The Blood Royal

July 18, 2011
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.

September 1, 2011

After three rounds with a new detective (A Darker God, 2010, etc.), Cleverly brings back Joe Sandilands (Folly du Jour, 2008, etc.) for the eighth time to investigate, and instigate, international intrigue in London between the wars.

Lily Wentworth is one of London's few policewomen. Despite her blonde hair and petite stature, she walks a London beat to protect prostitutes and children. When Joe Sandilands needs a feminine partner for a special assignment, he dragoons Lily. Scotland Yard is worried for the lives of the royal family after Irish rebels murder two prominent politicians. So Lily, in borrowed finery, passes for the Prince of Wales' new paramour while watching his back at a charitable ball for aristocratic Russian emigres. She proves herself sharp as she and Sandilands unravel the schemes of Irish assassins to find a deeper plot, and sharper still by saving Prince Edward from poisoning. The Russian aristocrats have laid a trail of red herrings for Sandilands and Lily. Does the trail lead all the way back to the execution of the Romanovs?

Stretches the bounds of historical credulity, but does so with panache. A darkly glamorous thriller.

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September 1, 2011

Joe Sandilands (Strange Images of Death), on his return to London from India, is placed in charge of the Special Irish Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department. Mix in a suspicious Russian princess and let the drama begin. This is set in 1922, and there's plenty of room for intrigue.

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