This is the first book of Jeffrey Archer's I have read in years, and I have to say I was rather disappointed in it. He can always spin a good story, but this one was pretty thin and unadventurous, although I did stick with it to the end to see whether I would be surprised or shocked with a gripping conclusion. Sadly not. That said, I do think he had to try harder in his earlier novels to make his mark and hone his narrative skills, and this is still a competent, if rather old-fashioned foray into the non-violent crime of art fraud. Not a bad thing, but to compensate for the lack of high drama and complexity of plot, I feel he needed to develop the personal interactions or burgeoning relationships of main characters, especially if he is to create a whole new series in this vein. It failed to set my pulses racing, I'm afraid, and would need to be of a similar standard to Archer's early work in order to make a real success of this rather staid and colourless protagonist.

When my children were young (they're now in their mid forties!) I read ''Kane and Abel' which I loved, and then eagerly devoured any books that Jeffrey Archer had written. However, after reading a book of short stories which wasn't really my cup of tea I stopped reading his books. Without a doubt I shall now be reading all the ones I'v missed over the years. I have lots to catch up on! This book is easy to read and the story is a good one (though at times perhaps a little unbelievable) the characters are likeable and I'm looking forward to reading more in this series.

Despite his privileged upbringing there is nothin more that William Warwick wants to do than be a detective. His father is an eminent barrister and his sister is following him into law so William studying Art History and then joining the Met as a beat copper seems wrong. However William is quickly seconded to the Art and Fraud department where he stumbles across the actions of a master criminal, falls in love and tries to clear his fiancee's father's name.
It is massively unfashionable to say that one is a fan of Jeffrey Archer's writing but there is no doubt that he can write an entertaining yarn. OK so it's not high literature and the dialogue is clunky at times, it's also fast paced, light and easy to read - a perfect lazy day distraction.

Jeffrey Archer is so clever with his story telling, it is though his characters are all old friends. I loved this new book just like others I have read that were written by the same author and I can’t wait for more in the series. It seemed a solid story yet with twists and turns. It is classic and for me I couldn’t put it down. The book is thrilling yet there is a warmth about it that I don’t often find in other books. It seems many of the characters Jeffrey Archer writes about are ‘good people’ I like that, it seems they are so much easier to relate to.
I would have liked to see the book have a bigger connection to the Clifton Chronicles, where we first meet William Warwick, the detective at the centre of this story but sometimes it’s good to start again and I hope it means more books.

In all honesty, I am not a large fan of Lord Archer-however, there is no denying that he is a great writer. This book did not disappoint. it traces the beginning career of a detective, William Warwick. Archer hints that a good future is in store for Warwick, the son of a well-known attorney.

The book is well written with good character development, this was an engrossing, quick read.

I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

This is the first book in Jeffrey Archer's new series on DC William Warwick. Set in the 1980s, the book follows William Warwick from his art history studies at university to the police academy and to his first challenging experiences on the beat. By chance, Warwick ends up working a case in the fraud and art theft department at Scotland Yard, his extensive art knowledge having impressed everyone on the force. Miles Faulkner, a cunning businessman and thief who works with shady lawyers committing insurance fraud has stolen another priceless painting - this time, a Rembrandt. The fraud and art theft department always seems to be two steps behind Faulkner, who enjoys playing cat and mouse with the police.
It is through this case that Warwick also meets his girlfriend, Beth, who works at the Fitzmolean Museum. She gets involved in the quest to recover the stolen Rembrandt and helps uncover valuable clues. However, Beth also harbours a secret. The case turns out to be more complex than anticipated and with a second case keeping the department on its toes, Warwick soon chases criminals in several countries, and at times has to pose as a wealthy art collector, a deckhand and a rare book specialist.
The plot is fast moving and the cases William Warwick is involved in are interesting, involving fake rare books, lost treasures, and a possible wrong murder conviction of someone who is close to Warwick, which even gets his defence barrister father and barrister sister involved.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and found myself imagining what life was like in the 1980s (I kept forgetting that flights took longer and no one had mobile phones!). In typical Jeffrey Archer style, the characters are well-rounded, the book is very well-written, but also very easy and quick to read.
I look forward to reading the next instalment of this new series.

Thank you to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan and Jeffrey Archer for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Net Galley and Pan Macmillan for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
Jeffrey Archer is one of my favourite authors, he has a unique style, keeps his tales simple, the reader is always drawn into the story which is always filled with strong characters. Lord Archers fans will once again not be disappointed.
This is the first book in a new series.
The story is not a detective story but it’s about a detective, Detective Constable Warwick, a likeable character, who has always wanted to be a detective, he starts his careeer as a constable on the beat, then as a Detective Constable and in this role he has a gift for finding clues that others have overlooked. We get to know about his personal life also, his parents and then his girlfriend who has a few secrets of her own. The story follows his first cases, successes and errors, it’s obvious that William Warwick has a bright career ahead.
An entertaining read, I will be looking forward to the next instalment.

Thoroughly enjoyed this! As an avid Archer fan, I was excited to read it and it hasn't disappointed. I look forward to the rest of the series!

This book is a spin off from the Clifton Chronicles., about William Warwick.He starts off on the beat and then becomes a detective on the Arts and Fraud team.
Interesting read but not as captivating as Jeffrey Archer's other books.Thanks to Netgalley for an A.R.C.

Fine Art meets Murder Archer Style.

I must declare I love Jeffrey Archer novels, and in this book, I make the acquaintance of Detective William Warwick.

We meet him as he moves from the beat to his first detective role in Scotland Yard's Art and Antiques squad. He is on the trail of a missing Rembrandt and one of the squad’s most evasive criminals.

Warwick, not only has a new job but also a new love, Beth, whose family situation could become an issue for the new Detective. An independent story of criminal Injustice is interwoven with Warwick's police investigations. Will either have a positive outcome?

I thoroughly enjoyed my latest Jeffrey Archer and bought into William Warwick both personally and professionally immediately. Archer fans will not be disappointed, and this is an excellent book for people who like a good story that isn't too deep but keeps you wanting to read more.

Taramindo.

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

This was just ok for me, I enjoyed it but I have read others by the author I enjoyed more but I did finish it and that says to me I liked it, and would like to see if there is more to follow, read if you like jeffreys books.

3 1/2 ⭐️ read for me.
I loved the Clifton Chronicles. I couldn’t wait for each new book to arrive. Although this is a good solid book with an interesting central character I’m afraid it didn’t grip me in the same way. Whether it was because William Warwick was a character in a book within in the Clifton series and I couldn’t get beyond that I’m not sure. My husband loved it, but he hadn’t read the previous series.
Recommended for all lovers of crime stories.
I’d like to thank the author, publisher and netgalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

I was keen to read Nothing Ventured – Jeffrey Archer writes well and spins a good tale, but I was disappointed in it.
William Warwick, from a privileged background, flouts convention and the wishes of his rather famous barrister father and embarks upon a career in the Met rather than in law.
William’s prowess is quickly realised by his superiors and he becomes heavily involved in a global search for a missing famous work of Art.
Set in 1972, it seemed like 1872. The characters felt stuffy and pompous, and if there was supposed to be any sense of quiet deprecation here, I missed it. That said, the action did build to a sort of a climax, both good enough to set up book 2 and to allay my irritation a little.
I do seem to be in a minority here, but I wasn’t that keen on it.
I am nonetheless grateful as always to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan

Having enjoyed the Clifton Chronicles I was pleased to be given the chance to review a digital ARC from NetGalley and Pan MacMillan.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - the storytelling is as good as in the Clifton Chronicles and there are lots of interesting characters sprinkled throughout the story.

Hopefully other readers who enjoyed the Clifton Chronicles will enjoy this as much as I did.

With thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review. I have been a great fan of Lord Archer after reading Not a Penny more, Not a Penny less and Prisoner of Birth.

Nothing Ventured is about the career of William Warwick. No spoilers but the series will chart his time from Constable to Police Commissioner of the Metropolitan police. William is the son of a highly eminent QC Sir Julian Warwick. Sir Julian wanted William to be a barrister after university but William wanted to serve at the sharp end of the law.

After serving as bobby on the beat, William became a Detective Constab!e at Scotland Yard. After spotting a fake Rembrandt during his interview, William joined the art and antiquities squad. Among the squads other cases they were investigating dodgy art collector Miles Faulkner.

Wow, say what you like about Jeffrey Archer but he is a great story teller. I was invested from the first page and I found It hard to put down. I don't know anything about artwork but I did find interesting reading about Rembrandt.

I liked William but he had high morals and I don't think he would of had a one night stand with a potential suspect. I also liked his Father Sir Julian and his sister Grace also a barrister. I hope William and his father work on another case together.

I also liked his girlfriend Beth and hope she will become Mrs Warwick in later books.

I highly recommend this book and can't wait to follow William in his career.

Jeffery Archer never disappoints. I just like his style of writing, especially the pages about the court cases. He somehow transports you into that courtroom so you understand the procedures, and the language of the counsels. The main character I hope has a lot more to solve as he progresses through the police force. Can’t wait for the next book!

A well enough written book from this author, but somewhat formulaic. At times it reads like a daily diary of events in Detective William Warwick’s working life.

I feel that the characters are not sufficiently rounded for me to get a real sense of them as people.

I have read many of Jeffrey Archer’s novels and enjoyed them, but I did not find that this was up to his earlier higher standards.

I am sure many of his fans will enjoy this story, but it just wasn’t for this reader, sorry.

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this title.

A great story with characters who leap of the page.A tricky fraudster and a devious set of plans for our detective to chase down. Looking forward to the next instalment.

Years ago I enjoyed reading a few of Jeffrey Archer’s books, including Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less and Kane and Able. Archer is a prolific author, but I haven’t read any of his later books or his diaries about his time in prison. But I was interested when I saw that he had started a new series about William Warwick – Nothing Ventured. It is the first in the series of books following William’s progress from detective constable to the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

It is indeed, a story about a detective, rather than a detective story and as such it is rather episodic, following William Warwick’s career.

William joins the Metropolitan Police force, against his father’s wishes. Sir Julian Warwick QC, had hoped his son would join him in chambers and train to be a barrister, like his sister Grace. He works on the beat in Lambeth before transferring to the Art and Antiques Squad at Scotland Yard, where he becomes involved in a number of cases of fraud and theft, including tracing the whereabouts of a phial of the moon dust brought back from the Apollo 11 mission by Neil Armstrong, and arresting an old man who had forges the signatures of famous authors in first editions. Whilst investigating the theft of a Rembrandt painting, the Syndics of the Cloth Makers Guild, from the Fitzmolean Museum in Kensington, he meets Beth Rainsford, a research assistant at the gallery and they fall in love almost at first sight – but Beth has a secret that she keeps from him.

The premise is promising, but it’s written in a very straight-forward and factual style and my overall impression, despite the crime elements, is that this is a rather mundane and bland novel. William does this, does that, goes here, goes there, often at a break-neck pace that gives impetus. But the characters are drawn very sketchily with little depth – William is an intelligent young man, precocious and naive, eager to please and to learn, his father, Sir Julian, a suave, elegant and successful QC and Grace, his sister, an up and coming young barrister, and so on.

I suppose it is the base for the rest of the series but I found it too predictable. However, I thought the court scenes and the final little twist at the end enjoyable and I’m wondering if I want to go one to read the next book in the series which focuses on William’s time as a young detective sergeant in the elite drugs unit. I’m not sure that I do want to – there are so many more enticing books to read.

My thanks to Macmillan for an e-book review copy via NetGalley

A tried and tested formula that seemed to have the basis of a long running family saga. An upper middle class family, hugely successful father, frustrated by the needs and desires of his children particularly that of his son who wants to join the police force insisting on starting at the bottom of the ladder with all the subsequent and obvious pitfalls. A long interesting career ahead of him both because of and to despite the more grandiose plans of his father However both the characterisations and dialogue felt from a different era. Conversations were stilted and dated often more like comedy than serious discussions. There is a place for hard slog police work but in the main cases are now solved and resolved by modern technologies and techniques. Earlier books by this author were sharp, punchy and of their time. Latterly his more recent sagas have proven hugely successful cash cows. This will probably prove equally successful to his adoring public but for me the joy of turning the page, absorbing the story line and enjoying the many machinations of the plot was sadly missing. The compulsory court case, in this case double for your money could not lift this readers spirits.