Will Thomas, born 1958 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is an American novelist who writes a Victorian mystery series featuring Cyrus Barker, a Scottish detective or "private enquiry agent," and his Welsh assistant, Thomas Llewelyn.
In interviews, Thomas has said that Barker is based on men such as Richard Francis Burton and Edward William Barton-Wright, founder of Bartitsu.
Prior to writing novels, Will Thomas wrote essays for Sherlock Holmes society publications and lectured on crime fiction of the Victorian era.
Will Thomas is a great fan of Rex Stout, author of the Nero Wolfe mysteries.
Thomas studies Victorian martial arts such as Bartitsu and Hung Gar, which he uses in his novels.