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jwoodsum's review
4.0
I have thoroughly enjoyed the Joe Sandilands series since I discovered it a few years ago. The latest entry finds Joe back in 1920s London as a commander with Scotland Yard. Lily Wentworth is a young police constable who is hand-picked by Joe to work on an undercover assignment in connection with a possible assasination attempt on the Prince of Wales. Lily is one tough customer and a delight. Joe constantly underestimates her and they develop an interesting relationship over the course of the book. A subplot involving the Romanovs proved to be especially interesting to me as I had just finished the Eye of the Red Tsar.
tessisreading2's review
2.0
This is the first Joe Sandilands novel I read, and it will be the last. The plot meandered along for the first several hundred pages, and while the mystery really picked up and became compelling in the last fifty pages or so, for me it was too little, too late. The series (to judge from this volume) depends, in part, on a vast number of supporting characters, many imported from previous books - too many for a new reader to have any sort of emotional attachment to them - and a lead character (Sandilands) whom all the women want and all the men want to be. The dialogue is frequently in paragraphs and seemed stilted to me, and there were too many plot threads, many of which were unrelated. Just not the book I thought I was picking up, at least not until it was almost over.
janu0303's review
4.0
Not quite as good as the rest. It was better when Sandilands was solving the mysteries for the Raj. But interesting story weaved around the Romanoc murders. I suppose, I do have a crush on Detective. If you liked Agatha Christie, you'll like this author too!
christiantseda's review
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
claudia_is_reading's review against another edition
4.0
Oh, I liked this one a lot! Particularly the relationship between Joe and Deputy Constable Lily Wentworth. He's an excellent mentor, but I can't help finding very amusing his difficulty in dealing with a policewoman :P
The plot is exciting and I liked the way in which the political scenario plays such a big part in the story and the detailed way in which the situation of the Russian immigrants and the killings of the Romanov family are entwined into the story.
There is a lot happening, there are several threads belonging to different cases and not all of them belong to the same tapestry; it's all very well done, managing to keep the suspense and the intrigue until the end.
Really liked it.
The plot is exciting and I liked the way in which the political scenario plays such a big part in the story and the detailed way in which the situation of the Russian immigrants and the killings of the Romanov family are entwined into the story.
There is a lot happening, there are several threads belonging to different cases and not all of them belong to the same tapestry; it's all very well done, managing to keep the suspense and the intrigue until the end.
Really liked it.
lauraellis's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
mandym's review
4.0
First I must mention this is a book I won via the Goodreads First Reads.
Set in London during 1922, the author manages to describe the variety in life, from the poor to the very privileged in believable tones. The author uses the time period to good effect,(after a war that has affected most of the nation, the Kings' relatives in Russia executed, and Irish rebellion) developing her characters,making full use of this backdrop.
The language used was typical of that era, it helped transport and convince the reader they were "watching" events unfold in the 1920's.
Young ladies would follow the etiquette of the day, social graces which are part of byegone era are alive in this book.
The plot has many twist and turns, moving at a steady pace. The idea of a woman detective at this time was unthinkable, so Lily had to contend with a lot of negative attitudes. However Lily is portrayed as a bright and independant person, who at times manages to see clues and "deduce" ahead of her Commander.
On begining the book you are led down one path, only for that path to divert, several times before the truth can be discovered. Personally, I quite like a book with a historical backdrop, and at times it reminded me of stereotypes of that era, though stereo types exist because they are based on actual personal traits.
Nice book an I would certainly read more of the Ms Cleverly's work.
Set in London during 1922, the author manages to describe the variety in life, from the poor to the very privileged in believable tones. The author uses the time period to good effect,(after a war that has affected most of the nation, the Kings' relatives in Russia executed, and Irish rebellion) developing her characters,making full use of this backdrop.
The language used was typical of that era, it helped transport and convince the reader they were "watching" events unfold in the 1920's.
Young ladies would follow the etiquette of the day, social graces which are part of byegone era are alive in this book.
The plot has many twist and turns, moving at a steady pace. The idea of a woman detective at this time was unthinkable, so Lily had to contend with a lot of negative attitudes. However Lily is portrayed as a bright and independant person, who at times manages to see clues and "deduce" ahead of her Commander.
On begining the book you are led down one path, only for that path to divert, several times before the truth can be discovered. Personally, I quite like a book with a historical backdrop, and at times it reminded me of stereotypes of that era, though stereo types exist because they are based on actual personal traits.
Nice book an I would certainly read more of the Ms Cleverly's work.
beckmank's review
3.0
This book had many things I liked about it...I enjoyed the relationship between Sandilands and Wentworth, the mystery itself was intriguing, the interaction between the fictional characters and real life people and events in London in the 1920s. But I really struggled in reading it, this book took me quite a while to get through and I'm not sure why. It was like I just couldn't quite get in synch with the rhythm of the book. I wonder if it is because this is the first book I had read in the series, which gave me a bit of difficulty at the start. It was an interesting plot, and I do look forward to another book featuring the duo of Sandilands and Wentworth, who it appears has made her first appearance in this book.
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