Dance with Death

February 1, 2021
Two private inquiry agents combine their vastly different skill sets to rescue a foreign royal from death. Cyrus Barker is a tough-as-nails Scot with worldwide experience. Thomas Llewelyn is a scholar whose prospects were drastically limited when he was jailed unjustly. Knowing of their past successes as crime solvers, private security agent Jim Hercules approaches them on behalf of his boss, Nicholas Romanov, the czarevitch of Russia, whose life is in danger from an assassin known as La Sylphide. The two are on hand outside Kensington Palace just in time to stop a man from attacking Nicholas and his look-alike, the Duke of York, whose nuptials Nicholas has come to London to attend. Shockingly, the attacker is shot and killed from a distance by an unknown sniper with an air rifle. Nicholas is bored, reckless, and frustrated that he can't spend more time with his mistress, a volatile young Russian ballerina who was living in Paris. Barker and Llewelyn turn down medals for their bravery, but Barker angles for a royal warrant as they continue to protect Nicholas from his excesses while hunting for the assassin, whose connection to Llewelyn's past soon puts his marriage in jeopardy. The machinations of everyone from the British government to an anarchist cabal to Nicholas' relatives make their task difficult and dangerous. Historical figures whose fates we know add interest and irony to a mystery that's both cerebral and action-packed.

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Starred review from February 1, 2021
Cyrus Barker, a tight-lipped and proper "enquiry agent" and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, are on their thirteenth case (after Lethal Pursuit, 2019). The stakes are high here and will keep readers on edge: a royal wedding is fast approaching, and Queen Victoria's relatives from the European royal houses have converged on London. One of the most illustrious guests is the young tresarevich of Russia, Nicky, the carefree and careless heir to the Russian throne who will become Nicholas II if he can survive an assassin's plan. Protecting the young man allows Barker and Llewelyn to flex their detecting muscles and display their determination and bravery. It also allows Thomas the opportunity to explore the intricate mechanism that is the British class system, especially when it comes to the meeting of workingmen and royalty. The street procession to the wedding is particularly immersive, and the dialogue--Llewelyn's sardonic comments on his work and on royal life--and Thomas' masterful depictions of jealousy and cunning also help drop readers right into the summer of 1893, along with the politics, danger, and romance that was the Romanovs' world. Recommend this to fans of the series and of Sherlock Holmes.

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