A good entry in a reliable series. Joe is summoned by a powerful leading political light to recover art that disappeared mysteriously from the family home. Success in this task leads to his investigation of the death by misadventure of the "light's" spouse. Lily goes underground as a buxom author to assist Joe in some needed surveillance and a new, very interesting woman doctor enters Joe's world. The final denouement leaves much-unsettled criminality but with interesting personal prospects. ( )

quick read, good mysteries, well tied up. I will look for more Detective Sandilands books. ( )

I have always enjoyed the Joe Sandilands series, but this latest novel misses the point. The book rests its case on too much dialogue that sounds like uneducated dribble. I finished the book with very little sense of the area or the people. The bright star of the novel becomes an insignificant character, the vet Adelaide. Will Joe pursue this highly intelligent and fetching vet and leave Dorcas? Adelaide explains to Joe that he needs to step away from Dorcas and if interested in Dorcas to court her as a new woman and not as the young girl he met so long ago. ( )

Some books just can't be read if you have not read any of the other books in the series. I felt because this was my first time reading a gook in this series that this did affect the way I felt about this book some. I only say some because this book was boring. It still would have been that way even if I had developed a relationship with Joe. The book started out ok but then it grew really slow and uninteresting quickly. First off, the death scene was a little blimp on my first clue to dull town. I was reading and than like ok so there is a body. I had to go back and re-read the moment that Lady Lavinia was crushed by the horse as I was already on my way to zoning out and it did not make an impression on me. Then there is nothing intriguing about Joe. In fact, he would look like any other regular "Joe". The rest of the characters did not come alive on the pages. I was already about to chapter 7 and it seemed like the investigation had not began yet. Again because I had no prior knowledge of Joe, I was not feeling the relationship between him and Dorcas. Some books sound better than they really turn out to be. ( )

Lady Lavinia Truelove suffers a violent death after an encounter with a vicious and dangerous horse. It must be an accident since who could possibly manipulate a horse into killing a person? But Scotland Yard Inspector, Joe Sandilands, is suspicious that this is no chance accident. And investigating the case has much more importance than the usual mystery because Lady Truelove's husband is an important figure in the political scene, with aspirations of becoming Prime Minister. To add to the tangled web, Lord Truelove is also the academic mentor for Dorcas Joliffe, Joe's sweetheart, and Dorcas' relationship with Lord Truelove seems to be moving toward a much closer personal tie. And finally, as Joe begins to investigate on the Truelove estate, he uncovers a mysterious death of a young housemaid that occurred 25 years ago and was said to be suicide.

There are definitely enough plot twists and convolutions to satisfy the most ardent fan of police procedurals. Add in the setting - England in the 1930's - and you've got a well crafted period thriller. Cleverly does an excellent job of incorporating the time and setting into the story. From what people are wearing to the attitudes of the times, you quickly find yourself immersed into post World War I England. One of the aspects that I enjoyed the most is that the witnesses and suspects came from both the high born gentry as well as the serving class. It was very interesting to see the two very different sets of values and perspectives on life. Think of it as Downton Abbey meets Masterpiece Mystery!

The audiobook was well performed by Matthew Brenher, who does a nice job of throwing in a wide display of accents for the various characters from the well schooled Lord Truelove to all of the 'downstairs' staff. Definitely an enjoyable mystery! ( )