Miles Off Course
-
-
2.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $6.99
-
- $6.99
Publisher Description
A fascinating historical mystery by Sulari Gentill, author of #1 LibraryReads pick The Woman in the Library
"Set in Australia in 1933, Gentill's entertaining third mystery featuring portrait artist Rowland Sinclair will appeal to fans of Greenwood's Phryne Fisher." —Publishers Weekly
"Norman Lindsay is a complete and utter bastard!"
With this curse heaped upon the renowned real-life Australian artist and cartoonist, Miles Off Course gets underway. It is early in 1933, and wealthy bohemian Rowland Sinclair and his companions, a poet, a painter, and a sculptress who also models nude, are ensconced in the superlative luxury of The Hydro Majestic-Medlow Bath, where trouble seems distant, despite Australia's being roiled by the same political currents as are upending Europe.
But Rowland, try as he might to lead the boho life in Sydney in the family mansion or in a luxury spa, can't dismiss the responsibilities of being a Sinclair. Most of them rest upon his conservative elder brother, Wilfred. And Wil now makes two claims on Rowly. One is to appear at an important upcoming board meeting of a firm where Rowly, pressured by Wil, serves as a director. And the other is to hustle up into the high country where a longtime family stockman appears to have gone missing—and find him.
Harry Simpson is an aborigine. The easy answer is that Harry has gone walkabout, but neither Sinclair brother believes this to be true. Plus there are the Sinclair cattle to round up.
Instead of saddling up, Rowly insists upon driving his beautiful if despised Mercedes-Benz and taking a posse in the persons of his three live-in friends along. And off they go into a rollicking Outback adventure, where the familiar elements of an American Western blend with gangsters, spies, murder—and a very belligerent writer. The plot dances inventively around actual historical events and a cameo appearance or two made by famous Australian historical figures. Which takes us back to Norman Lindsay....
Brimming with larger-than-life characters and brain teasing crimes, this Rowland Sinclair WWII Mystery will appeal to fans of Rhys Bowen, Kerry Greenwood, and Jacqueline Winspear.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in Australia in 1933, Gentill's entertaining third mystery featuring portrait artist Rowland Sinclair (after 2016's A Decline in Prophets) will appeal to fans of Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher. Soon after Rowland is recognized for his work with an invitation to contribute a painting to an exhibition at the prestigious Art Gallery of New South Wales, he barely escapes being abducted from his Sydney hotel suite by three thugs, an attempt that may be part of a pattern of kidnappings in the city targeting the affluent. The obvious motive is greed, given Rowland's family's financial resources, but he can't rule out the possibility that he was targeted by a business or political enemy of his influential and powerful older brother, Wilfred. Meanwhile, Rowland learns that a longtime Sinclair employee, Harry Simpson, one of Wilfred's most trusted men, has disappeared after being asked to look into discrepancies in the records of the family cattle holdings. Gentill matches Greenwood's skill at blending suspense with a light touch. This review has been corrected; a Kerry Greenwood's first name was incorrectly cited in a previous version.
