About this item
Conjuring up the last golden days of the Raj and the turbulent early ones of Indian rule, this suspenseful and atmospheric first novel - the winner of 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
About the Author
Barbara was born in the north of England and after graduating from the University of Durham moved to the south. She lived in Suffolk for many years but has now made her home in the middle of Cambridge surrounded by wonderful architecture, coffee shops and bookshops.Her first novel, 'The Last Kashmiri Rose' starring Joe Sandilands, Scotland Yard detective and WW1 hero, was well received and named a 'Book of the Year' by the New York Times.The third in the series ('The Damascened Blade') won the C.W.A. Historical Dagger award.The thirteenth Sandilands book will appear next May 2016.A book of short stories has just been published: 'The New Cambridge Mysteries' and a fresh project - a swirling Scottish Romance set in the days of the Clearances will be out soon. 'The Corn Maiden' will be available in early December 2015.
