This is the 3rd in the series set in India by Barbara Cleverly featuring Detective Joe Sandilands. In 1910 a young Scottish subaltern ignores a command and sets out to rescue a fellow officer from certain death at the hands of the Pathan tribesmen.
Twelve years after the incident the repercussions of that fatal event that happened back in 1910 look like overwhelming Detective Sandilands. When a young Pathan prince is murdered while he is enjoying a few days break from his duties, it is up to Sandilands and his old army friend James Lindsay who is now the commander of the British army fort at Gor Khatri along the Afghan border to find the culprit. They are given a week in which to do so or the border will explode into war.
I have always really enjoyed reading this series, but I cannot say in whole honesty that I enjoyed listening to it being read on tape by Terry Wale. Sadly Wale’s reading of this excellent book leaves a lot to be desired. He comes across as being not only harsh but extremely heavy toned and the telling of the story drones on. The sense of India which is so evident in the books is no where to be found. His reading of the story comes across as being a bit like the Carry on Film – Carry on up the Khyber and a senior army officer barking out orders to his men with no variation in the tone.
This is a particular shame as the books are well worth reading. We get no sense of the different characters as they all seem to have the same accent.
If I had not read any of the books then I would certainly not be encouraged
to do so after listening to them on tape. This reading has been a big let down
of an otherwise excellent series. I would certainly read the books, but I am
not certain that I would listen to them again if they are still read by Terry
Wale
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Ayo Onatade
Other titles in this series The Last Kashmiri Rose and Ragtime in
Simla