Short Synopsis
Award-winning author Will Thomas presents the fifth installment in his Barker and Llewelyn series.

Full Synopsis
When an Italian assassin's body is found floating in a barrel in Victorian London's East End, enquiry agent Cyrus Barker and his assistant Thomas Llewelyn are called in to investigate. Soon corpses begin to appear all over London, each accompanied by a Mafia Black Hand note. As Barker and Llewelyn dig deeper, they become entangled in the vendettas of rival Italian syndicates—and it is no longer clear who is a friend or foe.

"In an underground meeting readers won't soon forget, the pugnacious Barker foments a gang war guaranteed to leave fans with clenched fists." ---Booklist

"Full of Victorian ambience, this will appeal to discerning patrons who want plenty of historical detail, nonstop action, and engaging characters." ---Library Journal

"This series is a constant pleasure. Barker and Llewelyn are two of my favorite sleuths, and their Victorian London evokes images of damp fogs and gaslights and muted footsteps on cobblestone streets. What mystery lover could ask for more?" ---Sharon Kay Penman, author of Time and Chance

"With a good mix of English reserve and theatrical bravado, narrator Antony Ferguson takes on a plethora of Scottish, Welsh, English, French, American, and, especially, Italian accents to tell this energetic story, which includes the detectives having to convince Cockney Londoners to cooperate with Irish laborers." ---AudioFile