Marilyn's Mystery Reads

Private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker is certain that he killed his arch-enemy Sebastian Nightwine years ago.  He “pierced him through with a sword,” according to Thomas Llewelyn, Barker’s assistant.  So how is it that Nightwine has been seen in London this very day?

The enmity between Barker and Nightwine goes back years.  At one point the two men had been friends in Canton, China, even serving together on the Osprey, a Chinese ship Barker had won in a game of chance.  But then Nightwine’s true nature began to surface, culminating in the duel that supposedly ended in his death.  But now, Barker and Llewelyn wonder, what really happened?

To secure their safety, the enquiry agents send Rebecca and Rachel, Thomas’ wife and young daughter respectively, and Lady Philippa Ashleigh, a close friend of Cyrus’ and the object of Nightwine’s perverted attentions, to Paris to keep them out of danger.

At the same time, Barker and Llewelyn become involved in another case that ultimately becomes entwined with the Nightwine one.  A young Chinese-born man who has spent nearly all his life in Hawaii is visiting London.  As he exits an omnibus, he is accosted by several Asian men and forcibly taken to the Chinese embassy and put in a cell.

Several days later, Barker and Llewelyn receive a new client, Dr. James Cantlie.  He tells the two men that a friend of  his, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, had been visiting him but hasn’t been seen for two days.  He approached Scotland Yard and the Pinkerton Agency for help but was turned down, so he has come to Barker’s Private Enquiry Agency for their help.

The doctor explains that Sun took part in the insurrection the previous year against the Manchu government in Canton.  After the government crushed the rebellion, Sun escaped and made his way to London to confer with Cantlie, who had been his mentor in China; Sun, like Cantlie, is a physician.

For Services Rendered switches between the agency’s search for Nightwine and the cell inside the Chinese embassy where Sun Yat-sen is being held.  For readers interested in history, Will Thomas’ novel is fascinating not only for its excellent look into Victorian England but for a sense of China’s history at the end of the 19th century.  In addition, there are glimpses into Scottish and Jewish traditions of the time.

As has been true for all the previous novels in this series, the author’s ability to create realistic and engaging characters is outstanding.  It’s always a pleasure to see Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn, and as always they are at the top of their form.

You can read more about the author at various sites on the web.