Give the Devil His Due

November 4, 2019
Set in 1934 Sydney, Australia, Gentill’s appealing seventh Rowland Sinclair mystery (after 2019’s A Murder Unmentioned) opens with artist Rowland showing off his 1927 Mercedes, which he’s going to drive in a charity race in aid of the Red Cross, to reporter Crispin White, who has come to interview him about the event at the Maroubra Speedway. White later turns up dead in Magdalene’s House of the Macabre, a waxworks “specialising in ghouls and whatnot,” which is rumored to host meetings of a witches’ coven. Since Rowland’s friend Milton Isaacs, self-defined poet and proud communist, was among the last to see the victim alive, Milton comes under scrutiny by the police. Occultists, artists, politicians, backstreet doctors, lowlifes, high rollers, and even a dashing young Errol Flynn cross paths in this cleverly plotted mystery, which will keep readers eagerly turning pages to see what happens next. The relationships of Gentill’s well-developed characters continue to evolve as this fine historical series takes a darker tone with the rise of fascism in Europe.

November 15, 2019
Fascists, bookmakers, and unhappy Italians are all out to get a wealthy Australian artist. It's 1934, and Rowland Sinclair's rich, well-connected family (A Murder Unmentioned, 2019, etc.) heartily disapproves of his career as an artist and even more emphatically of the leftist friends who live with their black sheep on his family's Sydney estate: Milton Isaacs, Clyde Watson Jones, and sculptress Edna Higgins, the woman Rowly loves. After Rowly arranges to drive his 1927 Mercedes S-Class in a race to raise money for the Red Cross, he's interviewed by reporter Crispin White, who wonders aloud why Rowly drives a German car and whether he knows that the racetrack is cursed. It turns out that Milton, a poet, knew White, who had deserted Milt's pregnant cousin. When White is found murdered in Magdalene's House of the Macabre, Milt is a prime suspect. Just as Hitler is consolidating his power, Rowly, who has suffered physically and mentally at the hands of Nazi bullies during a trip to Germany, plans to reveal their evil doings through an art exhibit portraying the horrible things he saw there. But first he must finish the paintings and get through the race. His team includes Joan Richmond, an accomplished race car driver, and the actor Errol Flynn, who's more at home on boats. Once Rowly's team becomes the favorite, bookmakers who stand to lose a great deal try to intimidate them into throwing the race. Not even getting shot at and involved in a deadly accident deter Rowly from trying to protect his friends by solving the murder while revealing the dangers of fascism. A riveting look at Australian life and politics between the great wars through the eyes of a gentleman hero.

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December 6, 2019

It's 1934, and Rowland Sinclair is the delight of the scandal pages. His sprawling mansion in Sydney, is known for its eclectic resident artists, German motors, and paintings of nudes. Clyde and Milton, the other artists in residence, are communists, while Rowland is coming to terms with his own political leanings after a dangerous trip to Germany, where he witnessed a Nazi book burning. He's entered a charity race as an amateur driver with his cherished Mercedes, when the reporter covering the story and painting him as "the villain" of the race dies in a macabre waxworks house of horrors. This tragedy is followed by a death on the cursed speedway. Unfortunately, Milton has a history with one of the victims, and as an open communist, becomes the perfect suspect for the police. The only way to clear Milton's name is for Rowland and crew to try to track down the killer. VERDICT Australian author Gentill's seventh installment featuring Rowland Sinclair (after A Murder Unmentioned) is as fun and consuming as his previous novels. The writing is superb, providing fascinating historical context as well as depth in his characters. Highly recommended for fans of the series and historical crime mysteries.--Jennifer Funk, McKendree Univ. Lib., Lebanon, IL

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2019
Set in 1930s Australia, this seventh Rowland Sinclair mystery (after A Murder Unmentioned, 2019) takes the reader on one wild ride. Wealthy gentleman-artist Sinclair must avoid being dashed to death on the dangerous Maroubra Speedway when he agrees to race his yellow 1927 Mercedes S-Class in a charity event to aid the Red Cross. Meanwhile, he becomes involved in a police investigation when the body of a journalist is found in Magdalene's House of the Macabre, a case that leads him to a ruthless bookmakers operation. The charms of sculptor Edna Higgins, aka the Communist Siren, and the ever-ready fists of Sinclair's friend Clyde Watson Jones are put to work in a series of charades and kerfuffles?this lot ought to have an ambulance on standby wherever they go. Rich in period detail and including a stellar performance by a young Errol Flynn, competing against Sinclair in his silver Triumph, this is an ideal recommendation for fans of the flair and humor of Kerry Greenwood and the skillful plotting of Agatha Christie.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)