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William Warwick Novels, Book 1
“Nothing Ventured” marks the start of a new series by the very versatile Jeffrey Archer. As in all his other works, the writing is crisp, characterizations well done, and the plot captures the reader’s immediate attention. It is a novel about a detective and it does definitely involve cases that are believable and solved only by hard police work.
William Warwick is the son of a very successful defense attorney, who would like nothing better than to have his son enter his practice when the time has come. But William, at the tender age of eight, wants nothing less than to work as a detective and aims for that goal. While both his father and his sister Grace are attorneys, William doesn’t lose sight of his goal.
After finishing university, he applies to and is accepted for London’s Metropolitan Police Force .After undergoing an apprenticeship under the watchful eye of an experienced patrolman, William manages an appointment to Scotland Yard’s Arts and Antiquities Squad.
The story follows William’s first case, does not gloss over his initial trials and possible errors, and becomes a very engrossing novel. In tracing a possible lead in a case involving a missing Rembrandt masterpiece, he visits an art gallery and meets Beth Rainsford. Beth is a beautiful woman and does become the person that William is interested in marrying. To add a bit of spice, Beth has a secret of her own which she is reluctant to share with William and one which will have a bearing on an action of his.
Archer points out his probable future plans for this series by placing the start of William’s police career in the mid 1980’s. This would mean that future novels will bring him into the 21st century, certainly books that will reflect his literary skills and attract the reader to seek them out.
9/19 Paul Lane
NOTHING VENTURED by Jeffrey Archer. St. Martin’s Press (September 3, 2019). ISBN 978-1250200761. 336p.
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