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Strange Images of Death: A Joe Sandilands Murder Mystery

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A killer is on the loose in Provence, France, in the latest Joe Sandilands novel, "Strange Images of Death," by Barbara Cleverly. The story opens with an unsettling scene of wanton destruction committed by an unidentified and clearly mad individual. Cleverly then segues to Joe Sandilands who is driving his "niece," fourteen-year-old Dorcas, to visit her father, the charming but impractical Orlando Joliffe, a self-indulgent bohemian who is charming but not overly paternal.

Although Joe and Dorcas are unrelated, the bachelor has an easy camaraderie with this bright, sensitive, and sometimes sarcastic young lady. Joe, a Commander at London's Scotland Yard, hopes to drop Dorcas off and proceed as soon as possible to Antibes on the Riviera to enjoy his vacation. Alas, the detective's plans for a period of rest and relaxation are thwarted. One reason is that Dorcas, who was nurtured lovingly by Joe's kindhearted sister, Lydia, asks him to track down her birth mother, whom she never knew. When Joe and Dorcas arrive at their destination, the grand and ancient Chateau de Silmont, they find Orlando with a lively group of male and female companions. They are spending the summer squabbling, drinking, painting, modeling, sculpting, dancing, writing poetry, taking photographs, having affairs, and letting their children run wild. Cleverly evokes the free and creative spirit of the time (1926), when daring artists such as Picasso and Matisse experimented with form, line, and color. Surrealism was just coming into vogue. Although Joe agrees to stay with Dorcas for a day or so, he remains far longer. First, he agrees to look into the aforementioned act of vandalism and, later, the untimely and unnatural death of one of the guests. Although he is working only in an unofficial capacity, the experienced Sandilands puts his finely-honed powers of observation and deduction to good use.

"Strange Images of Death" is literate and intelligently written, although Cleverly's heavy-handed use of British period slang, laced with too many exclamation points, can be a bit irritating. Still, the author's wit, keen eye for detail, and feel for history and art make this an entertaining and appealing mystery. Joe, who speaks fluent French, joins forces with Commissaire Jacquemin of Paris and Lieutenant Martinueau of Marseilles to assemble the pieces of a complex and baffling puzzle. Although this investigation is time-consuming, Joe keeps his promise to Dorcas, making inquiries that will lead to surprising information about her parentage. Cleverly's style may not be to everyone's taste, but patient and thoughtful readers will be amply rewarded not only by the involving whodunit, but also by allusions to the "inhuman acts of destruction" that took place during the first World War, leaving many soldiers dead or scarred for life; the disturbing portrayal of decadent individuals who live for the moment; and the astute analysis of the ways in which dysfunctional people inflict irrevocable harm on themselves and others.

Commander Joe Sandilands of Scotland Yard is once again embroiled in a very strange case. He never seems to encounter a garden-variety crime.

This case arises outside his jurisdiction, in a French château in Provence. It's 1926, and Joe is off to the Riviera for a holiday. On the way he's delivering his niece to her artist father. At the invitation of the lord de Stilmont, some twenty artistic types have gathered at the château for a summer of painting, sculpting and photography.

The locals call it the Château du Diable because of certain dark crimes in its past. But Joe finds a modern crime awaiting him in the ancient fortress. Someone has smashed a priceless medieval tomb sculpture of the wantonly beautiful Aliénore de Stilmont. Very quickly the violence escalates to human murder, preventing Joe from leaving as planned.

Eccentric characters abound: the half-mad lord and his suspiciously good looking cousin, Joe's precocious fourteen-year-old niece, a lascivious ballet impresario, Joe's laid-back artist friend with four kids by four different mothers, the beautiful young artist's model doomed by her resemblance to Aliénore - and a self-important French Commissaire whom Joe must tame.

One side of Joe's face is scarred by shrapnel; the other side is quite handsome. In keeping with his two faces, Joe vacillates between showing compassion and talking like an "unfeeling bugger," to quote one of the characters. I must confess I find the satirical Joe a bit jarring.

Nonetheless the plot is clever and steeped in tantalizing themes of infidelity and questionable parentage. Followers of Joe Sandilands should enjoy this book. But I'd encourage new readers to start at the beginning of the series, with The Last Kashmiri Rose.

This is another of "can't put it down" novels by Barbara Cleverly. A different theme of an artists' colony in an old castle with children running wild and twisted artistic people. Joe Sandisand comes as a guest and then chaos happens! I collect Barbara's novels and this one is another I "can't put down".

First Sentence: He studied her sleeping face for the last time.

Scotland Yard Commander Joe Sandilands is taking Dorcas, his friend's 14-year-old daughter, to meet her artist father at an old castle in Provence. On the way, she asks Joe to find the mother who abandoned her when she was 2 years old. Upon arrival, there is a second mystery to solve. It begins with the destruction of a tomb figure, escalates to the death of a rabbit and culminates in the murder of a beautiful woman. Forced to work with French Commissaire Francis Jacquemin, known for arresting first, then forcing confessions, Joe much ensure he catches the proper killer and prevents any more deaths.

Characters; it is they who bring a story to life and Cleverly's characters do not disappoint. They are fully developed with their backgrounds established and their personalities distinct. We not only learn about Joe, for those who've not read previous books in the series, but are told of his appearance in an unforced manner.

A predominant young character can be awkward, but not here. Dorcas, his 14 year old "niece" is someone who holds her own. She is someone I want to see remain part of the series, if not in every book but certainly in the future. There was a character I felt wasn't as strong an element as I thought might be, but I was okay with that.

Cleverly is a very visual writer, whether in panorama or in detail. You have a real sense of their surroundings at all times. I appreciate dialogue that has a natural ear and flow with a touch of humor, and she satisfies on all aspects.

This book's opening hook is very strong; suspenseful, dramatic and ultimately brutal without the reader having to witness the act. It is also, we soon learn, the first of many excellent twists within the plot, this first so subtle you don't realize it until later. Cleverly skillfully interweaves interesting historical information into the story as well as providing an adept explanation of French and English police ranks and an amazing assessment of Van Gogh's self portrait.

These are only a few examples of the deftness with which Ms. Cleverly writes as none of these caused a break in the flow of the story. Add to that an emotional secondary mystery, and just the right touch of suspense and you have a well thought out and well executed traditional mystery.

Each year I plan for the release of the newest Sandilands book to order as soon as it is available. If you've not read them, do start at the beginning of the series and set aside uninterrupted time to enjoy each one. I know why they rank so high on my "must read" list; they are excellent.

STRANGE IMAGES OF DEATH (Pol Proc-Comm. Joe Sandilands-France-Golden Age/1926) - Ex

Cleverly, Barbara - 8th in series

Constable, ©2010, UK Hardcover - ISBN: 9781849011181

[...]

I am already going through my Joe Sandilands withdrawal, as I've just finished reading this latest installment in the wonderful series. This time Joe is in France, the story is peppered with familiar faces, rich historical detail, and insight into the human mind. After Joe left India, after the fourth book, I though I would miss the exotic setting, but Cleverly has managed to consistently grab my attention, making it almost impossible for me to put the books down. Whether Joe is is India, England, or France, the character grows on me more and more, to the point that I wish I had a cool uncle Joe like him. I really haven't got anything bad to say about this addition to the series, it will please fans of mystery as well as historical fiction. Cleverly's prose is elegant but very readable, and leaves you yearning for another adventure to take on with the dashing Commander.

This, the eighth historical-mystery starring Joe Sandilands, a high-ranking commander in Scotland Yard, begins with a mysterious murder, in which a clearly unhinged assailant watches a beautiful slumbering woman before attacking her with a blunt instrument.

After this unnerving prologue, the action moves (and largely stays with) Cleverly's protagonist, the detective Joe Sandilands, as he drives his foster-niece Dorcas to Chateau de Silmont in the south of France in the summer of 1926. There he is met with an eclectic group of artists that have been gathered by Lord de Silmont: painters, sculptors and photographers, along with Dorcas's father Orlando Joliffe. Along with the expected rivalries and jealousies that Joe expected amongst such a group, he also senses something more sinister from the moment he steps foot in the castle: a sense of dread and menace lurking just out of sight.

His suspicions are confirmed when the events of the prologue are explained: an alabaster effigy of the past lady of the castle has been desecrated, and the gathering now live in fear that circumstances will repeat themselves: only next time it might be a real body that's been hacked into bits. At Orlando's request, Joe agrees to stay on in order to investigate the vandalism and assuage the growing panic. Suspects aren't in short supply: there's the charismatic but erratic Lord de Silmont, his quiet and watchful steward, the lecherous ballet-instructor Petrovsky, and the vivacious yet nervous artist's model Estelle.

Along with all this, Joe has another commission, one from Dorcas herself, who asks that he help her find her birth-mother. She'll get no help from her father (who has fathered four other children on four different mothers, all of whom are running wild around the chateau - the children that is, not the mothers), and so Joe takes it upon himself to make some inquiries, with rather surprising results.

And then the inevitable (to the reader, anyway) happens. A young woman is found dead in bizarre circumstances, echoing a crime of passion that occurred in the chateau's distant past. Odd details surround the murder: a child went missing on the same night, there seems to have been no signs of struggle from the victim, a painting emerges that accurately foretells her death, and strange behaviour from all the inhabitants in the chateau is on the rise. Joe Sandilands has to work quickly in order to find the perpetrator before any other lives are put at stake.

All in all, this is another fascinating and entertaining read from mystery-writer Barbara Cleverly. After a bit of a false-step with Joe's previous outing in Folly du Jour, this is a big improvement that takes Joe right back to form, what with its rich environment, vivid characterizations, an accurate and rich portrayal of the time period, and of course a murder-mystery with plenty of twists and turns.

Sometimes the syntax can get a bit too complex, and even tips into purple prose a couple of times: "colorful diaphanous clothing, floating scarves and gypsy colors made a gallant riposte to the aridity of the white spaces," and as always, though her dialogue is witty and direct, it never sounds like something an actual person would say: "All those years of soldering...if you survive them, you never loose it, you know...But you're right. Blue funk it is! You're the only person ever to have caught me in one - or, rather, recognized it for what it is: fear. Soldier's best friend. Keeps you alive. It's the icicle-between-the-shoulder-blades feeling of a gun barrel sighting on you...the normally steady foot that hesitates and changes course a split second before treading down on something nasty. An instinct for survival." This speech is given when Joe gets an uneasy feeling on entering the chateau's courtyard, and it's far from being the last overly-dramatic discourse in the novel.

(And this has nothing to do with the text, but what's with the awful cover art? A giant mauve hand? What's that got to do with anything in the plot? In the past Cleverly has gotten great covers to go with her equally great stories, but this one feels like someone in the publishing house was in a hurry.)

Still, it was great settling down with another Cleverly mystery - the only problem is that I now face another long wait until the next one.

Not enjoying a Sandilands mystery is something I wouldn't have imagined possible, until reading this uninvolving and pedestrianly written entry in a wonderful series. Frankly, had the core mystery not been an interesting one, I never would have continued past the third chapter.

The writing doesn't approach Cleverley's usually evocative and involving style till about the last quarter of the narrative. To sit through an entire novel set in 1920s Provence and never really feel it, as India and Paris permeate the earlier episodes, to not feel the characters vibrate off the page in her usual way, to not feel embraced by an involving romanticism, was tremendously disappointing.

If this terrific author has gotten bored with Joe, it would be nicer either to drop the series, or give her all to a closing case.

But for anyone who hasn't read the others, dive in. They're absolutely Five-Star.