Enter Pale Death
Review: Joe Sandilands has been promoted to Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard. His new position comes with additional responsibilities, which includes handling more sensitive cases, such as one of "death by misadventure" on the estate of one of England's most prominent families, in Enter Pale Death, the twelfth mystery in this series by Barbara Cleverly.
Lady Lavinia Truelove has been found dead, apparently trampled to death by one of her horses. The police have no reason to suspect foul play, and label her death accidental. Because Lady Truelove was the wife of Sir James, the Minister of Education, Joe is informed of their findings directly. But something about the casefile bothers him, and he requests that Lily Wentworth, a constable and friend of Joe's, to quietly look into Sir James's daily activities. It's an awkward request, as Sir James is being considered for the post of Minister of Law and Order, to which Joe himself would report. And there's a personal connection, too: Sir James is the academic patron of Dorcas Joliffe, a young woman Joe has known for years and who he wants to marry some day. When Dorcas learns that Joe is investigating Sir James for his wife's death, she becomes angry with him. But in the past there have been other mysterious deaths of women on the Truelove estate, and that's not a coincidence that Joe can ignore, even if it imperils his relationship with Dorcas.
Joe Sandilands is an endearing character and a fine lead, and it's good to see that his hard work is being rewarded with ever-increasing responsibility within the police department. The conflicts set up by the plot are intriguing, and provide for some credible misdirection for the reader as Joe's investigation progresses. A solid mystery overall, and a terrific addition to this very good series set in 1930s England.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Enter Pale Death.
Acknowledgment: Soho Press provided an ARC of Enter Pale Death for this review.
Review Copyright © 2015 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Selected reviews of other mysteries by this author … A Spider in the Cup Soho Crime (Hardcover), August 2013 ISBN-13: 9781616952884; ISBN-10: 1616952881
Location(s) referenced in Enter Pale Death: London, England
|
— ♦ —
Enter Pale Death by Barbara Cleverly — A Joe Sandilands Mystery
Publisher: Soho Crime
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-13: 978-1-61695-408-6
Publication Date: December 2014
List Price: $26.95
— ♦ —
Page Author: Lance Wright Site Publisher: Mysterious Reviews
Mysterious Reviews is a Division of The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books and a Business Unit of the Omnimystery Family of Mystery Websites
|