A Decline in Prophets
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2.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
A fascinating historical mystery by Sulari Gentill, author of #1 LibraryReads pick The Woman in the Library
Winner of the Davitt Award for Best Adult Crime Fiction for 2012
Travel back in time to 1932 and book a first-class suite on the passenger liner RMS Aquitania, but take care, for among your fellow passengers is a ruthless killer....
Direct threats from Australia's warring Right and the Left having quieted, so wealthy Rowland Sinclair and his group of bohemian friends are their way home to Sydney via New York after a lengthy stay in Europe. The wealthy Sinclair scion has treated his artist friends to first-class accommodations on the Cunard ship, the luxury liner of the day. Also on board are some members of the Theosophical Society (a spiritualism movement), as well as an aggressively conservative Irish Catholic Bishop and his cohorts. Their clash ups the tensions in first class and presents the liner's captain with a tricky situation when bodies start to drop.
It is Sinclair's bad luck that he becomes a suspect in the first death, that of the Bishop's beautiful young niece. But before the ship docks, he is cleared and the investigation, and further crimes, are taken ashore to the Australian capital and into some of its grand country houses—and of course, Rowly and his amateur sleuth friends follow.
Weaving a fascinating crime into a rich historical novel, this next Rowland Sinclair WWII Mystery is perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen, Kerry Greenwood, and Jacqueline Winspear.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in late 1932, Gentill's lively second mystery featuring dashing Australian millionaire Rowland "Rowly" Sinclair (after A Few Right Thinking Men) takes place initially aboard the luxury cruise ship Aquitania, as it steams along toward Sydney. Members of the Theosophical Society, Roman Catholic priests and bishops, Indian mystics, casual Protestants, clairvoyants, and Freemasons mix and mingle as best they can with Rowly and his entourage of poets and artists, or as Rowly's brother refers to them, "unemployed, subversive ne'er-do-wells!" When the honor of Rowly's friend, the decidedly delectable sculptress and model Edna Higgins, is in danger, he steps in to defend her from her unwanted suitor. The latter's subsequent murder has Rowly first cast as a suspect and then slipping into the role of detective. On the ship's arrival in Sydney in time for the Christmas holidays, the murders continue, as do attempts on Rowly's life. The witty and insightful glimpses of the Australian bourgeoisie of this period keep this mystery afloat.
