The Barker and Llewelyn historical mystery series is an absolute delight. The mysteries always contain surprises. The cast of characters has depth both in number and in personality. I've been jumping around reading books in this series as I come across them and have never been disappointed.

Even among other titles in the series, Death and Glory, set in 1890s London, stands out because of its audacity. The plot is built around a group of US ex-pats, all former Confederates, come to England to demand the handover of a warship purportedly paid for by the Confederacy early on in the Civil War and never delivered. The premise may sound more like historical fantasy than historical mystery, but Will Thomas makes this hard-to-believe premise into a solid read.

Before Barker and Llewelyn know the Confederates goal, they're hired to help secure a meeting with the Prime Minister. This is something Barker and Llewelyn manage—and they are every bit as shocked as the P.M. when they realize what the group is demanding.

What follows is a complex web of Barker and Llewelyn trailing the Confederates as the Confederates trail the two detectives. Questions of identity arise. Are the Confederates who they claim to be or are the other historical figures, supposedly dead, who have taken on new identities?

If you enjoy substantial historical mysteries this is a series you shouldn't miss—and it's a series you don't necessarily have to read in order.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss; the opinions are my own. ( )

A Confederate Challenge, 1894!

Detectives Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn have their hands full with the surfacing of a thirty year old document, a Treaty, testifying that Britain sold an iron warship to the Confederacy during the war between the North and the South.
Barker and Llewelyn find themselves ensconced in International politics. If the Treaty is legitimate, the British Government is in an unenviable position.
Survivors, ex- soldiers, have been plotting for decades to fund a war from the countries they had escaped to—Mexico, Cuba, Brazil and Columbia. The war of Northern Aggression will be redefined and the Confederacy restored.
Now they are raising money and marching on towards their goal of taking the warship which they will use as a model to build more cheaply in the countries they now reside in. An amarda of iron ships will rise and threaten the newly established United States order.
(Thomas’s research is amazing!)
We have armed insurgents hiding out in London, a group of well heeled southern gentleman pursuing ownership of the ship, a train robbery, and other measures of skullduggery. Complicit wealthy merchants and members of the ton are raising money for the cause at a by “invitation only” Ball. The Prime Minister and the shadowy parts of the government are worried! The PM has obtained the services of the partners.
Cyrus and Llewelyn have there work cut out trying to make head or tail of this politically charged investigation.

A St. Martin’s Press ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher. ( )

Thomas Llewelyn has worked with Cyrus Barker for ten years, and it has been a wonderful reading journey. Thomas has gone from a melancholy, down-on-his-luck, contemplating suicide young man to a confident, skilled enquiry agent with a wife. Thomas shows those skills in this book and even gets some excellent personal news.

It seems the south is rising again – in London. No, not the south of England, but the Southern United States. A delegation of Southern expatriates appears at the offices of Barker and Llewellyn on a lovely spring morning. They wish to hire Barker to arrange a meeting with the new Prime Minister, the Earl of Rosebery. Barker and Thomas immediately suspect their motives but feel they should play along until they discover what the Prime Minister and his government want to do about them.

What these Southern gentlemen want astounds the government and can create a huge political scandal/crisis. Whichever way the government decides, the fallout will happen. The civil war in the US has been over for thirty years, yet these people want the delivery of a warship promised to them just as the war was ending. Barker and Thomas think they want more and quickly infiltrate the group to see what they can learn. A Barker and Llewellyn case is always more complicated and convoluted than they first appear – and this one was no exception.

This excellently-written, well-plotted, fast-paced novel was action-packed and filled with interesting characters and enlightening obscure historical facts. Another thing I always enjoy is the Author’s Notes – Yes, I always read the Author’s Notes. This author’s notes are always educational and fun to read. I love Thomas’s wit as he gives us his first-person account of each case and we always learn more about him in each new entry in the series. Barker, of course, always leaves us wanting to know more. We’ve learned a lot about his history, and in this novel, he seemed more ‘human’, but still he is larger than life.

I recommend this book, this series, and this author. I hope you will love the book as much as I did. Happy reading!

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

It is nearly 30 years since the end of the American Civil War, and four men claiming to represent the Confederacy approach Barker to arrange a meeting with the Prime Minister, claiming a have copy of a treaty between Britain and the Confederacy. But are they who they say they are and what do they really want.
An entertaining and well-written historical mystery with its likeable and interesting main characters. Another good addition to this enjoyable series ( )