Scotland Yard – The Unseen Library

Publisher: Harper Collins (ebook – 24 September 2024)

Series: William Warwick – Book Seven

Length: 384 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

One of the world’s most interesting and well-known authors, Jeffrey Archer, returns for the penultimate entry in his long-running William Warwick series, An Eye For An Eye.

Well-known British figure Jeffrey Archer has carved an intriguing niche for himself as a crime fiction author over the last few decades. Known for his compelling and fast-paced crime fiction reads, which often contain a historical element to them, Archer has written a huge body of work, including his Kane and Abel books, his Clifton Chronicles and standalone novels such as Heads You Win. His most recent focus has been his entertaining William Warwick series, which follows the titular protagonist as he rises the ranks of the Metropolitan Police over a period of years while solving a series of complex crimes and facing off against his dastardly nemesis. I have had a brilliant time with several books in this series, including Nothing Ventured, Hidden in Plain Sight, Turn a Blind Eye and Traitors Gate, all of which have proven to be quite exciting and enjoyable. As such, it was an easy choice to grab the latest entry in the series, An Eye For An Eye, which had an excellent plot behind it. The seventh book in the series, An Eye For An Eye is the second to last William Warwick book, and Archer keeps the excitement going all the way to the end.

Plot Synopsis:

In one of the most luxurious cities on earth…

A billion-dollar deal is about to go badly wrong. A lavish night out is about to end in murder. And the British government is about to be plunged into crisis.

In the heart of the British establishment…

Lord Hartley, the latest in a line of peers going back over two hundred years, lies dying. But his will triggers an inheritance with explosive consequences.

Two deaths. Continents apart. No obvious connection.

So why are they both at the centre of a master criminal’s plot for revenge?

And can Scotland Yard’s William Warwick uncover the truth before it’s too late…

The ultimate race-against-time is about to begin.

Archer pulls together another compelling, intense and exciting story for An Eye For An Eye that combines an intriguing new storyline with some of the series’ existing plotlines. Starting off with a murder in Riyadh that throws the British government into turmoil, the plot sees William Warwick and his team drawn into an international concern, as one of their team members, the roguish Inspector Ross Hogan, is recruited to save a British government delegate and the heir to the Hartley family, who has been framed and falsely imprisoned for murder. However, things become even more problematic when the protagonist’s old criminal rival, Miles Faulkner, becomes involved with the plot, desperate to not only have his revenge against Warwick, Hogan, and their loved ones but also steal a valuable letter from the Hartley family.

What follows is the usual game of cat and mouse between the protagonists and the vengeful Faulkner, as Warwick’s team attempts to counter the criminal’s various ploys, while also trying to find evidence that will allow them to put him away again. This combines nicely with the larger storyline around the international conspiracy involving the imprisonment of the British delegate, and I liked the compelling back-and-forth twists as the protagonists doggedly try to stop Faulkner getting out on top. There are some fun twists as we get towards the end of the book, and readers are treated to the usual fast-paced excitement that they have come to know and appreciate over the course of the series. Everything comes together nicely in a gripping cliffhanger conclusion as Archer lays the groundwork for the final book in the series, which looks set to be the big showdown between the long-time series rivals.

As with the previous books in the William Warwick series, An Eye For An Eye was a really entertaining and fast-paced read that kept dragging the reader along with it. Featuring a wonderful blend of intrigue, schemes, complex thrills and interesting character work, An Eye For An Eye was very fun and you honestly have a hard time putting down the constantly moving story. Archer once again brings back his eccentric group of protagonists, which include Chief Superintendent William Warwick, his boisterous family, the various key police officers he has teamed up over the years, as well as a fun collection of rogues and victims introduced in this plot. Thanks to Archer’s use of quick-changing character perspectives, you get an interesting look at the plot from various points of view, which allowed for an intricate tale with a lot of moving parts to it.

Out of all these characters, my favourite has to be the main series antagonist, Miles Faulkner, a master criminal and schemer who the protagonist has been feuding with since the very first novel. Thanks to their lengthy history and many defeats, Faulkner is a little obsessed with Warwick, Hogan, and their colleagues and families, engaging in a series of plots against them that range from killing their key witness to trying to get Warwick’s wife fired from her gallery directorship. While this rivalry and the elaborate means that Faulkner utilises to spite and try to destroy the protagonists is very over the top, especially as it has been going now for seven books and over 20 in-series years, it is frankly very entertaining, and I love how much energy Archer puts into writing Faulkner as the ultimate gentleman criminal. The back-and-forth schemes and ploys between Faulkner and the protagonists are always a highlight of any book in the series, and An Eye For An Eye showcases this perfectly, delighting both new readers and those already invested in the long-running feud. Indeed, the conclusion of this book brings this into focus perfectly, and I cannot wait to see how they finish off this feud in the final William Warwick book later this year.

Jeffery Archer once again impresses with his exciting and captivating William Warwick novel, An Eye For An Eye. Setting his fun protagonists on a compelling new crime fiction adventure while also featuring the author’s fantastic recurring villain, An Eye For An Eye had me hooked the entire way through, and it is so easy to sit back and enjoy this fantastic read. A gripping and highly enjoyable novel, I look forward to seeing how Archer wraps up the series with his next and final William Warwick book.

Amazon

Nothing Ventured Cover

Publisher: Macmillan (Trade Paperback – 10 September 2019)

Series: William Warwick series – Book 1

Length: 323 pages

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Amazon

One of the biggest names in modern fiction, Jeffrey Archer, returns with Nothing Ventured, an intriguing piece of historical crime fiction that starts up his brand-new William Warwick series.

William Warwick, son of a respected London defence attorney, has always dreamed of becoming a detective in the London Metropolitan Police Force. Despite the opposition of his father, William enrols as a trainee police officer at the start of the 1980s after finishing university. Armed with determination, sharp observation skills, an education in fine art and a can-do spirit, William is unaware of the adventures in store for him.

After quickly making the rank of detective constable, William is assigned to Scotland Yard’s Arts and Antiquities squad. While also investigating of a series of different art crimes and frauds across London, the squad is mainly concerned with capturing Miles Faulkner, a criminal mastermind responsible for the thefts and forgeries of some of the most expensive art in England. All previous attempts to capture Faulkner have failed miserably, as the criminal is always two steps ahead of the police.

As William becomes more and more involved in investigating the various crimes Faulkner is organising, he makes a crucial breakthrough when he befriends Faulkner’s wife, Christina. Christina is willing to return a valuable stolen Rembrandt from Faulkner’s personal collection in return for help from the police. Can Christina be trusted, or will Faulkner once again evade justice and continue his dastardly schemes? In addition, what happens when William falls head over heels in love with Beth, a research assistant at the museum the Rembrandt was stolen from, whose family secrets may drive a terrible wedge between her and William?

I have mentioned before how Jeffrey Archer, or the Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare as a Member of the British House of Lords, is one of the more colourful professional novelists in the world today. Archer has produced over 30 diverse books since 1976, including several standalone novels, a bestselling long-running series, several collections of short stories, three plays, three non-fiction books about his time spent in prison, and four children’s books. I have read several of his books in the past, although I only have his 2018 book, Heads you Win, currently reviewed on my blog at the moment.

Nothing Ventured is a fantastic new novel from Archer and is the first book in a planned eight-part William Warwick crime fiction series. The William Warwick series actually has a very interesting origin, as William Warwick served as the protagonist of a fictional series of books written by the main character in Archer’s most iconic series, the Clifton Chronicles, Harry Clifton. Following the end of the Clifton Chronicles in 2016 and several requests from his fans to expand on the adventures of Warwick, Archer started on this series. The William Warwick series will examine the career of its titular character and show the various cases he investigates that helped him to become a great detective.

This series is off to a good start with Nothing Ventured, as Archer creates a compelling and enjoyable read that does a fantastic job introducing the readers to his new protagonist and showing the early days of his police career. Archer has always excelled at creating historical fiction narratives that focus on the lives of specific characters, and Nothing Ventured is no exception. Within this book, the reader gets a great idea of the character of Warwick and sees the struggles and early influences that drive him to become a successful police detective. The reader is also introduced to a bevy of interesting side characters, many of whom are set up to be major friends, colleagues, love interests or antagonists of Warwick through the future books of the series. Overall, Archer does a superb job setting up his overarching series in Nothing Ventured, and the intriguing mysteries explored within, as well as the introduction of a likeable new protagonist, should ensure readers will check out future instalments of this series.

One of the most intriguing aspects about Nothing Ventured was the focus on the artistic world and the subsequent fraud or theft that accompanies it. At the start of the book, the protagonist studies art history at university and subsequently develops a life-long love for the artistic greats. This appreciation of art becomes an important part of his future career, as it helps him join the Arts and Antiquities squad. Throughout the course of Nothing Ventured, Warwick and his colleagues investigate a number of different instances of art fraud, including forgeries of famous works, fraudulent signatures of historical figures and the forging of fake antique coins, among several other interesting examples. I thought that this was an absolutely fascinating focus for this book, and I really enjoyed reading about all the different ways art fraud could be committed. It also allowed for a number of unique and compelling mysteries, and readers will enjoy seeing the diverse outcomes that result from these cases. I also enjoyed the various discussions about art that permeated the book’s narrative. Archer is obviously very passionate and knowledgeable about classic artworks and antiquities, and this shines through in his writing. I am hoping that this focus on art will continue in future books of the William Warwick series, as it really helped set this book apart from some other historical mystery series.

The focus on the art world in Nothing Ventured also allowed Archer to introduce a great antagonist in the form of Miles Faulkner. Faulkner is a criminal mastermind who specialises in crimes involving art and is the bane of the Arts and Antiquities squad. Faulkner is a great gentleman-thief character, who is in many ways quite similar to Warwick, especially when it comes to his love and appreciation of artistic works. However, unlike Warwick, he uses his knowledge for his own benefit and is a fantastic master criminal. I really enjoyed the various ways that Faulkner was able to outsmart the police in this book, and he proved to be a worthy opponent to Warwick and his colleagues. The reveal of the true depths of Faulkner’s intelligence and deviousness in the last sentence of the book is masterfully done and Archer is clearly setting the character up as one of the major antagonists of this series. I look forward to seeing him return in future entries in this series, and I am sure he will continue to be a great villain.

Readers should also keep an eye out for the chapters in which Archer splits the focus between two separate events occurring at the exact same time. This is done a couple of times throughout the course of the book, and these split chapters are a lot of fun to read. They are mostly done to highlight the differences between two similar events happening in different areas; for example, showing two different police operations occurring at the same time, or two unrelated court cases with implications for the protagonist that are running in separate court rooms. The inclusion of these simultaneous events was done really cleverly in places, and it resulted in a couple of amazing and compelling chapters which I felt were some of the book’s best scenes. I hope that Archer continues to utilise this writing technique in the future books of this series, as it was a true highlight of Nothing Ventured.

Jeffrey Archer has once again created a thrilling and intriguing novel that focuses on the life of an English protagonist in a historical fiction setting. Nothing Ventured is the compelling first instalment of a crime fiction series with some real potential. Within this first book of the William Warwick series, Archer has come up with an intriguing life story to follow, introducing some great characters and producing some captivating mysteries and criminals that readers will love to unravel in future books. The massive planned William Warwick series should ensure Archer remains one of the bestselling historical fiction authors for the next eight years, and I look forward to seeing how the career and life of the titular main character progresses in the next instalment of the series.

Amazon