I discovered the award winning Commander Joe Sandilands mystery series by the British writer Barbara Cleverly about a year ago. If you haven’t heard of this series, do check it out. The first four books, The Last Kashmiri Rose, Ragtime in Simla, The Damascened Blade, and The Palace Tiger are set in the early 1920s in India after the World War I in the early 1920s. (The Damascened Blade, the third book in the series, is set in the tribal regions between what was then India and Afghanistan—what we now call the tribal region of present-day Pakistan where Bin Laden was believed to be hiding.)
The detective, Commander Joe Sandilands, is a war hero and former member of military intelligence who—in the first book—has been on temporary assignment to the Bengal Police from London’s Metropolitan Police, helping them set up new protocols for gathering forensic evidence. He is about to return to London when he receives a request from the Governor of Bengal to assist in a murder investigation at a military base in Panikhat.
In The Bee’s Kiss, the fifth book in the series, Sandilands has finally returned to London where Scotland Yard has assigned him to a special squad set up to handle sensitive cases involving the upper class.
Dame Beatrice Joliffe, one of the founders of the Wrens, has been bludgeoned to death in her suite at the Ritz and the emerald necklace she had been wearing is missing. Was it a burglary gone wrong? Or a far more sinister crime made to look that way? Commander Joe Sandilands is sent to find out.
Note: The books don’t have to read in order, but there is a continuing storyline about Sandilands that develops throughout the series.
Hey, sounds like a good read! A lot of my favorite novels were written in the early 1900s, so the timeframe for the story itself is especially appealing to me.
I’ve enjoyed all of books so far. Let me know what you think.
This series sounds excellent. I was reading only contemporary mystery for a while, but then discovered a couple of excellent historicals. Now I’m always looking for more. Thanks!
You’re welcome! Barbara Cleverly also has another mystery series set in the 1920s. Laetitia Talbot is an amateur sleuth, a young archeologist turned detective. The first book in the series is The Tomb of Zeus.
I’ll have to pass this on to my #4 daughter. She loves historical mysteries as much as I do. Thanks for the recommendation!
Happy to help! Let me know what you think. I’ve become quite a fan.
Happy to help! Let me know what you think. I’ve become quite a fan.
I’ve not read those books.
Then you have some enjoyable hours awaiting for you.
Then you have some enjoyable hours awaiting for you.
Does Cleverly pick up some of the tone and feel of the classic mystery writers of the era? Love your blog, by the way.
Barbara Cleverly is definitely in the tradition of the mystery writer’s of the Golden Age. She’s a wonderful storyteller with good plots and in-depth characterization.
I like series that stand alone – probably because I’m notorious for picking up #2 or higher the first time!
Barbara Cleverly is definitely in the traditon of the mystery writer’s of the Golden Age. She’s a wonderful storyteller with good plots and in-depth characterization.