Ragtime in Simla: The Second in the Detective Joe Sandilands Series [Hardcover]

Barbara Cleverly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 2003

World War I hero and Scotland Yard detective Joe Sandilands is traveling to Simla, summer capital of the British Raj, when he is thrust abruptly—and bloodily—into his second case of serial murder: His traveling companion, a Russian opera singer, is shot dead at his side in the Governor of Bengal's touring car at a crossroads known as Devil's Elbow. Like Cleverly's award-winning and enthusiastically reviewed The Last Kashmiri Rose, which debuted Sandilands, Ragtime in Simla effectively combines exotic settings with high suspense in a deftly plotted tale of 1920s India. At Simla, in the pine-scented Himalayan hills, the English colonials have re-created a bit of home with half-timbered houses, glittering dinner tables, amateur theatricals, and gymkhanas. But when Joe's murder investigation turns up an identical unsolved killing a year earlier, he begins to uncover behind the close-knit community's sparkling facade a sinister trail of blackmail, vice, and deadly secrets.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fully developed characters and a convincing portrayal of time and place lift Cleverly's second historical (after 2002's The Last Kashmiri Rose) featuring Commander Joe Sandilands, a Scotland Yard detective stationed in post-WWI India. Sandilands has a personal stake in catching a cunning murderer, as the victim was struck down just inches away from him as they paused to admire the view from a spot known as Devil's Elbow in Simla, the summer capital of the Raj. Despite his fleeting acquaintance with the murdered man, a noted Russian singer, the sleuth feels compelled to put all his energies into avenging him, a challenge that's compounded when he learns of a nearly identical killing at the same spot a year earlier. The circumstances of that crime lead him to a young, attractive British expat, who's managed to successfully run a major trading house despite numerous personal tragedies. Working with the local superintendent, Sandilands maneuvers through the interlocking threads of Simla's colonial power base, which include a well-protected brothel, a spiritualist and Indian nationalists. The murderer's identity comes as a nice and logical surprise. While the ending suggests that Sandilands may next apply his considerable gifts outside India, the author's talent seems capable of transcending any shift in scene.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Scotland Yard Commander Joseph Sandilands, a World War I hero, has accepted an invitation to spend his vacation at the guesthouse of the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal in Simla, the summer capital of the British Raj. A noted Russian opera singer who will be performing there shares a ride with him from the train station in the governor's car. As they climb the steep mountain road, a sniper kills the singer and Sandilands' vacation turns into an investigation. Working with the police, he discovers that there was an identical shooting a year earlier that remains unsolved. As he learns more about Simla, a transplanted slice of England in the Himalayan hills, he finds a web of blackmail, vice, and other nasty secrets behind the proper British facade. Ms. Cleverly (The Last Kashmiri Rose [BKL Ag 02]) deftly transports readers to an exotic locale filled with intrigue, suspense, and characters skilled in the art of deception. This is perfect armchair travel for historical mystery fans. Barbara Bibel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf; 1st Carroll & Graf Ed edition (September 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786712465
• ISBN-13: 978-0786712465
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,658,033 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ah, the final years of the glorious Raj!, November 5, 2004

By 

Arthur C. Doyle "Reading since 1942" (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ragtime in Simla: The Second in the Detective Joe Sandilands Series (Hardcover)

The days of British rule in India are nearing their end in 1922, when this (dare I say)cleverly plotted mystery by Barbara Cleverly takes place.

To outward appearances, things are well in hand. Just a few thousand colonial troops, along with their Indian military staff and a handfull of top British government officials control a population of millions. But there is trouble ahead. Ghandi is busy raising the consiousness of the Indian population, and Afghanistan is poised to make trouble along the northern border.

Ms. Cleverly immediately plunges the reader into a world where British administrators, like Lieutenant Governor of Bengal Sir George Jardine may as well be Rajahs. They live in mansions with a staff of servants, and continue to dress as they did in England, all the while living in a climate like that of Houston.

The climate is the reason why the government repairs in summer to Simla, a mountain town which provides relief from the heat in the days before air conditioning. Scotland Yard Commander Joe Sandilands has been invited to visit Sir George for a vacation before heading back to England. Sir George sends a Packard limousine to pick Joe up at the railhead. This shows Joe packs some juice, since there are only four cars in Simla and Packard is the car of status in the years before the Second World War. Joe offers a ride to a famous Russian opera singer, who is murdered on the road to Simla.

It turns out that Sir George has an ulterior motive in inviting Joe to visit. The beautiful Alice Conyers is the CEO of a successful trading company. A few months before, her brother, believed to have been killed in the war, had resurfaced. He was on his way to Simla to take over the family company when he was murdered (in 1922 the male heir still inherited, I assume).

Is it a coincidence that Alice's brother and the opera singer were shot and killed at the same location? Is this a murder mystery? Anyway, Sir George asks Joe to investigate the murders, and Joe must be some kind of investigator, since he is a Scotland Yard Commander at a ridiculously early age. After all, the brilliant Adam Dalglish was middle-aged before he made Commander!

All of the characters were extremely well drawn. All but Joe have distinctive, even colorful personalities. Even Joe might have a personality hidden somewhere, but this is the day of the British stiff upper lip.

The plot is quite inventive, and features an early case of identity theft. The ending is fine, though the last ten pages or so draw leisurely to a close. But all in all, as the British say, "Well done!"

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic historical police procedural, October 27, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ragtime in Simla (Joe Sandilands Murder Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

In 1919 Alice Conyers reaches Paris, the first leg of her trek to India to take over the reigns of the Imperial and Colonial Trading Corporation. Since the death of her brother Lionel during World War I, she inherited 51% of the stock while her second cousin who she plans to marry owns the rest. However, their train falls into a ravine killing almost all on board. Alice continues on to India where she makes her firm a success.

In 1922 Northern India, Scotland Yard Detective Joe Sandilands has finished up his tour of duty in India and is now the guest of Sir George Jardine, Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. He plans to spend a month in the guest cottage at Simla at the base of the Himalayas. Joe gives a lift to Russian opera singer Feador Korosovsky and witnesses his murder in the car driving them to Sir George. He reports the homicide and learns that Lionel, Alice brother died in the same spot with the same MO. Sir George asks Joe to help the authorities. He does finding all roads lead to Alice and that train wreck.

Barbara Cleverly has written a fantastic historical police procedural at a time when India learned it was the equal of their occupier sand wants freedom from British rule. The exotic locale enhances the mystery and romance by adding an aura of danger to the westerners. The protagonist is an enigma who readers will not like; while the antagonist receives empathy though the choices that person made were criminal. RAGTIME FOR SIMLA provides readers with a sense of time and place during the final hours before the sunset of the British Empire.

Harriet Klausner

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great second Sandilands novel!, November 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Ragtime in Simla: The Second in the Detective Joe Sandilands Series (Hardcover)

If you didn't read the first book in the Joe Sandilands series, Kashmir Rose, don't worry. The book stands alone. If you did read Cleverly's first book, you'll like the second. You'll also notice some similarities.

Sandilands is on his way out of India when the governor invites him to a holiday in the Indian hill town called Simla. On his way up to the hills, he meets a Russian opera singer, who is shot before Joe's eyes. Not so coincidently, someone else was murdered in the same manner and in the same spot one year before. Joe investigates the mystery in which nothing is what it appears to be.

Cleverly's ability to capture the atmosphere of 1920's British India continues add a flavor to this book that you don't find in most mysteries. I spent some time in modern Shimla, so on a personal level, I enjoyed this book even more than the first.