Detective Joe Sandilands Books In Order

Publication Order of Detective Joe Sandilands Books

The Detective Joe Sandilands series is a novel series written by the well known British author Barbara Cleverly and is based on the historical mystery and thriller genres. The series deals with the events in the life of the main protagonist, Detective Joe Sandilands. The setting of the series is done in the 1920-30’s era of the Indian history, where Detective Sandilands is assigned to work. He is depicted as a former World War vet and now works in the Scotland Yard. The author has done his characterization as a tall, tough and handsome man and has a permanent scar on one of his eyebrows from the world war battle. The series consists of 12 different novels set in the post World War One India, and were published from 2001 to 2014. Author Barbara Cleverly is still working on the series and the latest novel of the series is about to be released soon. The first novel of the series was published in under the title ‘The Last Kashmiri Rose’ in the year 2001 by the Delta publishing house. It portrays the year 1922 when India was under the British rule after the World War One. The deaths of the wives of the British officers in Bengal each year in the month of March raise some serious questions. The murders take place in a similar fashion and the murderer never forgets to leave a red rose over the dead bodies of the officers wives. Soon, Detective Joe Sandilands is ordered to move to India to investigate the serial murders when the fifth murder takes place. This time the woman is found dead in her bathtub with her wrist cut. Although the death looks like a suicide, the Governor calls for a thorough investigation with the possibility of a brutal murder.

Detective Sandilands becomes determined to find and unmask the killer who has links with the dark Indian history. The author has done a wonderful job of describing the beautiful sunsets and relaxing summer seasons of India. It does not appear from any angle that the country would be under the influence of a serial killer, one who likes to kill only the wives of the English officers. With the dead body of the English wife floating in her bathtub, the English officials call for a specialist investigator to clarify whether the death was a murder or a suicide. Detective Sandilands possesses all the essential qualities that make him an efficient detective. Having first served as a soldier in World War One and later as an inspector in the Scotland Yard, he has the reputation of having the ability to solve even the most difficult cases. He moves to the British-ruled city of Calcutta, India ad spends some time investigating the case. He discovers that there has been other mysterious deaths the city that were similar to the present one and showed the sinister links to the dark history of the country. Now, as the acts of gaining freedom from the British government increases among the Indian citizens, the British rule is on the verge of decline. It has become even more important for Detective Sandilands to carry out the investigations as quickly as possible and bring the murderer to justice. He is also aware of the fact that the killer has already given the sign of his next victim by sending the last Kasmiri rose.

The second novel of the Joe Sandilands Series was released in the year 2002 by the Brown Book Group. It was titled ‘Ragtime In Simla’. This novel too features Detective Joe Sandilands and his attempts to solve the mysterious murders in the British-ruled Indian cities. The second novel is particularly set in the Himalayan city of Simla during the time of 1922. As the rest of India suffers from the prickly heat of the summer season, the city of Simla is filled with the cool atmosphere of the Himalayan ranges. Here, the British rulers had created an atmosphere similar to their hometown with timbered houses, gymkhanas, amateur theatricals and a high class regal court for the socialites. The city is filled with jazz energy everywhere. During this time, Detective Sandilands is invited by the governor of Bengal, Sir George Jardine to join the delightful homelike atmosphere. However, things take different turns when his companion is shot dead while traveling to Simla in the governor’s car.

The victim, a Russian opera singer was an important guest who was heading to the city for performing in front of the high class socialites. Due to the incident, Detective Sandilands’ summer vacation is cut short and he gets involved in yet another murder mystery. He realizes that the murder of the Russian singer was linked to a similar case which happened about a year ago in a similar fashion. During that time also, a guest was murdered while he was on his way to Sir George’s invitation. Both the murders make Detective Sandilands realize the fact that the governor’s hospitality has a huge price to pay. With the turn of events, Detective Sandilands comes to know about the trail of blackmailing, vice and murder behind the colorful face of the social life of the city of Simla. He begins to unravel the mystery of murders in the aftermath of the events after the First World War.

As Joe moves close to uncover the real culprit behind the murders, he grows closer to his own death at the hands of the murderer. It becomes important for him to uncover the mask from the face of the brutal killer before he takes other lives and endanger his own. He is helped in his investigations by Charlie Carter, the Police Superintendent of Simla. He willfully accepts to investigate the murders along with Detective Sandilands in order to safeguard the legacy of the British-ruled city of Simla. The novel became successful in meeting the expectations of the readers after the success of the first novel of the series. It was as entertaining and intriguing as the first installment. In fact, it leaves the first novel way behind with respect to the interesting twists and turns. The overall series came to be known as an excellent description of the Indian history during the time of the post World War One, by the author Barbara Cleverly. She received wide appreciations for her excellent work from the critics as well as from her fellow authors. This motivated her to add more colors to her writing career.