Dance with Death: A Barker & Llewelyn Novel

I received a free electronic ARC of this historical novel based on actual history from Netgalley, Will Thomas, and St Martin's Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read 'Dance with Death' of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Will Thomas is an author you can count on to bring you an exciting, authentic look into British life in the late 19th century. 'Dances with Death' is the 12th of the Barker & Llewelyn novels, and though the action seems a bit more frantic in this one, it is still fresh with exciting attention to details of life as it transpired in London in 1893. Our main protagonists are Cyrus Barker the crusty curmudgeon, and the rather brash newly wedded Thomas Llewelyn, inquiry agents in central London. This tale is wrapped around the first Royal wedding in England for 30 years in June of 1893. Royalty from all over Europe had congregated in London to attend the nuptials, swelling the population of the capital city to overflowing. The secondary purpose of that gathering was to finalize an alliance between Tsarevitch Nicholas II of Russia (Nicholai II Alexandrovich Romanov) and Princess Alix of Hess (Alexandra Feodorovna, granddaughter of Queen Victoria). Barker and Llewelyn are engaged by the self-appointed bodyguard of Nicholas, Jim Hercules, to assist in covering the young prince during the turmoil and excitement of the reunion of Royals in London. And Nicholas II brought plenty of trouble with him to London, including his callow youth, sense of entitlement, and his mistress, prima ballerina of the Saint Petersburg Imperial Theatre, Mathilde Kschessinska. Other notable characters stirred into the mix are Eleanor Marx, daughter of Karl; Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich of Russia; Prince George of Greece and Denmark; William Morris, British novelist, and textile designer; Pyotr Rachkovsky, Chief of the Secret Police in Imperial Russia; the English Prince George, Duke of York; the rumored French assassin known only as La Sylphide; and American boxer, bodyguard, and friend of young Nicholas, Jim Hercules. Dance with Death is a compelling tale told very well. Will Thomas is an author I follow, and can heartily recommend to friends and family. He makes European history exciting and new.

I'm only 4 chapters in, & I'm dismayed at all the syntax & punctuation errors! They make it difficult to read. What happened? The plot seems stale & the characters flat; maybe the magic is gone. I'll keep going, though, because it might turn around.

1893 Barker and Llewelyn are approached to protect tsarevich Nicholas from an assassination attempt by an assassin called La Sylphide. Circumstances change when an attempt in made on Prince George, as he is mistaken for Nicholas. Unfortunately for the agency potential suspects abound and not all Russian. An entertaining and well-written historical mystery with its likeable main characters. Another good addition to the series. The book can easily be read as a standalone story.