- Hardcover
- Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd; Large type edition edition (1 Aug 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1846178371
- ISBN-13: 978-1846178375
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,220,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Tug of War: Detective Joe Sandilands Series, Book 10
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Product Description
New York Times August 26 2007
Simply put - it's a stunner.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Toronto Globe and Mail. September 1 2007
Simply terrific. Densely plotted, beautifully written history builds into an excellent mystery with a murder and love story at its heart.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The best of the Sandilands so far. Unusual mystery in an unusual setting. I had no idea about the battle of the Chemin des Dames, I didn't know much about Champagne, the region. Ms Cleverly defies the rules of the mystery novel - the detective is assigned the problem of working out the mystery of a man who is still alive, not yet a corpse. The answer to the puzzle is fundamental to the plot but it's not long before Sandilands tracks down a body cleverly hidden. As usual I didn't guess the ending but when I read it I knew there could be no other. You have to hang on right until the last sentence before you know the full story but it's a satisfying end. It's not a question of `eeny-meeny-miney-mo' like in some mysteries. The answer always comes from the character of the people involved and the clues are there all the way through the book, though you don't realise until all the evidence is in. The detective, Joe Sandilands, is always one step ahead of the reader and arrives at his solution with the help of an unusual sidekick. His young niece is as intuitive and resourceful as he is - she's no Doctor Watson, just a sounding board - but adds quite a lot to the action and the interest of the book. Through her fresh eyes we catch a glimpse of a war-torn France, pulling itself back together, licking its wounds and re-asserting its Frenchness.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Commander Joe Sandilands is planning to take his 14-year-old niece, Dorcas, to be reunited with her father in the South of France. However, his superior has asked that he stop in Reims. A former soldier, suffering from shell shock, residing at a local sanatorium, is being claimed as the husband of a wealthy owner of a champagne vineyard. The woman's son claims his mother murdered her husband and sealed his body behind a wall. Another complication comes from four other people who also claim the soldier and the patient's doctor who believes the soldier may be English rather than French. With the soldier's considerable pension and well-being involved, it is important the right identity be made.
I am a huge fan of Cleverly's books. She really knows how to set the stage and give the reader a sense of physical, emotional and political place. Along with Charles Todd and Anne Perry, she writes about the horror of WWI and its impact on those who fought and lived it. She creates strong, smart, interesting characters, particularly Sandilands and Dorcas, but all her characters have dimension with dialogue that has a natural flow. But the core of it all is a good, solid traditional mystery that kept me turning the pages in the non-stop read. I highly recommend this book and the entire series.
I am a huge fan of Cleverly's books. She really knows how to set the stage and give the reader a sense of physical, emotional and political place. Along with Charles Todd and Anne Perry, she writes about the horror of WWI and its impact on those who fought and lived it. She creates strong, smart, interesting characters, particularly Sandilands and Dorcas, but all her characters have dimension with dialogue that has a natural flow. But the core of it all is a good, solid traditional mystery that kept me turning the pages in the non-stop read. I highly recommend this book and the entire series.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The book has a happy ending - surprising but satisfying. Hang on to that! Because on the way, you'll have to run a course that'll tug at your emotions, something we don't expect in the thriller/detective genre.
Set in Champagne, in the misty aftermath of the Great War, the novel picks a tricky course through the landscape of a regenerating France to establish the identity, not of a corpse, but of a man who is inconveniently (for the French authorities) alive. The amnesiac late-return prisoner of war is claimed by several French families with their own sinister reasons for wanting him, but his doctor suspects that he may in fact be British. Sandilands is sent to sort out the problem. On his way to the truth he unearths an old murder, establishes the identity of the mystery soldier and prevents a future crime.
Involving - it kept me up all night turning pages. Cleverly plays her audience with the skill of an Agatha Christie but with ten times the psychological insight. As usual with her books, it's not the who dun it but the why the hell they done it that's gripping.
Set in Champagne, in the misty aftermath of the Great War, the novel picks a tricky course through the landscape of a regenerating France to establish the identity, not of a corpse, but of a man who is inconveniently (for the French authorities) alive. The amnesiac late-return prisoner of war is claimed by several French families with their own sinister reasons for wanting him, but his doctor suspects that he may in fact be British. Sandilands is sent to sort out the problem. On his way to the truth he unearths an old murder, establishes the identity of the mystery soldier and prevents a future crime.
Involving - it kept me up all night turning pages. Cleverly plays her audience with the skill of an Agatha Christie but with ten times the psychological insight. As usual with her books, it's not the who dun it but the why the hell they done it that's gripping.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Multi-layered Mystery
Barbara Cleverly has created another difficult case for Joe Sandilands of Scotland Yard to solve. As in The Bee's Kiss and The Last Kashmiri Rose, this novel has a complex plot... Read more
Published on 7 July 2008 by Mary Simonsen
An unusual angle of the aftermath of war
As always Barbara Cleverly creates the twenties with an impressive authenticity and understanding. On top of that you have an excellent story. Read more
Published on 5 July 2008 by P. Masters
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