Folly Du Jour (Joe Sandilands Murder Mysteries) [Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Barbara Cleverly (Author), Terry Wale (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2008 | Series: Joe Sandilands Murder Mysteries

This is the seventh in the Joe Sandilands murder mystery series. It is set in Folies Bergere, Paris, December 1926. Joe hurries to the assistance of an old friend who has been arrested for murder. In a cell of the Quai des Orfevres he meets with Sir George Jardine, still in the evening dress stained with the blood of the dead man. The only other witness, a blonde who was sharing the victim's box, has vanished. Assistance for Joe comes from an entirely unexpected quarter - Francine, a young usherette, clawing her way into the world of the Paris Music Hall. It is she who becomes Joe's guide through this treacherous place where Joe is sure the killer is lurking.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* The first act of this new episode in Cleverly’s Jazz Age series starring Scotland Yard’s Joe Sandilands begins with a crowd of ghoulish onlookers watching blood drip from a sarcophagus in the Louvre; it then moves ahead in time to an airport tarmac, where a blustery, somewhat fearful Commander Sandilands boards a passenger plane—an Argosy (“four wings, three engines, two pilots” and 13 passengers)—bound for a Paris Interpol convention. Meanwhile, in Paris, the plan of another gruesome murder is taking form. Is there a connection? When Sir George Jardine, a retired diplomat and Joe’s mentor, is accused of nearly decapitating his enemy at a Paris music hall, and the bullheaded Commissaire Fournier of the French gendarmerie holds him in cruel custody, Sandilands subtly takes charge of the investigation. Cameo appearances by journalist Georges Simenon and entertainer Josephine Baker, along with a cast of believably developed supporting characters, build a steady crescendo of motive and opportunity until the surprising denouement reveals a troubling discordant element lurking in the very heart of the Parisian criminal justice system. This series and its hero age well: the perspicacious Sandilands exhibits an arresting combination of Mary Russell’s discernment and Chief Inspector Wexford’s tenacious certainty. --Jen Baker --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"'Cleverly's (novel) evokes and in some ways surpasses the work of Agatha Christie' Publishers Weekly 'The atmosphere of the dying days of the Raj is colourfully captured' Susanna Yager, Sunday Telegraph 'A great blood and guts blockbuster' Guardian 'Solidly plotted throughout' Literary Review" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Ulverscroft Soundings Ltd; Unabridged edition (October 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1407900692
• ISBN-13: 978-1407900698
• Shipping Information: View shipping rates and policies
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Barbara Cleverly is a former teacher and a graduate of Durham University who now lives in Cambridge. Her debut, The Last Kashmiri Rose, was a New York Times Notable Book of 2002.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars the weakest of the sandilands mysteries, August 16, 2008

By 

David W. Straight (knoxville, tennessee United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Folly du Jour (Joe Sandilands Murder Mysteries) (Hardcover)

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.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars terrific 1920s police procedural, August 7, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Folly du Jour (Joe Sandilands Murder Mysteries) (Hardcover)

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

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joe Sandilands delights us again, September 10, 2008

By 

Pamela C. Byerly (Sewanee, TN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Folly du Jour (Joe Sandilands Murder Mysteries) (Hardcover)

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.