Will Thomas - To Kingdom Come

Will Thomas has written a very interesting series of mysteries featuring Cyrus Barker, an enquiry agent in the London of the early 20th century. His assistant is Thomas Penrith, a young Welsh lad whose wife has died and who has just come out of prison. Despondent and unable to find a job Thomas is thinking seriously of suicide when he answers Barker’s advertisement and is surprised to be hired. Thomas finds his new employer rather unusual, speaking several languages, knowing strange martial arts, with the ability to disguise himself and evidently quite wealthy. Immediately Thomas finds himself being taught skills he never dreamed of. He finds himself well-clothed, well-fed and in comfortable surroundings for the first time in a long time. Will Thomas’s first novel, Some Danger Involved, concerns the murder of Jewish citizens. This second novel is about Irish radicals attempting to blow up London in their quest for independence. London, indeed all of England, was a hot pot of radicalism in those days prior to World War I. An interesting time period in which Will Thomas has chosen to set his mystery adventures. He has written two additional novels in the series which I will get to eventually. Recommended.