15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very strong historical mystery in the last days of the Raj, 9 Sep 2004
By booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Damascened Blade: The Third Novel Featuring Detective Joe Sandilands (Joe Sandilands Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Between the world wars, peace is uneasy on the border between British India and Afghanistan. When a tribal group arrives at a British fort to escort a British doctor into Afghanistan, it looks like a chance for peace. By chance, a British Lord, an American millionairess, a London Detective, a British Air Force officer, and an Indian civil servant are also in the fort when, disaster, the leader of the escort is found dead. The doctor is quick to proclaim an accident, but detective Joe Sandilands doesn't believe it--the evidence is just a bit off. If it wasn't an accident, though, the death might just be what is required to set off an uprising within the tribal areas of what is now Pakistan--an uprising that overstretched Britain can ill afford.
Sandilands, along with young millionairess Lily Coblenz, find themselves with the uncomfortable duty of discovering the truth, even if that truth might mean war. When the dead officer's successor challenges the official verdict, Lily finds herself a captive of the tribes and Joe must go undercover to discover the truth. But the real truth is something that goes back for years in a never-ending cycle of death and revenge that tears at the tribal border between India and Afghanistan.
Author Barbara Cleverly manages a strong and sympthetic story of the declining years of the British Empire where peace hangs in the balance and where honor and truth are easy sacrifices for expediency. Both Sandilands and Coblenz are sympathetically drawn and attractive characters with just a hint of sexual chemistry between them. But the strength of the story comes from Cleverly's descriptions of a lost India and the balance she brings to her view of the cycle of violence.
This is the first book I've read by Barbara Cleverly, but it certainly won't be the last. It is a well written and enjoyable historical treat.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent mystery., 9 April 2005
By L. J. Roberts - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Damascened Blade: The Third Novel Featuring Detective Joe Sandilands (Joe Sandilands Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Although it helps to have read the first two books in the series to understand Joe, the other characters are interesting and well developed. She conveys a very tangible sense of place and there are twists and turns that keep you going to the very end. Set against a backdrop of English-occupied India in 1992, this is an excellent mystery, and one certain to be on my 2004 Top Ten list.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read!, 29 Oct 2004
By Bibliophile in the hills - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Damascened Blade: The Third Novel Featuring Detective Joe Sandilands (Joe Sandilands Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Couldn't put this book down! Enjoyed the setting, the characters and the plot for this whodunit. Ms Cleverly plops you down in Raj India and away you go! Now reading "Ragtime in Simla" and it is very good too!