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The Last Kashmiri Rose
The Cosmic Clues
Hardrock Stiff
The Cactus Club Killings
Shakespeare's Christmas
The Godmother's Web
Astrologer#1: Heart of (Astrologer)
Dracula in London
Club Dead
Cold Streets
Demon
The Murders of Richard III
Hermit of Eyton Forest (Brother Cadfael Mysteries)
Eye of the Storm
Curse of the Pharaohs
Crocodile on the Sandbank
The Corpse in Oozak's Pond
Old Bones
Seventh Sinner
The Big Nowhere
Games to Keep the Dark Away
The Confession of Brother Haluin: The Fifteenth Chronicle of Brother Cadfael, of Thebenedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, at Shrewsbury
Curses!
Leave a Message for Willie
Edwin of the Iron Shoes

The Last Kashmiri Rose: Murder and Mystery in the Final Days of the Raj

Average customer rating:

Rose is excelletn
Satisfying, But A Little Too Traditional For Me
rethinking this author
Great Book for your Great Aunt
Excruciatingly written, mildly interesting plot

The Last Kashmiri Rose: Murder and Mystery in the Final Days of the Raj
Barbara Cleverly
Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

Ragtime in Simla
The Damascened Blade
The Palace Tiger
The Bee's Kiss: A Detective Joe Sandlands Mystery
The Bee's Kiss (Joe Sandilands Mysteries)

ASIN: 0786710594

Book Description

Conjuring up the last golden days of the Raj and the turbulent early ones of Indian rule, this suspenseful and atmospheric first novel—runner-up in the Crime Writer Association's Debut Dagger competition—draws the governor of Bengal, local police authorities, and visiting Scotland Yard detective Joe Sandilands into an increasingly baffling and bizarre case of serial murder. It is 1922, in Panikhat. In March of each of the past five years the wife of an officer in the Bengal Greys has met with a violent and terrifying death. One died in a fire, another by a cobra bite, the third from a fall, and the fourth victim drowned. Of course, they all might have been accidents, while the death of Captain Somersham's pretty young wife, who was found with her wrists cut, could be ruled a suicide. One link between the five cases, however, points to foul, disturbing play. On the anniversary of the deaths small red roses mysteriously appear on the women's graves. With only a few days to go before the end of March and with faith in the new Western science of psychological profiling, Joe Sandilands finds himself running a race against time and a serial killer who alone knows the recipient of the next Kashmiri rose. "The atmosphere of the dying days of the Raj is colorfully captured."—Sunday Telegraph "Introduces an intelligent author and an interesting investigator."—Morning Star

Customer Reviews:

Rose is excelletn.......2006-11-08

I always hate Barbara Cleverley's books to end. THis was no exception.

Satisfying, But A Little Too Traditional For Me.......2006-11-03

I love stories of the British Empire, like Rudyard Kipling's SOLDIERS THREE. And I love stories about rebellious Twenties youth (especially female youth,) like LOVE FOR LYDIA. So when I heard about this Indian mystery set in the 1920's, it seemed like a perfect fit.

To be sure, I liked these characters. I liked plain old Joe, the London detective pressured to find a killer in hot, sweaty India. I liked Nancy, the trim, efficient, sexy young officer's wife who helps Joe crack the case. I liked Naurung, the loyal Sikh officer who works with the sexy man and woman team, and looks the other way during the love scenes. I even liked Midge, the flighty little thing who just might be the killer's final victim.

The thing I didn't like, is that we got lots of British India, but not enough of the Twenties mood. We know that the British Empire is on its last legs, and that things are changing in India. We know that the young have seen horrible casualties in the Great War, a war that did nothing to make England or the Empire stronger. Just the opposite in fact.

What we don't see, however, is how this changed the characters. All of the officers (and their wives) are just as "sold" on the idea of England and empire as they were before the war. There's not a hint of rebellion, boredom, or discontent among the ladies. Everyone's drinking, yes, and enjoying the regimental festivities, but there's no real sense of reckless or feverish abandon -- no sense of burning rebellion or passions under the surface. All the characters, good and bad, are too noble and self-sacrificing. Nancy cheats on her husband, but only for the highest motives. Midge the little flirt is spoiled and reckless, but she never really challenges authority in any way. There's no sense that her life will be any different than her mother's -- just with a happier ending. Joe is a lower class man, who has been allowed to rise, but he never challenges the class system directly. Even the killer seems to be totally commmitted to the codes of his birth.

Is there a rebel in the house?

rethinking this author.......2006-05-09

I wasn't too enamored of Ragtime in Simla, but this book (the author's first) was actually pretty good. She starts with a lot of action once again, but this time has a story that hangs together and moves along, as well as including more detail about life in India at the time. A mystery is necessarily plot driven, and she has it center on a group of serial murders in a community over a period of years, always a good device. The situation in fact gets downright scary and I had trouble putting it down near the end. The story is definitely told from the British point of view more than the Indian, but there is nothing wrong with this. A novel doesnt have to be 100% politically correct to everyone or present all possible points of view to be effective as long as the author keeps his own views out of it. I did learn more about Joe's character, including that he is less upstanding than portrayed in the second book, jumping into an affair with a married woman. The sex scene out in the wilderness made me wonder, however, weren't they worried that a 12-foot king cobra might shoot out of the bush and take a bite of them (it would have put a damper on my enthusiasm) and how was Nancy going to explain to her husband how she got tanned all over?

Also, some reviewers were obsessing about the Mourning Cloak butterfly that figures in one of the deaths. I don't think it is rare today, not in North America or in the Eastern Hemisphere, but I have to say it is really cool looking and well worth checking out its color photos on the web. While you hear that butterflies only live a day or so, this one lives for 10-11 months. One thing I like in a book is a piece of information that leads me to something else that is interesting.

This book was much more enjoyable than Ragtime in Simla. The only thing is that I wish the publishers would quit referring to this as the final days of the Raj. This is so misleading that Daedalus Books actually put in their catalog that this book takes place in the 1940s after the end of World War II. I couldn't understand why the second book took place 20 years earlier, which is why I bought that one.

Great Book for your Great Aunt.......2006-02-24

There wasn't excessive violence, and it was far more entertaining than the Winter Olympics. A book that can be passed on to elder relatives without terrifying them (my great aunt's criteria, although she did like Edward Gory). Plot and characters were entertaining, and sufficient people were done in, British fashion, early on (uncle's criteria). The author could learn a lot from Tony Hillerman about time, place, and religion and conveying that to the reader. I'm still wondering about the genus and appearance of the Kashmiri Rose. The ending was ok, a bit contrived -- she was a smart woman, how could they think a man would be the next target? I'll read more of her books, but will look in the library first. Alexander McCall Smith was far more compelling with his woman/detective character, but he's older and more experienced. We're hoping this author is better with age and time. Still, a good read.

Excruciatingly written, mildly interesting plot.......2005-10-31

I was looking forward to this one, being a sucker for books (especially mysteries) set in and giving the flavor of exotic locales or times. I've read Kipling's 'Kim' numerous times over the decades. So I was prepared to like, even love, this one and really wanted to, since it seems the start of a new series. Now I'm glad I didn't waste money actually purchasing 'Kashmiri Rose', but borrowed instead. I'm only sad for the time lost plowing on, waiting for it to get better. My two * rating is based on three *'s being neutral.

To start with, I find it impossible to get past the awkward prose and stilted dialogue. Everyone, including the author, sounds vaguely pompous, speaking in schoolbook phrases. (The characters who are, I presume, actually supposed to be pompous sound like comic caricatures, Nigel Bruce as Watson.)

And I honestly don't see a lot to justify the effort of slogging along, either plotwise or in the setting. The author mistakes ritually invoking period detail-words (jargon/slang, brand names, etc.) for evocation of period and place. Simply censing the reader with a haze of 'syces' and 'punkhas' does not paint a picture (at least for those of us young enough not to have been there).

The natural history does seem accurate, though it could have been mentioned that the 'rare' Camberwell Beauty butterfly which played such a role is actually quite common, but England and India are on the fringes of it's range, so rare in those two countries. But for all the attention to some details there is inattention to the details of exposition. For instance, the letter Sandilands finds which one victim was writing to her parents is referred to as 'half-finished', but later in the same paragraph, we are told that she 'had saved her real news for the end of the letter' ... yet she actually did write it down (p. 43 of the pb edition). Now, if the letter was unfinished, how can the end containing the real news have been written? A trivial rewrite (whatever became of editors?) could fix this, but it's careless writing and it grates.

[This review is based on the first 150 pages; I simply cannot bring myself to waste more time by reading further. As to the "brilliant plotting" mentioned by another reviewer, quite a few pages ago I had a hunch as to the villain, but thought it was maybe too obvious ... so just for fun, this very moment, I skipped to the penultimate chapter, and lo and behold, this obvious suspect was indeed the fiend. Not that I look for mysteries plotted so as to mislead me , but this was pathetic, not brilliant.]

And as to finding Sandilands "charming and principled", as one reviewer did -- well, charming is in the eye of the beholder (I found him quite the opposite), but principled?? His first thought on meeting one of the principals in the case was how he could score with this married woman. Even if one neglects the 'principled adultery', surely messing around with the suspects is against most principles of detection.

Interestingly enough, relating to the comment of a previous reviewer who recommended the 'Mamur Zapt' series instead, one of that series is in my short bedside stack for future reading. Given their opinion of "Kashmiri Rose", I hope I'm in for a treat. Jolly, what?

Added note: I did read Michael Pearce's 'The Mamur Zapt & The Return of the Carpet'. It was as day and night compared to 'Kashmiri Rose.' Literate, engaging, well plotted -- do yourself a favor and check out this series instead!

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