Detective Joe Sandilands is back in Barbara Cleverly’s FOLLY DU JOUR, the seventh in this highly entertaining series. Set in 1920s Paris, Sandilands is ordered by Scotland Yard to investigate the death of one Lord Somerton, a ne’er-do-well who seems to have been stabbed to death at a performance by the legendary Josephine Baker. An eyewitness places the culprit to be George Jardine, an ex-military man and one-time top ranking diplomat. Sandilands knows Jardine and finds it hard to believe he could be guilty of such a crime.
Cleverly is an expert at setting the scene, and each page makes you feel like you are in Paris, with the delicately drawn descriptions of food, scenery and people. This book seems a bit more joyous, more effusive than others in the series, and it suits the wild and woolly decade of the ’20s quite well.
Sandilands is the kind of chap you’d like to know: a handsome flirt with the ladies, a man’s man when it comes to action. The plot is slightly outrageous, but you’re having so much fun while reading, it doesn’t matter terribly.
Collectors should also note that both Baker and Georges Simenon have small, but significant roles in the story, and these are handled deftly, without the usual ham-handed celebrity fawning in which most writers would indulge. If you haven’t tried the Sandilands series yet, you really should give it a go with the first, THE LAST KASHMIRI ROSE. You’ll quickly find yourself devouring the rest. —Mark Rose
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• THE BEE’S KISS by Barbara Cleverly
• THE PALACE TIGER by Barbara Cleverly
• TUG OF WAR by Barbara Cleverly
