Everyone’s heard of Sherlock Holmes, but there is plenty of other excellent historical fiction that’s set in the late 19th century. One of the best Victorian crime series is the Barker and Llewellyn books by the American writer Will Thomas. The books capture the atmosphere of Victorian London, including the foggy, gas lit streets, the rattling hansom cabs and the opium dens of Limehouse, and often feature real historical events or people. Barker is a private enquiry agent and like Holmes and other great detectives, has his quirks; he wears dark glasses, enjoys tending to his ornamental garden, has a fascination with the mystical East, and is proficient in various forms of combat, including Bartitsu. Thomas has won several awards for his series of books and the series runs to a dozen books, including Dance With Death, released in April 2021.
