Barbara Cleverly continues her fascinating and historical detection series starring Scotland Yard inspector Joe Sandilands in TUG OF WAR. Here, Sandilands must escort 14-year-old Dorcas Jagow-Joliffe, whom we met in the previous book, THE BEE’S KISS, to relatives in France. Since he’s going that way, the powers that be decide to assign him a peculiar case.
An unidentified war refugee in a catatonic state has been located in a French asylum. Four different French families have staked a claim to the man, but the attending doctor thinks he might be English. It’s Sandilands’ job to discover the man’s identity and return him to the bosom of his family. When Sandilands visits the four claimholders, he is struck alternately by their conviction that the man is of their family, and by the attendant greed in the eight years’ worth of Army back pay associated with the patient. Which family does the man belong to? Is he even French at all?
Sandilands conducts his investigation with the capable insights of his companion Dorcas. Cleverly handles the sidekick thing very well. (I know, you’re thinking, “Short Round! Short Round!” but it’s not like that all. Dorcas is precocious, yes, but still fairly well-grounded and intriguingly drawn.) Both protagonists are drawn to and repelled by the various claiming families, and the actual detection that goes on is realistic and crisply written.
Cleverly is a master at this type of story. She’s won a Crime Writers’ Association Historical Dagger award for THE DAMASCENED BLADE, and every time out, she puts forth a great story with strong characters, and twist after stunning twist that force you to keep reading. If you have any interest in the timeframe between the two World Wars, or if you just want a solid, well-written mystery, then look out for her books. —Mark Rose
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• THE BEE’S KISS by Barbara Cleverly
• THE PALACE TIGER by Barbara Cleverly
