Barbar Cleverly - Joe Sandilands Mysteries and Nancy Talbot Mysteries

[Carol Dickinson]

Two in a row. For the 2nd time in a week I found a new author I like. After 3 years of ick.

I just finished "The Last Kashmiri Rose" the first of THIRTEEN in the Joe Sandilands series This is set in 1922. He is a former London police officer and a veteran of WWI. He has just spent 6 months service in the Bengal area of India lecturing on modern detecting tools, when he is ordered to settle the minds of the military wives who have noticed a pattern of a regimental officer's wife dying from a freak accident every March. The first happened in 1910 so not only is the trail cold, there are no forensics etc.

The wife of the "collector" which seems to be a title for the chief law enforcement person, has convinced her Uncle the Governor, that her friend has not committed suicide and to have Sandilands investigate.

I don't really do police mysteries or British ones either anymore but this one is so far back in time, that most of what I object to in them was missing. I think I must have picked it up for my TBR pile because for a while a few years back I was going through a phase looking for mysteries in exotic locales, having accidentally read a couple set in unusual places.

I really couldn't say it better than the back cover blurb which says "In her spellbinding debut mystery .... (she) evokes both enchantments and dangers of India" and "has just about everything: a fresh, beautifully realized exotic setting, a strong, confident protagonist, a poignant love story, and an exquisitely complex plot."

Definitely the complex and multi-layered but understandable plot. And while I figured out "whodunnit" and was not surprised because she was fair with the clues, the motive was so completely unexpected despite the clear clues throughout.

I liked all of the characters, especially some of the Indians. I like the time period. You could see elements of the future politics of the area after WWII, just slightly. You wouldn't notice them if you didn't know history. It was not at all preachy.

I will definitely look for the next in the series. I looked her up and it shows she also has written 3 books in another series categorized as cozy so I'll try to find one of those also. Anybody read of them?

Carol

[Carol Dickinson]

Post by Carol Dickinson
Two in a row. For the 2nd time in a week I found a new author I like. After 3 years of ick.
I just finished "The Last Kashmiri Rose" the first of THIRTEEN in the Joe Sandilands series This is set in 1922. He is a former London police officer and a veteran of WWI. He has just spent 6 months service in the Bengal area of India lecturing on modern detecting tools, when he is ordered to settle the minds of the military wives who have noticed a pattern of a regimental officer's wife dying from a freak accident every March. The first happened in 1910 so not only is the trail cold, there are no forensics etc.
The wife of the "collector" which seems to be a title for the chief law enforcement person, has convinced her Uncle the Governor, that her friend has not committed suicide and to have Sandilands investigate.
I don't really do police mysteries or British ones either anymore but this one is so far back in time, that most of what I object to in them was missing. I think I must have picked it up for my TBR pile because for a while a few years back I was going through a phase looking for mysteries in exotic locales, having accidentally read a couple set in unusual places.
I really couldn't say it better than the back cover blurb which says "In her spellbinding debut mystery .... (she) evokes both enchantments and dangers of India" and "has just about everything: a fresh, beautifully realized exotic setting, a strong, confident protagonist, a poignant love story, and an exquisitely complex plot."
Definitely the complex and multi-layered but understandable plot. And while I figured out "whodunnit" and was not surprised because she was fair with the clues, the motive was so completely unexpected despite the clear clues throughout.
I liked all of the characters, especially some of the Indians. I like the time period. You could see elements of the future politics of the area after WWII, just slightly. You wouldn't notice them if you didn't know history. It was not at all preachy.
I will definitely look for the next in the series. I looked her up and it shows she also has written 3 books in another series categorized as cozy so I'll try to find one of those also. Anybody read of them?
Carol

Now where did I get the name Nancy. Its Laetitia Talbot.

[p***@gmail.com]

Post by Carol Dickinson
Two in a row. For the 2nd time in a week I found a new author I like. After 3 years of ick.
I just finished "The Last Kashmiri Rose" the first of THIRTEEN in the Joe Sandilands series This is set in 1922. He is a former London police officer and a veteran of WWI. He has just spent 6 months service in the Bengal area of India lecturing on modern detecting tools, when he is ordered to settle the minds of the military wives who have noticed a pattern of a regimental officer's wife dying from a freak accident every March. The first happened in 1910 so not only is the trail cold, there are no forensics etc.
The wife of the "collector" which seems to be a title for the chief law enforcement person, has convinced her Uncle the Governor, that her friend has not committed suicide and to have Sandilands investigate.
I don't really do police mysteries or British ones either anymore but this one is so far back in time, that most of what I object to in them was missing. I think I must have picked it up for my TBR pile because for a while a few years back I was going through a phase looking for mysteries in exotic locales, having accidentally read a couple set in unusual places.
I really couldn't say it better than the back cover blurb which says "In her spellbinding debut mystery .... (she) evokes both enchantments and dangers of India" and "has just about everything: a fresh, beautifully realized exotic setting, a strong, confident protagonist, a poignant love story, and an exquisitely complex plot."
Definitely the complex and multi-layered but understandable plot. And while I figured out "whodunnit" and was not surprised because she was fair with the clues, the motive was so completely unexpected despite the clear clues throughout.
I liked all of the characters, especially some of the Indians. I like the time period. You could see elements of the future politics of the area after WWII, just slightly. You wouldn't notice them if you didn't know history. It was not at all preachy.
I will definitely look for the next in the series. I looked her up and it shows she also has written 3 books in another series categorized as cozy so I'll try to find one of those also. Anybody read of them?
Carol

Yep, I read these books. I read the Talbot books, also, but I didn't enjoy them as much as the Sandiland books.

Pam

[Lj Roberts]

I have read the entire Sandilands series and am about to read the newest, "Diana's Alter." I did read one of the Lettica books, but didn't care for it.

LJ in Oakland.

Post by Carol Dickinson
I just finished "The Last Kashmiri Rose" the first of THIRTEEN in the Joe Sandilands series This is set in 1922.

[b***@gmail.com]

Post by Carol Dickinson
Two in a row. For the 2nd time in a week I found a new author I like. After 3 years of ick.
I just finished "The Last Kashmiri Rose" the first of THIRTEEN in the Joe Sandilands series This is set in 1922. He is a former London police officer and a veteran of WWI. He has just spent 6 months service in the Bengal area of India lecturing on modern detecting tools, when he is ordered to settle the minds of the military wives who have noticed a pattern of a regimental officer's wife dying from a freak accident every March. The first happened in 1910 so not only is the trail cold, there are no forensics etc.
The wife of the "collector" which seems to be a title for the chief law enforcement person, has convinced her Uncle the Governor, that her friend has not committed suicide and to have Sandilands investigate.
I don't really do police mysteries or British ones either anymore but this one is so far back in time, that most of what I object to in them was missing. I think I must have picked it up for my TBR pile because for a while a few years back
I was going through a phase looking for mysteries in exotic locales,
having accidentally read a couple set in unusual places.

That reminds me of public radio playbacks of the old 1940s radio broadcasts of: 'Voyage of The Scarlett Queen' that I listened to when I worked nights, etc.. I also think one or two: 'Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar' episodes occurred in a summertime mystery environment, especially the last episode. (Youtube has many of these old mystery broadcasts, but the public radio broadcasts have lately been replaced by mostly foreign programming)

[Nyssa]

On Saturday, August 12, 2017 at 3:04AM, Carol Dickinson

Post by Carol Dickinson
Two in a row. For the 2nd time in a week I found a new
author I like. After 3 years of ick.
I just finished "The Last Kashmiri Rose" the first of
THIRTEEN in the Joe Sandilands series This is set in
1922. He is a former London police officer and a veteran
of WWI. He has just spent 6 months service in the Bengal
area of India lecturing on modern detecting tools, when
he is ordered to settle the minds of the military wives
who have noticed a pattern of a regimental officer's wife
dying from a freak accident every March. The first
happened in 1910 so not only is the trail cold, there are
no forensics etc.
The wife of the "collector" which seems to be a title for
the chief law enforcement person, has convinced her Uncle
the Governor, that her friend has not committed suicide
and to have Sandilands investigate.
I don't really do police mysteries or British ones either
anymore but this one is so far back in time, that most
of what I object to in them was missing. I think I must
have picked it up for my TBR pile because for a while a
few years back I was going through a phase looking for
mysteries in exotic locales, having accidentally read a
couple set in unusual places.

That reminds me of public radio playbacks of the old 1940s
radio broadcasts of: 'Voyage of The Scarlett Queen' that I
listened to when I worked nights, etc.. I also think one
or two: 'Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar' episodes occurred in
a summertime mystery environment, especially the last
episode. (Youtube has many of these old mystery
broadcasts, but the public radio broadcasts have lately
been replaced by mostly foreign programming)

I got hooked by "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar" on the Radio
Classics channel of Sirius radio.

I have since purchased the whole series on MP3 format
CDs from otrcat.com and put them on an micro SD card so
I can listen to them via my Sansa Clip Plus player.

You can download complete episode samples of that and other
old radio shows on otrcat.com. Reasonable prices and they're
continually adding to their collections. Just a happy customer,
no affiliation.

I usually prefer reading over listening, but sometimes
listening is all you can do when doing household or yard work
chores, so it's nice to have on hand.

Nyssa, who is currently reading a thriller "The End of the
Line" that has scenes in Juneau, so may be of interest to
Carol