch-up was? This book had TWO OF THEM.
One could ask why I continue reading these books. Very valid question. The answer? I need a relatively entertaining mystery to plunge into at the moment and I have read through the bulk of my library's section. Recommendations would be appreciated.
March 28, 2015
Third book in the series, third failure due to badly mangled characterizations. I LOVE the portrayal of the historical setting and the focus on inter/national intrigue (mystery novels tend to be so insular and it's refreshing to discover a series that is broader in scope)--BUT sadly, again, Thomas proves he just cannot write characters into being.
Barker is yet again Superman (he can defuse explosives and fool the Irish on their own turf, fight using Chinese and Japanese martial arts better than any Chinese-born and trained fighter, critically solve a problem quicker than any Scotland Yard detective, etc), while Llewelyn is still the bland cardboard silhouette with zero personality. The dialogue is again stilted and unnatural, and the mystery is terrible.
Barker is yet again Superman (he can defuse explosives and fool the Irish on their own turf, fight using Chinese and Japanese martial arts better than any Chinese-born and trained fighter, critically solve a problem quicker than any Scotland Yard detective, etc), while Llewelyn is still the bland cardboard silhouette with zero personality. The dialogue is again stilted and unnatural, and the mystery is terrible.
January 14, 2018
A book, a ticket and total immersion in the Chinese district of London has Barker and Llewelyn on a path that could end up in one or both of them disappearing forever. Third in the series, the characters are developing quite the relationship and reputation for attracting trouble, from both the seedy element and the police who feel encroached upon by their methods.
No harm no fouls doesn’t seem to apply as far as these two are concerned.
No harm no fouls doesn’t seem to apply as far as these two are concerned.
October 18, 2022
Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.
--------last line of film Chinatown
Limehouse was the home of many of the Chinese people living in England in the 1880s when this book is set. This is the story of two English detectives investigating crimes - including murders - in Limehouse. But they aren't really English: the senior of them, Cyrus Barker, is Scottish; the younger, Thomas Llewelyn, who narrates the story, is Welsh. And Barker consistently refuses to be identified as a "detective"; he considers them to be "private enquiry agents."
This is the third book in this series, which as I write this in 2022 has now reached thirteen volumes, with another scheduled for publication in 2023. The Limehouse Text is the only book in the series that I have read.
Series stories may simply place the same characters in more than one set of circumstances, with those characters remaining more or less the same in each individual book, or the characters may change and develop over the course of the series. It appears that the Barker and Llewelyn stories are following the latter path. The author must decide how much background material to include in each subsequent book. Will Thomas, the author of this series, appears to have decided not to repeat developments from earlier books, which is fine, except that I was frequently somewhat lost. The reader is told that young Llewelyn is a widower who has been in prison and has now become an associate of the master enquiry agent Cyrus Barker, but I have no idea how this has occurred. I know that repeating expository material from earlier books might be dull for readers already familiar with that material, but I think that some more of this would be helpful for new readers.
Barker's former assistant, Quong, had been murdered some time before this tale takes place. Neither the police nor Barker himself have been able to find the identity of the killer. As this story begins, the police seek the help of Barker and Llewelyn to redeem an item that Quong pawned shortly before his death. This is a book, written in Chinese. Barker, who has lived in China, has no trouble reading the book. It is marked as the property of a monastery in China. It proves to be a combination of instructions in martial arts and in a kind of magic. It has instructions for killing a person with a mere touch by inducing kidney failure.
Shortly after getting possession of the book, Barker, Llewelyn, and the police are attacked. One person is killed, but they still retain the book. Many people want to get it: criminals, police officers, the Foreign Office. Barker soon tells people that he no longer has the book; he says that he has given it to "a Chinaman," but refuses to disclose the man's identity.
Much violence and more killings ensue. Both Barker and Llewelyn suffer physical harm. Llewelyn makes the acquaintance of two young women, one a Gypsy, the other Chinese. One of their opponents is the dreaded Mr. K'ing, reputed to be a criminal mastermind. (I assume that "K'ing" is not simply pronounced "King"; my guess is that it would be something like "Kuh-ing.")
At the end of the story, Barker summons all the principal possible murderers to a meeting, at which he will reveal all. This is very much in the spirit of similar scenes in other mysteries, both in print and in films.
Two peripheral points:
One of the characters making a rather brief appearance is Israel Zangwill. He clearly appeared in earlier parts of the series as well. Zangwill was a real person, who either came up with or popularized the description of the United States as a "melting pot," in which people from the world over were commingled.
The woman referred to as a Gypsy formerly worked in a match factory. I recall from high-school chemistry that this work was not only difficult, it was extremely dangerous. The following is from Wikipedia:
By 1858, detailed medical reports of a disease involving the slow progression of exposed jaw bone started to appear. Phosphorus necrosis of the jaw, commonly called ‘phossy jaw’, was a really horrible disease and overwhelmingly a disease of the poor. Workers in match factories developed unbearable abscesses in their mouths, leading to facial disfigurement and sometimes fatal brain damage. In addition, the gums developed an eerie greenish white ‘glow’ in the dark.
I don't think that this is particularly good as a mystery novel. It is rather too complex, and it really can not be solved without information that the reader does not have. Barker's near superhuman powers are hard to accept.
But as a portrait of life in a part of England at that time, this is more successful. I have no idea how accurate the details of life for the Chinese population of Limehouse might be, but I found it convincing. The complex relationship between the young Chinese woman, Bok Fu Ying, and the character Da Mo is especially interesting.
This is an acceptable historical thriller, but I doubt that I will seek out other books in the series.
--------last line of film Chinatown
Limehouse was the home of many of the Chinese people living in England in the 1880s when this book is set. This is the story of two English detectives investigating crimes - including murders - in Limehouse. But they aren't really English: the senior of them, Cyrus Barker, is Scottish; the younger, Thomas Llewelyn, who narrates the story, is Welsh. And Barker consistently refuses to be identified as a "detective"; he considers them to be "private enquiry agents."
This is the third book in this series, which as I write this in 2022 has now reached thirteen volumes, with another scheduled for publication in 2023. The Limehouse Text is the only book in the series that I have read.
Series stories may simply place the same characters in more than one set of circumstances, with those characters remaining more or less the same in each individual book, or the characters may change and develop over the course of the series. It appears that the Barker and Llewelyn stories are following the latter path. The author must decide how much background material to include in each subsequent book. Will Thomas, the author of this series, appears to have decided not to repeat developments from earlier books, which is fine, except that I was frequently somewhat lost. The reader is told that young Llewelyn is a widower who has been in prison and has now become an associate of the master enquiry agent Cyrus Barker, but I have no idea how this has occurred. I know that repeating expository material from earlier books might be dull for readers already familiar with that material, but I think that some more of this would be helpful for new readers.
Barker's former assistant, Quong, had been murdered some time before this tale takes place. Neither the police nor Barker himself have been able to find the identity of the killer. As this story begins, the police seek the help of Barker and Llewelyn to redeem an item that Quong pawned shortly before his death. This is a book, written in Chinese. Barker, who has lived in China, has no trouble reading the book. It is marked as the property of a monastery in China. It proves to be a combination of instructions in martial arts and in a kind of magic. It has instructions for killing a person with a mere touch by inducing kidney failure.
Shortly after getting possession of the book, Barker, Llewelyn, and the police are attacked. One person is killed, but they still retain the book. Many people want to get it: criminals, police officers, the Foreign Office. Barker soon tells people that he no longer has the book; he says that he has given it to "a Chinaman," but refuses to disclose the man's identity.
Much violence and more killings ensue. Both Barker and Llewelyn suffer physical harm. Llewelyn makes the acquaintance of two young women, one a Gypsy, the other Chinese. One of their opponents is the dreaded Mr. K'ing, reputed to be a criminal mastermind. (I assume that "K'ing" is not simply pronounced "King"; my guess is that it would be something like "Kuh-ing.")
At the end of the story, Barker summons all the principal possible murderers to a meeting, at which he will reveal all. This is very much in the spirit of similar scenes in other mysteries, both in print and in films.
Two peripheral points:
One of the characters making a rather brief appearance is Israel Zangwill. He clearly appeared in earlier parts of the series as well. Zangwill was a real person, who either came up with or popularized the description of the United States as a "melting pot," in which people from the world over were commingled.
The woman referred to as a Gypsy formerly worked in a match factory. I recall from high-school chemistry that this work was not only difficult, it was extremely dangerous. The following is from Wikipedia:
By 1858, detailed medical reports of a disease involving the slow progression of exposed jaw bone started to appear. Phosphorus necrosis of the jaw, commonly called ‘phossy jaw’, was a really horrible disease and overwhelmingly a disease of the poor. Workers in match factories developed unbearable abscesses in their mouths, leading to facial disfigurement and sometimes fatal brain damage. In addition, the gums developed an eerie greenish white ‘glow’ in the dark.
I don't think that this is particularly good as a mystery novel. It is rather too complex, and it really can not be solved without information that the reader does not have. Barker's near superhuman powers are hard to accept.
But as a portrait of life in a part of England at that time, this is more successful. I have no idea how accurate the details of life for the Chinese population of Limehouse might be, but I found it convincing. The complex relationship between the young Chinese woman, Bok Fu Ying, and the character Da Mo is especially interesting.
This is an acceptable historical thriller, but I doubt that I will seek out other books in the series.
October 27, 2023
Each time I begin a Barker & Llewelyn novel, I'm reminded of just how fun they are.
"We must play the hand we are dealt. It's a waste of time to blame the dealer."
One of many phrases of wisdom from Cyrus Barker, Victorian London Inquiry Agent.
Love the enigma that is Cyrus Barker; born a Scot but forged in the Orient.
Thomas Llewelyn his brave, willing, a little naïve, apprentice is a great companion.
I highly recommend these adventurous tales to lovers of Fictional Historical Murder Mysteries.
"We must play the hand we are dealt. It's a waste of time to blame the dealer."
One of many phrases of wisdom from Cyrus Barker, Victorian London Inquiry Agent.
Love the enigma that is Cyrus Barker; born a Scot but forged in the Orient.
Thomas Llewelyn his brave, willing, a little naïve, apprentice is a great companion.
I highly recommend these adventurous tales to lovers of Fictional Historical Murder Mysteries.
January 31, 2019
3.5 stars round up worthy for character appeal.
July 4, 2018
This feels like the end of the beginning as far as the story goes... we got alot more background on Barker, though in alot of ways the answers led to more questions. I'm thinking at some point they'll get around to the mystery of where he gets his Bruce Wayne-like fortune, too.
And yes, I've decided that this is much more analagous to Batman and Robin in Victorian times... there's even a potential Batgirl in this one.
Plot and action wise, the story was definitely the best of the 3 so far, with some great action, an intriguing mystery, and some really great new characters.
The only down side was the overplaying of the Chinese stereotypes. On the one hand, I get it, through Llewelyn's eyes, he's going to see those, and through the story you can see the parts that are his prejudices, but it's REALLY exaggerated in this one.. to the point where it almost loses the historical realism. As Llewelyn himself says at the end of the story, I hope we move on and don't see them for a story or two.
The food focus has been straightened out, which is good, so it can add to the mood without being annoying. I'm looking forward to see where the story goes next.
And yes, I've decided that this is much more analagous to Batman and Robin in Victorian times... there's even a potential Batgirl in this one.
Plot and action wise, the story was definitely the best of the 3 so far, with some great action, an intriguing mystery, and some really great new characters.
The only down side was the overplaying of the Chinese stereotypes. On the one hand, I get it, through Llewelyn's eyes, he's going to see those, and through the story you can see the parts that are his prejudices, but it's REALLY exaggerated in this one.. to the point where it almost loses the historical realism. As Llewelyn himself says at the end of the story, I hope we move on and don't see them for a story or two.
The food focus has been straightened out, which is good, so it can add to the mood without being annoying. I'm looking forward to see where the story goes next.
November 8, 2015
Good read, but not the best of the ones I've read so far.
Readable, and enjoyable, but not as much as "Some Danger Involved" for example.
Readable, and enjoyable, but not as much as "Some Danger Involved" for example.
November 15, 2022
Entertaining crime novel with some history thrown in for modern readers.
July 6, 2017
Age recommendation: 16 and up (depending on your maturity level)
Rating System: 1-10, 1 being the lowest, 10 being the highest.
Profanity: 4/10
Words:
Blast/Blasted: 11 times
Bloody: 9 times
Drat: 3 times
Confound: 3 times
Damn: 2 times
What in blazes: 1 time
What the deuce: 1 time
Language wise, it is relatively clean. The main characters almost never swear, with the worst they do being “blast” “confound it” and “what the deuce”. Other supporting characters occasionally use a word such as “bloody”, which is popular in England as a filler word for worst things. The author has shown, with this being book #3, that nothing worse than the words mentioned will be in his books. If there are any more exploits, it is said that “the person swore.”
Sexual: 2/10
Situations:
Someone implies that a young man has been out romancing girls (in a clean way) while his employer has been ill.
A young man takes a young woman out to dinner to retrieve information from her.
A young woman kisses a young man on the lips. (1 time)
There are a couple mentions of women looking good in the clothes they wore. Nothing inappropriate.
Two of the lesser supporting characters (male and female) are mentioned living together as a “common law married couple.”
Eunuchs are discussed briefly; there is a “quick cutting gesture”.
Not much romance or inappropriate situations in this one. One of the main characters is a young man who, throughout the series, seems to fall for beautiful women rather easily. There is nothing really unclean about his thoughts, however, and his end goal is always marriage. It would be somewhat of a spoiler to say if the relationships (or wished-for relationships) work out or not.
As usual, this series has and discusses many historical facts, with the “common law marriages” being one of them. Often the poorer classes of people did not have a way (or enough money) to get a real marriage license as thus they would merely move in together and call it a “common law marriage.” This is mentioned a couple times in the book.
Violence: 5/10
Situations:
There are many. Martial arts are a large part of this series, with both of the main characters getting into scrapes with people would like to see them dead.
There are not any over-the-top details of gore or death, but enough for the reader to understand what happened.
A young woman attacks a young man in hand-to-hand combat and he is forced to fight back (despite his normal gentleness and chivalrousness with women).
Both of the main characters have guns and knives hidden in their clothes for protection.
A man’s shoulder gets dislocated.
There is a hand-to-hand fight in which some bones get broken or out of joint (in both parties).
For a cleanness level, think the original Sherlock Holmes books. The reason I gave it a 5/10 is because there is a good bit of fighting or fighting practice (or talking about fighting). Blood is seen on the floor, on clothes, etc, but there’s not really any gory details.
Positive Elements:
The series is seen through a perspective of “evil is evil, and good is good”.
The characters go to church on Sunday. The main character is a strong but quiet Baptist.
Other religions are mentioned and occasionally discussed (not unkindly) throughout the series, but through mindset of the main character’s biblical beliefs.
Storyline:
Thomas Llewellyn, assistant to private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker, always seems to get himself into scrapes. As his employer says, patience is a weakness for him. But for every mistake he’s making, he’s learning from it for the next time. Sometimes, though, he really hopes there’s no next time.
The case that Cyrus Barker takes upon himself this time spans back to before Llewellyn had ever met him. His first assistant, a young Chinese man named Quong, was mysteriously killed when he was on a seemingly unimportant assignment from Barker. Now, for over a year, the question of his death has been brewing in his mind, and the police are just as baffled as he is.
Suddenly, out of the gray mist of a February day, a police inspector shows up on their doorstep with a newly uncovered lead: Quong sold something to a pawnshop before he died. Together, Barker and Llewellyn go to investigate, and thus the adventure begins.
Humor, mystery, culture, history, lovable characters, and did I mention humor? If you like dry, cheeky sarcasm, you’ll like Barker and Llewellyn. They’re great business partners, and it is so fun to watch them grow from student and mentor to close friends.
I really liked the first two books in this series, but this one raised the bar. It jumped right into the action (which at first I was unsure of, but it worked out), and pulled you along through all the muck and mire of a wintery London. I was guessing all the way, but like Llewellyn, I felt like I had a missing gland in my brain that made me unable to make any helpful deductions.
For each new character I meet, young or old, historical or fiction (because believe or not, there’s a lot of real people that feature in this series), I became more interested. What will happen to her? I thought, or Oh, I hope he comes back into the series later, he’s really cool! The author has done a great job of pulling you into the 1880s and making you care about the people there.
In conclusion, I have really like these books so far. It’s good coming of age series---not really for the characters, but for the reader. Along with the mystery and fiction, it opens you up to real-life history, crime, culture, and learning---and through the eyes of moral, christian characters. Not something you find everyday.
Rating System: 1-10, 1 being the lowest, 10 being the highest.
Profanity: 4/10
Words:
Blast/Blasted: 11 times
Bloody: 9 times
Drat: 3 times
Confound: 3 times
Damn: 2 times
What in blazes: 1 time
What the deuce: 1 time
Language wise, it is relatively clean. The main characters almost never swear, with the worst they do being “blast” “confound it” and “what the deuce”. Other supporting characters occasionally use a word such as “bloody”, which is popular in England as a filler word for worst things. The author has shown, with this being book #3, that nothing worse than the words mentioned will be in his books. If there are any more exploits, it is said that “the person swore.”
Sexual: 2/10
Situations:
Someone implies that a young man has been out romancing girls (in a clean way) while his employer has been ill.
A young man takes a young woman out to dinner to retrieve information from her.
A young woman kisses a young man on the lips. (1 time)
There are a couple mentions of women looking good in the clothes they wore. Nothing inappropriate.
Two of the lesser supporting characters (male and female) are mentioned living together as a “common law married couple.”
Eunuchs are discussed briefly; there is a “quick cutting gesture”.
Not much romance or inappropriate situations in this one. One of the main characters is a young man who, throughout the series, seems to fall for beautiful women rather easily. There is nothing really unclean about his thoughts, however, and his end goal is always marriage. It would be somewhat of a spoiler to say if the relationships (or wished-for relationships) work out or not.
As usual, this series has and discusses many historical facts, with the “common law marriages” being one of them. Often the poorer classes of people did not have a way (or enough money) to get a real marriage license as thus they would merely move in together and call it a “common law marriage.” This is mentioned a couple times in the book.
Violence: 5/10
Situations:
There are many. Martial arts are a large part of this series, with both of the main characters getting into scrapes with people would like to see them dead.
There are not any over-the-top details of gore or death, but enough for the reader to understand what happened.
A young woman attacks a young man in hand-to-hand combat and he is forced to fight back (despite his normal gentleness and chivalrousness with women).
Both of the main characters have guns and knives hidden in their clothes for protection.
A man’s shoulder gets dislocated.
There is a hand-to-hand fight in which some bones get broken or out of joint (in both parties).
For a cleanness level, think the original Sherlock Holmes books. The reason I gave it a 5/10 is because there is a good bit of fighting or fighting practice (or talking about fighting). Blood is seen on the floor, on clothes, etc, but there’s not really any gory details.
Positive Elements:
The series is seen through a perspective of “evil is evil, and good is good”.
The characters go to church on Sunday. The main character is a strong but quiet Baptist.
Other religions are mentioned and occasionally discussed (not unkindly) throughout the series, but through mindset of the main character’s biblical beliefs.
Storyline:
Thomas Llewellyn, assistant to private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker, always seems to get himself into scrapes. As his employer says, patience is a weakness for him. But for every mistake he’s making, he’s learning from it for the next time. Sometimes, though, he really hopes there’s no next time.
The case that Cyrus Barker takes upon himself this time spans back to before Llewellyn had ever met him. His first assistant, a young Chinese man named Quong, was mysteriously killed when he was on a seemingly unimportant assignment from Barker. Now, for over a year, the question of his death has been brewing in his mind, and the police are just as baffled as he is.
Suddenly, out of the gray mist of a February day, a police inspector shows up on their doorstep with a newly uncovered lead: Quong sold something to a pawnshop before he died. Together, Barker and Llewellyn go to investigate, and thus the adventure begins.
Humor, mystery, culture, history, lovable characters, and did I mention humor? If you like dry, cheeky sarcasm, you’ll like Barker and Llewellyn. They’re great business partners, and it is so fun to watch them grow from student and mentor to close friends.
I really liked the first two books in this series, but this one raised the bar. It jumped right into the action (which at first I was unsure of, but it worked out), and pulled you along through all the muck and mire of a wintery London. I was guessing all the way, but like Llewellyn, I felt like I had a missing gland in my brain that made me unable to make any helpful deductions.
For each new character I meet, young or old, historical or fiction (because believe or not, there’s a lot of real people that feature in this series), I became more interested. What will happen to her? I thought, or Oh, I hope he comes back into the series later, he’s really cool! The author has done a great job of pulling you into the 1880s and making you care about the people there.
In conclusion, I have really like these books so far. It’s good coming of age series---not really for the characters, but for the reader. Along with the mystery and fiction, it opens you up to real-life history, crime, culture, and learning---and through the eyes of moral, christian characters. Not something you find everyday.
April 6, 2024
Number three in the series and another cracking story about Private Investigator Cyrus Barker and his assistant Thomas Llewelyn.
Set in Victorian London one can't help but draw parallels with Sherlock Holmes. Barker is very much a Holmes but apart from being the narrator Llewelyn and Watson are poles apart.
Telling the story through Llewelyn we see only what he sees of an investigation and we have to wait till the final gathering of all the suspects to find out what has been going on in Barkers mind.
I suppose that this story starts some years ago with the unsolved murder of Barkers previous assistant. It continues when the Police Officer still looking into the case finds a pawnshop ticket hidden in the deceaseds clothes.
That is where the mystery and further murders begin.
I was looking for something different from the present day cozy who-done-its and this certainly fitted the bill. There were scenes of violence and although the bare knuckle fight was descibed in detail, it didn't go too far.
All characters were well described and the scenes of London in that era brought to life so well.
There was some humour here but not particularly laugh out loud, more a smug, knowing smile kind.
The first of this series gave great insight into the Jewish community in London at the time. The second was about the Irish and this was about the Chinese. What will the 4th teach me about?
Maybe it was because it was a bit different or the story was brought alive so well but I really enjoyed this so much so that I may move straight onto the next.
Set in Victorian London one can't help but draw parallels with Sherlock Holmes. Barker is very much a Holmes but apart from being the narrator Llewelyn and Watson are poles apart.
Telling the story through Llewelyn we see only what he sees of an investigation and we have to wait till the final gathering of all the suspects to find out what has been going on in Barkers mind.
I suppose that this story starts some years ago with the unsolved murder of Barkers previous assistant. It continues when the Police Officer still looking into the case finds a pawnshop ticket hidden in the deceaseds clothes.
That is where the mystery and further murders begin.
I was looking for something different from the present day cozy who-done-its and this certainly fitted the bill. There were scenes of violence and although the bare knuckle fight was descibed in detail, it didn't go too far.
All characters were well described and the scenes of London in that era brought to life so well.
There was some humour here but not particularly laugh out loud, more a smug, knowing smile kind.
The first of this series gave great insight into the Jewish community in London at the time. The second was about the Irish and this was about the Chinese. What will the 4th teach me about?
Maybe it was because it was a bit different or the story was brought alive so well but I really enjoyed this so much so that I may move straight onto the next.
April 23, 2017
Another excellent investigation by Barker and Llewelyn.
This adventure focused on the 500 or so Chinese living in London and a mysterious book.
A lot of interesting characters and an intricate plot.
I borrowed a copy from the public library.
This adventure focused on the 500 or so Chinese living in London and a mysterious book.
A lot of interesting characters and an intricate plot.
I borrowed a copy from the public library.
October 11, 2019
Discovering a pawn ticket that leads them to London's Chinatown district, Victorian enquiry agent Cyrus Barker and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, retrieve a seemingly innocuous book that turns out be a rare stolen text containing martial arts secrets that are forbidden to the West.
July 7, 2021
Llewelyn is still a moron.
I’m getting pretty bored that there’s been three different girls he likes in three different books so far. Like, if I was busy not dying I don’t think I would take the time to notice that some random girl possibly involved with said enemies was pretty or not.
I’m getting pretty bored that there’s been three different girls he likes in three different books so far. Like, if I was busy not dying I don’t think I would take the time to notice that some random girl possibly involved with said enemies was pretty or not.
January 21, 2019
Another good book for this series. I am enjoying the interplay between our two main characters more and more, and the mysteries are quite elaborate and well-written. Looking forward to book 4
June 11, 2020
The book was very good, the character Pemmu was the most interesting and compelling.
June 26, 2020
My, that Barker is an amazing person. He's larger than life, but it's fun to read his adventures.
April 19, 2025
I really like this series. The author sketches the characters so that you see them, like them, and look forward to the next book.
July 18, 2025
"The Limehouse Text" - written by Will Thomas and published in 2006 by Touchstone, Simon & Schuster. It's 1885 in London, and private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker and his assistant Thomas Llewelyn need to immerse themselves in the local Chinese community, Limehouse, to find a killer. I felt strong vibes of Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie while reading this third in the series - the relationship between the duo, the silent musings of the eccentric boss resulting in an unexpected culprit, the special food offerings, et al. Overall this one fell a little flat for me - meandering and not very exciting. There are 13 more in this series.
August 29, 2022
Terrific audiobook! For lovers of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie, Barker and Llewelyn can’t be beat.
January 14, 2024
Great series.
January 6, 2024
The Limehouse Text sees our erstwhile duo attempting to solve the murder of Barker's previous assistant, IE, Llewelyn's predecessor. This involves them going into the Chinese territory of Limehouse and attempting to keep a sacred text out of the hands of people who would use it for harm or financial gain.
The premise is a tad out there, with the book teaching a Chinese way of fighting to hit people in a certain way that they could die instantly or hours later and without a mark. However, I found it more engrossing than the previous novel with the Irish nationalists, and I also thought it helped to utilise Barker's background and affinity for the Chinese and their culture.
One small quibble: the author repeats himself now and again; for example, at one point Llewelyn thinks about how one character must have anticipated Barker's reaction, and then a little bit later he says the same thing.
One HUGE quibble: to quote Barker, "Things are working out to your satisfaction, I am sure. All you need to do is snap your fingers and there is a young lady at hand to romance." These women stumble and trip over themselves to be at Llewelyn's side, no matter how fiery or demure they are, or if they have a common law husband (spoiler!) or not. And Llewelyn waxes poetic on their beauty and is in agony or enraged if other people even so much as converse with Romance A, but then can turn around and be in raptures over Romance B in the same instant. I think maybe it's supposed to be lighthearted, or fun, but it's so irritating. And the one romance remarked how he was heartbroken by his wife--where's the evidence for that? At this point, she's been dead two years, he knew her a handful of months, he forgot the anniversary of her death, and he's been head over heels "in love" or interested in at least four different women in the interim. I can't imagine his dead wife factors into his thoughts at all even a tiny bit.
Also, I've noticed with Llewelyn that if a woman is pretty or sexy and young, he's the image of a gentleman, falling over himself to be polite and offering them whatever they may need. But if they're older and unattractive, he's rude in thought or in manner. To one widow he idly thinks how she may have been beautiful at one point, but poverty, grief, motherhood, and aging has turned her looks. About another widow (at her husband's funeral!), he thinks how ugly she is and then later when Barker remarks about how her husband's actions were "not a pretty thing", Llewelyn manages to restrain himself from saying she wasn't pretty either. It just doesn't make for a narrator I enjoy embarking on a journey alongside, when a woman's only recommendation is her looks.
Llewelyn just wasn't very sympathetic in this book; I rolled my eyes every time he moaned about how uncomfortable he was in his cast because he CAUSED all of it. As he said at the beginning of the book, it's ALL his fault and it all boils down to him needing to staple his dick to his leg or SOMETHING.
So, yeah. I can't give this three and a half stars because even though it was more interesting in my opinion than the last one, Llewelyn was fully insufferable in this one. And the mystery wasn't really a proper mystery, because clues were hidden from us, although I enjoyed the whole "gather everyone and reveal it" set up, and also how there was still a twist even after the subject was collared. I'm just interested in Barker, to be honest. He's a fascinating character. I also like the turn of phrase the author has with description of people and place, and I LIKE the food descriptions, thank you VERY much.
The premise is a tad out there, with the book teaching a Chinese way of fighting to hit people in a certain way that they could die instantly or hours later and without a mark. However, I found it more engrossing than the previous novel with the Irish nationalists, and I also thought it helped to utilise Barker's background and affinity for the Chinese and their culture.
One small quibble: the author repeats himself now and again; for example, at one point Llewelyn thinks about how one character must have anticipated Barker's reaction, and then a little bit later he says the same thing.
One HUGE quibble: to quote Barker, "Things are working out to your satisfaction, I am sure. All you need to do is snap your fingers and there is a young lady at hand to romance." These women stumble and trip over themselves to be at Llewelyn's side, no matter how fiery or demure they are, or if they have a common law husband (spoiler!) or not. And Llewelyn waxes poetic on their beauty and is in agony or enraged if other people even so much as converse with Romance A, but then can turn around and be in raptures over Romance B in the same instant. I think maybe it's supposed to be lighthearted, or fun, but it's so irritating. And the one romance remarked how he was heartbroken by his wife--where's the evidence for that? At this point, she's been dead two years, he knew her a handful of months, he forgot the anniversary of her death, and he's been head over heels "in love" or interested in at least four different women in the interim. I can't imagine his dead wife factors into his thoughts at all even a tiny bit.
Also, I've noticed with Llewelyn that if a woman is pretty or sexy and young, he's the image of a gentleman, falling over himself to be polite and offering them whatever they may need. But if they're older and unattractive, he's rude in thought or in manner. To one widow he idly thinks how she may have been beautiful at one point, but poverty, grief, motherhood, and aging has turned her looks. About another widow (at her husband's funeral!), he thinks how ugly she is and then later when Barker remarks about how her husband's actions were "not a pretty thing", Llewelyn manages to restrain himself from saying she wasn't pretty either. It just doesn't make for a narrator I enjoy embarking on a journey alongside, when a woman's only recommendation is her looks.
Llewelyn just wasn't very sympathetic in this book; I rolled my eyes every time he moaned about how uncomfortable he was in his cast because he CAUSED all of it. As he said at the beginning of the book, it's ALL his fault and it all boils down to him needing to staple his dick to his leg or SOMETHING.
So, yeah. I can't give this three and a half stars because even though it was more interesting in my opinion than the last one, Llewelyn was fully insufferable in this one. And the mystery wasn't really a proper mystery, because clues were hidden from us, although I enjoyed the whole "gather everyone and reveal it" set up, and also how there was still a twist even after the subject was collared. I'm just interested in Barker, to be honest. He's a fascinating character. I also like the turn of phrase the author has with description of people and place, and I LIKE the food descriptions, thank you VERY much.
April 18, 2016
In The Limehouse Text (2006), the third installment of Will Thomas's historical mystery series set during the Victorian era, it has been over a year since Cyrus Barker's first assistant Quong was murdered and still no clue has been found by either Scotland Yard or Barker to lead them to his killer. But then Inspector Bainbridge, the man originally assigned to the case, decides to go through the man's effects one more time to see if he can glean anything new and he finds a pawn ticket stub tucked into the sleeve of the Chinese man's tunic.
That pawn ticket, when redeemed by Barker produces a rare and secret text stolen from a Nanking monastery. The book contains instructions pertaining to a lethal form of martial arts forbidden to the West. And, when Bainbridge is killed in a manner similar to Quong, it becomes apparent that someone is willing to kill to get their hands on that text. Added to the urgency surrounding the matter is the uneasy political situation between the British Empire and Imperial China and the case draws the attention of the Foreign Office. Barker and his current assistant Llewelyn must track down the killer and also keep the book safe from a host of suspects--all of whom have an interest in the text. Their quest will take them through opium dens, to illegal boxing matches, and nearly end when Barker must prove himself through mortal combat at the behest of the district's warlord, Mr. K'ing. It will take more than fancy footwork and martial art skill to finally bring the crime home to the correct villain and see the text delivered safely to the rightful owners, but Barker comes through.
Thomas continues to expand on this new look at the Holmes and Watson/Wolfe and Goodwin detective team. Lots more action than most of the Holmes stories and Barker is far more mobile and physically involved than Nero Wolfe generally is. And I continue to enjoy the characters. They are very interesting and I particularly like the interaction between Barker and Llewelyn. They have the chemistry necessary to create a duo to follow in such auspicious footsteps. In the first book, we learned a lot about Llewelyn's background, but even with the bits and pieces we've been given along the way and a quite substantial chunk revealed in this latest outing, there is still plenty to be revealed about his employer. The other members of Barker's staff from Mac the butler and general factotum to Dummolard, his French chef, are also well-drawn.
Each of Thomas's books tends to focus on a particular group or historical moment from the era. This time we are immersed in the area of Limehouse and the Chinese population that lives there. I enjoyed the historical information that Thomas works into the narrative. I appreciate learning something when I pick up a historical novel without being beaten over the head with scholarship. Thomas weaves knowledge about the Chinese in England into the story without overburdening it and also teaches us a bit about the illegal boxing matches and martial arts without treating the material as info dumps. A very detailed and entertaining historical series that is well worth your time. ★★★ and a half. Rounded to four here.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
That pawn ticket, when redeemed by Barker produces a rare and secret text stolen from a Nanking monastery. The book contains instructions pertaining to a lethal form of martial arts forbidden to the West. And, when Bainbridge is killed in a manner similar to Quong, it becomes apparent that someone is willing to kill to get their hands on that text. Added to the urgency surrounding the matter is the uneasy political situation between the British Empire and Imperial China and the case draws the attention of the Foreign Office. Barker and his current assistant Llewelyn must track down the killer and also keep the book safe from a host of suspects--all of whom have an interest in the text. Their quest will take them through opium dens, to illegal boxing matches, and nearly end when Barker must prove himself through mortal combat at the behest of the district's warlord, Mr. K'ing. It will take more than fancy footwork and martial art skill to finally bring the crime home to the correct villain and see the text delivered safely to the rightful owners, but Barker comes through.
Thomas continues to expand on this new look at the Holmes and Watson/Wolfe and Goodwin detective team. Lots more action than most of the Holmes stories and Barker is far more mobile and physically involved than Nero Wolfe generally is. And I continue to enjoy the characters. They are very interesting and I particularly like the interaction between Barker and Llewelyn. They have the chemistry necessary to create a duo to follow in such auspicious footsteps. In the first book, we learned a lot about Llewelyn's background, but even with the bits and pieces we've been given along the way and a quite substantial chunk revealed in this latest outing, there is still plenty to be revealed about his employer. The other members of Barker's staff from Mac the butler and general factotum to Dummolard, his French chef, are also well-drawn.
Each of Thomas's books tends to focus on a particular group or historical moment from the era. This time we are immersed in the area of Limehouse and the Chinese population that lives there. I enjoyed the historical information that Thomas works into the narrative. I appreciate learning something when I pick up a historical novel without being beaten over the head with scholarship. Thomas weaves knowledge about the Chinese in England into the story without overburdening it and also teaches us a bit about the illegal boxing matches and martial arts without treating the material as info dumps. A very detailed and entertaining historical series that is well worth your time. ★★★ and a half. Rounded to four here.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
February 7, 2015
PROTAGONIST: Enquiry agent Cyrus Barker and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn
SETTING: Victorian England
SERIES: #3 of 3
RATING: 3.25
When you hear the phrase "Victorian England", a certain image springs to mind. I'm almost certain that for most people, it would not involve an enigmatic enquiry agent and his assistant dealing with mysterious happenings in the Chinese section of London, Limehouse.
Enquiry agent Cyrus Barker had a Chinese assistant, Quong, who was murdered a year earlier. Determining who killed Quong has been a matter of importance to him ever since. He has hired a new assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, who serves as the narrator for this story. While looking over Quong's effect, the police find a pawn ticket in his sleeve, which they provide to Barker. The pawn shop turns over a rather ordinary-looking Chinese book. Barker recognizes it almost instantly as a very important and rare artifact that was stolen from a Chinese monastery. The book reveals martial arts secrets, including lethal techniques that can be used to kill a man without a sign. Obviously, if this book were to fall into the wrong hands, disaster would ensue. Barker hides the book, but interest around it is high, from both sides of the law. Several people are killed; in a surprising twist, it appears that someone has used one of the techniques from the book to try to kill Barker.
THE LIMEHOUSE TEXT was a pleasant read, with nothing very much out of the ordinary other than the sense of being very involved in an Asian adventure. Thomas's greatest strength is in creating memorable characters. I particularly liked the character of Thomas Llewelyn, who was somewhat naïve with a quirky sense of humor. Cyrus Barker, the nominal lead in the book, didn't really come to life for me; in many ways, he exhibited the Energizer Bunny syndrome of modern-day detectives where he kept going despite being grievously injured. Certainly, Barker is a mystery to all who know him; Llewelyn is delighted at every new revelation about his employer.
The conclusion of the book is straight out of Agatha Christie, with all the suspects gathered in one place with Barker alighting on the perpetrator, followed by far too much exposition on how the crimes were carried out. Overall, I find myself less than enthusiastic about THE LIMEHOUSE TEXT, in spite of some appealing elements. Fans of Arthur Conan Doyle will likely enjoy this series.
SETTING: Victorian England
SERIES: #3 of 3
RATING: 3.25
When you hear the phrase "Victorian England", a certain image springs to mind. I'm almost certain that for most people, it would not involve an enigmatic enquiry agent and his assistant dealing with mysterious happenings in the Chinese section of London, Limehouse.
Enquiry agent Cyrus Barker had a Chinese assistant, Quong, who was murdered a year earlier. Determining who killed Quong has been a matter of importance to him ever since. He has hired a new assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, who serves as the narrator for this story. While looking over Quong's effect, the police find a pawn ticket in his sleeve, which they provide to Barker. The pawn shop turns over a rather ordinary-looking Chinese book. Barker recognizes it almost instantly as a very important and rare artifact that was stolen from a Chinese monastery. The book reveals martial arts secrets, including lethal techniques that can be used to kill a man without a sign. Obviously, if this book were to fall into the wrong hands, disaster would ensue. Barker hides the book, but interest around it is high, from both sides of the law. Several people are killed; in a surprising twist, it appears that someone has used one of the techniques from the book to try to kill Barker.
THE LIMEHOUSE TEXT was a pleasant read, with nothing very much out of the ordinary other than the sense of being very involved in an Asian adventure. Thomas's greatest strength is in creating memorable characters. I particularly liked the character of Thomas Llewelyn, who was somewhat naïve with a quirky sense of humor. Cyrus Barker, the nominal lead in the book, didn't really come to life for me; in many ways, he exhibited the Energizer Bunny syndrome of modern-day detectives where he kept going despite being grievously injured. Certainly, Barker is a mystery to all who know him; Llewelyn is delighted at every new revelation about his employer.
The conclusion of the book is straight out of Agatha Christie, with all the suspects gathered in one place with Barker alighting on the perpetrator, followed by far too much exposition on how the crimes were carried out. Overall, I find myself less than enthusiastic about THE LIMEHOUSE TEXT, in spite of some appealing elements. Fans of Arthur Conan Doyle will likely enjoy this series.
December 29, 2023
I was feeling in a bit of a murder-y mood this week – reading-wise at least. Which seems entirely fitting as we’re ‘killing’ 2023 this weekend and ringing in 2024. Even the first book this week, Paladin’s Faith, fits that murder theme, because the story is wrapped around preventing the protagonist from getting murdered, AND because one of the characters in the story is from a people who call the individual years gods, gods who die at the end of the year as the new year-god is born.
And this series, Barker & Llewelyn is also part of my anticipation for the coming year, as this series has turned into my new comfort read series, just as yesterday’s book was the penultimate story in a series that has formed part of my comfort reading for THIS year coming to an end.
Barker & Llewelyn certainly have become a comfort read, as was evidenced by the way I slipped back into their Victorian London like slipping into a warm bath, and didn’t resurface until my mind had its fill of the mystery and was ready to come back to the real world.
Not that the real, 21st century doesn’t intrude in this series, because it frequently does. Not through ANY anachronisms, but rather as a result of the fact that technology may change but human nature does not. The issues that face Barker & Llewelyn, issues of race, gender, class and socioeconomic inequalities, the tensions between countries and war and peace, have always been part of the human condition.
The author does an excellent job of allowing the reader to experience the roots of specific 21st century issues in 19th century mores, behaviors and actions without ever breaking the character of the era in which this series takes place.
This entry in the series, as looks to be a developing pattern for the stories as a whole, begins at a climactic moment very near the end that seems both shocking and inexplicable as an opening – but fully rivets the reader’s attention and doesn’t let go until the story has caught up to that climax.
Rather like a caper story, which often begins by seeing the results of what got done and then winds its action back to the beginning of how the characters got to that point. After all, there kind of is a caper in The Limehouse Text. Multiple capers, in fact, although that’s not clear to anyone involved when Llewelyn winds his narrative back to begin at the beginning.
Which turns out to be tied up in Thomas Llewelyn’s own beginning as Private Enquiry Agent Cyrus Barker’s assistant. The job Llewelyn has been growing into and abler for every day was only available to him because the previous occupant had become involved in considerably more danger than even his employer had been aware of. Danger that resulted in his murder – a case that Barker has not managed to solve even a year later.
But new evidence in Quong’s murder has been uncovered by a police inspector who turns out to have been a bit too thorough for his own good. Resulting in the reopening of that old case, a new string of deaths and the potential for grave diplomatic incidents in the already fractious relationship between Britain and China – whether those incidents take place in Limehouse, in Peking, or over Cyrus Barker’s grave.
Escape Rating A+: One thing drove me utterly bananas during my reading of The Limehouse Text. I had the vague impression, not that I’d read this before, but that the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series had also tackled a story set in Limehouse – London’s Victorian version of Chinatown – but couldn’t track down precisely which story. I think it may have been “The Man with the Twisted Lip”, but I wasn’t able to nail it down without watching the thing. (Which would have been a treat but not necessarily at 3 in the morning.)
And that was absolutely the only quibble I had with the whole fascinating story, which made The Limehouse Text an excellent book to close out the year!
I got into the Barker & Llewelyn series because of their resemblance to Holmes and Watson, but I’ve stayed, and plan on continuing, because of the ways in which they take that familiar setting and put an entirely different spin on it in the very best way.
A big part of that spin is that Holmes and Watson were, in their own ways, both insiders in a society that rigorously imposed boundaries on all sides. Barker, as a self-educated Scotsman who grew up in China, and Llewelyn, as a Welshman who served a prison sentence, are outsiders and frequently and bitingly reminded of it by the powers-that-think-they-be.
This condition is played with, up, out and over in this entry in the series, as it showcases the contempt with which the British government and its representatives, as well as more of the general public than we’d like to admit, treated both the Chinese immigrants who had settled in London AND the whole entire government of Imperial China which the British continued to rape and pillage on any and all pretexts.
(R.F. Kuang’s Babel also draws on these same historical conditions – but takes them in a rather different direction.)
While all of that is background, it is also an integral part of the mystery, as the item that Quong died for is a sacred text that should never have been smuggled out of China. It does not have the military applications that either the Chinese or the British believe that it might, and it absolutely does belong back where it was stolen from. The conflict within the story is between those who want to profit from it, those who want to use it for its purported military applications, and those who want to see it returned to its rightful place.
With Barker caught in the middle and punched from all sides. Literally.
In the end, this is a clever, convoluted mystery, solved but not truly resolved by fascinating characters, steeped in a culture and a perspective that was not treated with any kind of respect in its time and about which stereotypes promoted during this period still linger. The reader is inexorably drawn in by the mystery and the setting, and left with both the satisfaction of at least some just desserts being served – as a mystery should – while still reeling from the marvelously presented microcosm of all the reasons why ‘colonialism’ is such a disgustingly dirty word in so many places around the globe to this very day.
For all these reasons, and the reasons outlined in my reviews of the first two books in this marvelous series, Some Danger Involved and To Kingdom Come, I will absolutely be back for more of Barker & Llewelyn’s fascinating cases in 2024. Next up, The Hellfire Conspiracy, the next time I need a comfortingly murderous read!
Originally published at Reading Reality
And this series, Barker & Llewelyn is also part of my anticipation for the coming year, as this series has turned into my new comfort read series, just as yesterday’s book was the penultimate story in a series that has formed part of my comfort reading for THIS year coming to an end.
Barker & Llewelyn certainly have become a comfort read, as was evidenced by the way I slipped back into their Victorian London like slipping into a warm bath, and didn’t resurface until my mind had its fill of the mystery and was ready to come back to the real world.
Not that the real, 21st century doesn’t intrude in this series, because it frequently does. Not through ANY anachronisms, but rather as a result of the fact that technology may change but human nature does not. The issues that face Barker & Llewelyn, issues of race, gender, class and socioeconomic inequalities, the tensions between countries and war and peace, have always been part of the human condition.
The author does an excellent job of allowing the reader to experience the roots of specific 21st century issues in 19th century mores, behaviors and actions without ever breaking the character of the era in which this series takes place.
This entry in the series, as looks to be a developing pattern for the stories as a whole, begins at a climactic moment very near the end that seems both shocking and inexplicable as an opening – but fully rivets the reader’s attention and doesn’t let go until the story has caught up to that climax.
Rather like a caper story, which often begins by seeing the results of what got done and then winds its action back to the beginning of how the characters got to that point. After all, there kind of is a caper in The Limehouse Text. Multiple capers, in fact, although that’s not clear to anyone involved when Llewelyn winds his narrative back to begin at the beginning.
Which turns out to be tied up in Thomas Llewelyn’s own beginning as Private Enquiry Agent Cyrus Barker’s assistant. The job Llewelyn has been growing into and abler for every day was only available to him because the previous occupant had become involved in considerably more danger than even his employer had been aware of. Danger that resulted in his murder – a case that Barker has not managed to solve even a year later.
But new evidence in Quong’s murder has been uncovered by a police inspector who turns out to have been a bit too thorough for his own good. Resulting in the reopening of that old case, a new string of deaths and the potential for grave diplomatic incidents in the already fractious relationship between Britain and China – whether those incidents take place in Limehouse, in Peking, or over Cyrus Barker’s grave.
Escape Rating A+: One thing drove me utterly bananas during my reading of The Limehouse Text. I had the vague impression, not that I’d read this before, but that the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series had also tackled a story set in Limehouse – London’s Victorian version of Chinatown – but couldn’t track down precisely which story. I think it may have been “The Man with the Twisted Lip”, but I wasn’t able to nail it down without watching the thing. (Which would have been a treat but not necessarily at 3 in the morning.)
And that was absolutely the only quibble I had with the whole fascinating story, which made The Limehouse Text an excellent book to close out the year!
I got into the Barker & Llewelyn series because of their resemblance to Holmes and Watson, but I’ve stayed, and plan on continuing, because of the ways in which they take that familiar setting and put an entirely different spin on it in the very best way.
A big part of that spin is that Holmes and Watson were, in their own ways, both insiders in a society that rigorously imposed boundaries on all sides. Barker, as a self-educated Scotsman who grew up in China, and Llewelyn, as a Welshman who served a prison sentence, are outsiders and frequently and bitingly reminded of it by the powers-that-think-they-be.
This condition is played with, up, out and over in this entry in the series, as it showcases the contempt with which the British government and its representatives, as well as more of the general public than we’d like to admit, treated both the Chinese immigrants who had settled in London AND the whole entire government of Imperial China which the British continued to rape and pillage on any and all pretexts.
(R.F. Kuang’s Babel also draws on these same historical conditions – but takes them in a rather different direction.)
While all of that is background, it is also an integral part of the mystery, as the item that Quong died for is a sacred text that should never have been smuggled out of China. It does not have the military applications that either the Chinese or the British believe that it might, and it absolutely does belong back where it was stolen from. The conflict within the story is between those who want to profit from it, those who want to use it for its purported military applications, and those who want to see it returned to its rightful place.
With Barker caught in the middle and punched from all sides. Literally.
In the end, this is a clever, convoluted mystery, solved but not truly resolved by fascinating characters, steeped in a culture and a perspective that was not treated with any kind of respect in its time and about which stereotypes promoted during this period still linger. The reader is inexorably drawn in by the mystery and the setting, and left with both the satisfaction of at least some just desserts being served – as a mystery should – while still reeling from the marvelously presented microcosm of all the reasons why ‘colonialism’ is such a disgustingly dirty word in so many places around the globe to this very day.
For all these reasons, and the reasons outlined in my reviews of the first two books in this marvelous series, Some Danger Involved and To Kingdom Come, I will absolutely be back for more of Barker & Llewelyn’s fascinating cases in 2024. Next up, The Hellfire Conspiracy, the next time I need a comfortingly murderous read!
Originally published at Reading Reality
September 15, 2009
Perhaps I've been reading these Will Thomas books a little too quickly, because my enjoyment of them has been going down. While this book had some nice twists as well as some back story concerning Barker, I found the pacing very slow and the ending a little too convenient. Yes, I was amused that Barker resorted to the "getting all the suspects together in one room" ploy (which strenghens the Nero Wolfe/Archie Goodwin connection), but his solution is pretty lamely delivered and did not give me that "Oh, I should have figured that out" slap on the head moment. In fact, it was more of a "How the hell was I supposed to figure that out from the clues" moment. Also, Thomas Llewelyn, Barker's assistant and the book's narrator is not growing on me very much. He was much more interesting in the first two novels and seemed to be learning and growing in his new profession. Here, he just seems to do everything wrong and doesn't understand anything. I hope the next book picks up, but I will not be rushing to read it. There are too many other books I want to get to first.
April 25, 2022
The third installment of the Cyrus Barker/Thomas Llewelyn series finds them in possession of a small book that carries serious dangers between its pages.
Seems everyone wants to get their hands on this Chinese text that contains ominous secrets that, if gained by the wrong person, could unleash havoc on innocent people and allow its possessor to murder with impunity anyone he pleases. Barker is determined to keep it safely away from this person at all costs.
In this very worthy followup to ""To Kingdom Come",Barker and Llewelyn face bare-knuckle boxers, murderous Chinese bosses and frightening attempts on their lives in their pursuit of the killer who murdered Barker's Chinese assistant (the one who Llewelyn replaced) and seems determined to take as many lives as possible in his quest for The Limehouse Text. Will he succeed?
Seems everyone wants to get their hands on this Chinese text that contains ominous secrets that, if gained by the wrong person, could unleash havoc on innocent people and allow its possessor to murder with impunity anyone he pleases. Barker is determined to keep it safely away from this person at all costs.
In this very worthy followup to ""To Kingdom Come",Barker and Llewelyn face bare-knuckle boxers, murderous Chinese bosses and frightening attempts on their lives in their pursuit of the killer who murdered Barker's Chinese assistant (the one who Llewelyn replaced) and seems determined to take as many lives as possible in his quest for The Limehouse Text. Will he succeed?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 298 reviews