Ragtime in Simla (Joe Sandilands Murder Mysteries): Amazon.co.uk: Barbara Cleverly, Terry Wale: Books

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Review

The successor to The Last Kashmiri Rose, this novel follows the same theme of murder and mayhem during the dog days of the British Raj in India. Commander Joe Sandilands of Scotland Yard takes up an invitation from the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, Sir George Jardine, to escape the heat of Delhi and spend his leave in a guesthouse in the summer capital of Simla. Waiting at the station for Sir George's driver, he meets a distinguished Russian opera singer, Feodor Korsovsky, who is going to perform in Simla. As the only means of transport for the 50-mile journey to Simla is the toy train or a tonga, Joe offers a lift, with disastrous consequences for the Russian. It appears that Sir George had an ulterior motive for getting Joe to Simla; there has already been one murder committed on the road to Simla and Joe is detailed to investigate. As Joe and local police chief Charlie Carter begin to question people, he finds that something sinister is simmering beneath Simla's deceptively benign surface. Two worlds collide when people in Simla are linked to a train crash that happened three years before in France, and Joe must try to sift out the truth amid lies, deceit, blackmail and sudden death. His eventful leave involves a dramatic seance, the beautiful madam of the local brothel, a desperate ride to the northern hills and another murder. This is a fast-moving yarn, combining a tangled plot dotted with lively characters with a vivid depiction of the way of life of the British Raj. Thoroughly enjoyable. --Kirkus UK

The repercussions from a chance encounter aboard France's Blue Train, just before its crash in 1919, reach back to India's Hill Country three years later. Summoned to Simla, the summer seat of the British Raj, by Sir George Jardine, Commander Joe Sandiland (The Last Kashmiri Rose, 2002), due to return to Scotland Yard in one month, is accompanied to the Hill Country by Russian baritone Feodor Korsovsky, who steps out of their car to admire the view and is promptly dispatched by a sniper's bullet. Oddly, the long-lost brother of Alice Conyers Sharpe, 51% owner of the mighty Imperial & Colonial Trading Corporation, had been downed in precisely the same spot a year ago. To find the connection, Sandiland seeks out many stunning women, including lovely Alice, one of only three survivors of the Blue Train crash; her dear friend Mademoiselle Pitiot, owner of a tony dress shop; Madame Flora, brothel owner and scheming blackmailer; and Mrs. Freemantle, a spiritualist/con artist. In addition, Sir George has planted undercover agents everywhere. Who conveniently used that train crash to cash in on a big payoff? The answer will involve detours through gun-smuggling, jewelry-pawning, and a ghostly sighting before Sandiland sails for home with one of those lovely, lying ladies at his side-and others ensconced in nearby cabins. A fulsome period hymn to pink gin that proves Kipling's dictum that the female of the species is deadlier than the male. --Kirkus Reviews --This text refers to the Paperback edition.