Customer Reviews

Folly Du Jour (Joe Sandilands 7)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you're new to the series, don't start with this one. You might not read any of Cleverly's other Sandilands novels. Look for one of the books set in India (e.g. The Last Kashmiri Rose) or Tug of War (set in the French countryside). Skip The Bee's Kiss (which also rates only 3 stars). The Indian novels are strengthened by their exotic locales, and Tug of War, while not in an exotic setting, is a richly-textured and satisfying tale, carefully crafted and driven by characters rather than action.

Folly du Jour, set in Paris, tries to rely on fast pace and violence. The author attempts to glamorize things with Lindbergh's arrival in Paris and with Josephine Baker--but these are not successful. There's a sense of confusion, a patching in of elements from previous novels. The Paris underworld, the Apaches, play a major part. It's not quite as corpse-strewn as Hammett's Red Harvest, but it comes close. So what you get seems minimally different from a thousand other pulp-fictionish crime novels, which is sad, since Cleverly has proven herself capable of much better work.

Contrast this with Tug of War, which had one long-dead corpse. There was no action, no violence--which seemed a bit odd, but only at first. That novel was carefully written, and had a beautiful quiet strength. It didn't need shootings, killings, and car chases to achieve its power. The India novels have more action and violence, but it never gets out of hand, and if you pruned out the action and violent episodes, the stories would still have been powerful. Unfortunately, The Bee's Kiss wandered away from these strengths, and Folly du Jour has gotten even further away. So try instead Tug of War or The Last Kashmiri Rose.

In 1927 Scotland Yard Detective Joe Sandilands attends the Interpol conference in Paris, but when he lands at the airport the local police meet him. They take Joe to a prison where they hold a countryman of his charged with murder. Joe is stunned to find the French police accuse his long time friend Sir George Jardine of stabbing Sir Stanley Somerton, another person Joe knew but in this case would prefer not to have ever met the horrid victim.

Joe rejects the official position as he knows George would never do such an act except in self defense. He and French detective Inspector Jean-Philippe Bonnefoye investigate together based on the assumption someone else murdered the sleazy Somerton. They start at the morgue where pathologist Dr. Moulin explains the odd M.O. matches several recent homicides in the last three to four years. The two sleuths wonder whether a serial killer is stalking Paris.

FOLLY DU JOUR is a terrific 1920s police procedural starring two superb detectives. Joe may be shocked in his latest case (see THE BEE'S KISS, THE PALACE TIGER and THE LAST KASHMIRI ROSE), but gets to work right away while his French partner holds up his end of their joint investigation. Although the resolution can be seen from the French capital to London, historical mystery readers enjoy the two detectives' guided tour of Roaring Twenties euphoric post WWI Paris as this is a superb historical whodunit.

Harriet Klausner

Barbara Cleverly gives us another wonderful read with Joe Sandilands. Her delightful character Joe Sandilands is now in France. He is called to the aid his old friend from India and the plot unfolds. Her historical setting is so believable that the reader is transported back to the days of Apollinaire in France. Once you read one you will need to read them all. I hope she is busy writing as I need another Joe Sandilands fix.

I have enjoyed this whole series. Good writing, good period research, and great stories. I had to buy this one, even before it went to paperback, because I have enjoyed the series so much.

This was my first Joe Sandilands mystery. Although I enjoyed the historical setting of early Paris--I have to agree with an earlier reviewer and encourage you to read another Barbara Cleverly murder mystery first.

The strong point for me was that I did not determine who the killer was--that doesn't happen to me often!

If you are a fan of the series--read it. Others might want to explore her other titles first.

As the seventh of Barbara Cleverley's mystery series starring Joe Sandilands, it must first be said that "Folly de Jour" should *not* be read without first reading Ragtime in Simla. I found that out the hard way, as this latest installment features a character that no doubt played a significant part in that previous mystery, and whose appearance here contains several spoilers for whatever it was that went down in Simla five books ago. Furthermore, although this is an enjoyable read, it's not the best book in this series and probably not one that a newcomer should start with.

It is 1927 and detective Joe Sandilands arrives in Paris to attend an Interpol Conference. Meanwhile, his old friend and colleague George Jardine is seated at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees after receiving an anonymous ticket at his hotel. Thinking that it's from his nephew, George is shocked to find himself in the presence of two old acquaintances: in the box across the theatre sits a familiar and unwelcome face from the military; beside him in the box is a beautiful woman that he had assumed dead. He's in for a very strange evening, and not just due to the scandalous performance on the stage.

Early the same morning, Sandilands is awakened at his hotel by his superiors, asking him to attend to a diplomatic situation. Jardine is being held in the custody of the overzealous Commissaire Fournier, having been accused of cutting the throat of his old enemy who was found murdered in his box after the performance. Sandilands is convinced of his friend's innocence, and yet is surprised to find Jardine oddly unforthcoming on the subject. He's obviously hiding something, and helped by his French associate Jean-Philippe Bonnefoye, Sandilands eventually stumbles to the idea of a secret assassination bureau who stage elaborate murders for the enjoyment of their clients.

"Folly du Jour" provides a bright, colourful look at Parisian culture in the 1920s, for Cleverley's gift is the ring of authenticity in her settings, and every sentence is packed full of a sense of time and place. Furthermore, there is a liveliness to the prose that makes everything seem very real and immediate: "I favour a Luger these days for self-protection. Though I make a point of never going armed to the theatre. Too tempting to express an over-critical view of the performance." There is plenty of humour and humanity to the proceedings that help balance out the darker side of the criminal world.

Joe Sandilands is a good, if somewhat bland detective, who in his professional capacity, deals with military, diplomatic and political crimes. The protocol of 1920s policing in both Britain and France seems to be very well researched (though I'm no expert on the matter, it certainly *feels* authentic) and Cleverley manages to capture a very masculine point-of-view in regards to her protagonist.

However, as I said before, "Folly du Jour" is not her best. The concept of the "theatre-murder for hire" is a little overblown, and often the range of suspects, the circumstances in which the investigation takes place, even the prologue, seem rather piecemeal. Aviator Charles Lindbergh, journalist Georges Simenon and singer/dancer Josephine Baker are inserted into the story with marginal success. They are not completely superfluous to the plot, but they do seem to be put into the mix just for the heck of it.

Toward the end of the story, two suspects are revealed: one whose identity and motives have a certain sense of poetry and logic to them; the other who seems completely out of left-field. In short: I felt Cleverley went with the wrong one as the mastermind, switching identity of the initial killer for the sake of one last (unnecessary) twist.

Held up against the quality of her previous novels, "Folly du Jour" certainly falls a little short, and yet it's still an exciting, interesting read and certainly comes recommended by me - so long as you read another Sandilands mystery (preferably "Ragtime in Simla") first. There's only one thing better than curling up with an Agatha Christie on a cold winter's night, and that's curling up with a Barbara Cleverley.

I have read all the Joe Sandilands books in order and have thoroughly enjoyed the adventures in India and Afghanistan, which is why this one is a real treat. Joe and Sir George are old friends by this time and I'm delighted to see them challenged by a master of evil in Paris, the city of Lights. I didn't want to stop reading this one--as with all the others!

Please don't start your reading of the Joe Sandilands books with this one -- you will not enjoy it nearly as much as you would if you read Cleverly's earlier novels starring the Scotland Yard commander. At least read "Ragtime in Simla". Otherwise you may not appreciate this book fully. Cleverly writes outstanding thrillers and this is no exception. This one is laid not in India but in Paris during the late 1920s when Josephine Baker and jazz ruled. Into this setting enter Joe, Sir George Jardine and the fascinating Alice Conyers -- all old India hands. And they become involved, one way or another, with a series of bizarre, exotic murders. It ends as do Cleverly's other books -- very cleverly. If you like historic police procedurals set in interesting times, you will thoroughly enjoy "Folly du Jour."

If you love mysteries from the 20's and 30's or mysteries with archaeology you will love all of Barbara Cleverly's books. She can't write them fast enough to suit this reader. Joe Sandilands is always amazing and very human.India, post WW1 England or wherever, it's always exciting being there with her.If the author is Barbara Cleverly you can't go wrong!