The Blood Royal
-
-
5.0 • 3 Ratings
-
-
- $8.99
-
- $8.99
Publisher Description
On his return from India, Commander Joe Sandilands, now adept at the arts of dynamic diplomacy, finds himself up to his neck in a tricky political situation. A war-weary London is reeling from IRA atrocities and Joe is further plagued by the machinations of a spy-ring being run under his nose by a Russian emigree princess. When a war hero is gunned down and the life of an even more popular Englishman threatened, Joe knows he only has days to root out the woman who is behind the killings: Irish? Russian? Or somebody quite other?
With the aid of the proposed victim who offers himself as bait, and the services of a woman police constable, Joe discovers that the murderer's motive is not political but much more devious and deranged. And when the mask comes off, the killer's identity shocks even the battle-hardened commander.
Praise for Barbara Cleverly:
'Clevery's (novel) evokes and in some way surpasses the work of Agatha Christie' Publishers Weekly
'The atmosphere of the dying days of the Raj is colourfully captured' Sunday Telegraph
'A great blood and guts blockbuster' Guardian
'Spectacular and dashing. Spellbinding' New York Times Book Review
'Stellar... as always' New York Times Book Review
'Atmospheric... intricately plotted' Kirkus Review
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1922, Cleverly's ninth whodunit featuring Scotland Yard Cmdr. Joe Sandilands (after 2010's Strange Images of Death) falls short of her usual high standard. Feisty Lilian Wentworth, a female police constable, is slated for termination due to budget cuts when Sandilands finds her foiling a kidnapper at London's Paddington Station. Instead of being bounced, Wentworth is tapped for a covert assignment whose details Sandilands keeps close to his chest. His own professional standing is in peril after an official he was responsible for protecting, Admiral Lord Dedham, is gunned down on his doorstep, apparently by Irish assassins. Wentworth manages to gain the confidence of Dedham's bereaved widow, Cassandra, even as evidence emerges that the gunmen apprehended after the murder weren't acting alone. Wentworth makes a less engaging sidekick than Sandilands's honorary niece, Dorcas Joliffe, and the frisson of romance between Sandilands and Wentworth detracts from, rather than enhances, the plot.
