Not as good as some of the others, as Cleverly drags in real-life characters such as Lindenburgh, Baker and Simenon for the first time, unnecessarily. Still a good read though. ( )

Joe Sandilands and Sir George Jardine are back, and they're in Paris. It's 1927, and numerous cultural icons of the time are present -- from Lindbergh to Josephine Baker to a young crime reporter named Simenon. Joe, in Paris for an Interpol conference, is brought in to help when Sir George, recently retired and thus no longer protected by diplomatic immunity, is found standing over the body of a fellow Englishman in a box at the theater where Baker is performing.

The corpse was that of a thoroughly nasty character -- someone who "needed killing" -- and as Joe and his French colleague, Bonnefoye, work to clear Sir George (who really didn't do it, though he might have liked to), they begin to see a pattern in a string of unsolved murders. A character from one of the earlier Sandilands novels turns up with exciting results, and the conclusion is surprising and unexpected, if not completely believable.

Barbara Cleverly's Joe Sandilands novels, although they can involve vicious crimes perpetrated on undeserving victims, seem to me to have an essential light-heartedness about them which we don't find in some other excellent series set in the period between the wars. (I'm thinking of those by Charles Todd and Jacqueline Winspear, especially). In Cleverly's books, the British Empire is still the Empire on which the sun never sets, and its representatives still enjoy the self-confidence that brings. Todd's and Winspear's books, with protagonists who are themselves still traumatized by the Great War and who are dealing with situations arising from it, even years later, are excellent reading and perhaps more realistic. But if you like this historical period as much as I do, and need a break from the gloom, Cleverly's books should fit the bill nicely, as will Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple series, which focuses on some of the positive changes brought about by the Great War. ( )

Not as good as her early books in this series, but interesting because she has Joe Sandilands interact with historical characters living in Paris at the time. ( )

Folly Du Jour is the seventh book in the Joe Sandilands mystery series. Joe is a WWI veteran who has become a policeman. The first four books found Joe seconded to the Indian police in India and were very good. The fifth book saw Joe’s return to London. In 2088’s Tug of War, the sixth book in the series, Joe investigated the case of an amnesiac English WWI veteran living in France to try to determine his identity – as four different families’ claims that he belongs to them. A wonderful story about the nature of memory and identity and the impact of war. Folly Du Jour is set in Paris where Joe is to attend a police conference but instead becomes embroiled in the murder investigation of a British soldier. The setting is very evocative and 1920s Paris really comes to life. Also, Sir George Jardine, Joe’s mentor in the Indian years, is accused of the murder. Cleverly is very deft at showing Joe’s relationship with his mentor and Joe’s ability to manipulate the difficult Paris police forces that want to toss Sir George into jail and throw away the key. An excellent addition to the series. ( )

Murder and mayhem in Jazz Age Paris. Commander Joe Sandilands has been sent from Scotland Yard for an Interpol conference and finds himself in the thick of things from the moment of his arrival. Old friends--and enemies--from India are also present.

I prefer the earlier books set in India, but this is worth reading. ( )