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Tuesday 7 April 2015

'Enter Pale Death' by Barbara Cleverly



Published by Soho Crime
11 December 2014.
ISBN 978-1-61695-408-6

This twelfth adventure for Joe Sandilands maintains the impeccably high standard of the stories before it.  Joe, now an Assistant Commissioner for Police at Scotland Yard is dealing with an investigation that needs very delicate handling.  He suspects that the death of Lavinia, Lady Truelove when she was trampled by a frightened, bad tempered horse was actually murder.  To discover the truth he must delve into the lives of the privileged classes.  The widower of the victim, Sir James Truelove is a politician at a top level and possibly on the verge of greater power in an era of dangerous political development - April 1933.

Joe has personal reasons for his doubts about Sir James since Dorcas Joliffe, a lady he hopes to marry, is under the academic patronage of the politician.  The swirling events around Joe, acting alone at a weekend gathering at the Truelove country estate, lead to a further death and complex investigations into complex political and financial motives.  Joe reaches a conclusion about the responsibility for the deaths but whether this was completely successful is a moot point.
This is a very enjoyable read.
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Jennifer S. Palmer
The first book in this series was set in 1920s India it is the Last Kashmiri Rose.  Barbara Cleverly also has a series about Laetitia Talbot who is an archaeologist in Crete in the 1920s.

 Barbara Cleverley was born in the north of England and is a graduate of Durham University. A former teacher. she now works in Cambridge and Suffolk. She is known for her Detective Joe Sandilands Mystery series, of which she has written eleven books, and her Laetitia Talbot Mystery series.  Cleverly received the Crime Writers Association Ellis Peters Dagger Award 2004. The Last Kashmiri Rose was a New York Times Notable Book.She currently lives in Cambridge, England.





Jennifer Palmer Throughout my reading life crime fiction has been a constant interest; I really enjoyed my 15 years as an expatriate in the Far East, the Netherlands & the USA but occasionally the solace of closing my door to the outside world and sitting reading was highly therapeutic. I now lecture to adults on historical topics including Famous Historical Mysteries.



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