On this page

This page lists novels and short story collections by Barbara Cleverly.

The Last Kashmiri Rose

Barbara Cleverly

2001

A Detective Joe Sandilands novel.

"It is India 1922 and the wives of officers in the Bengal Greys have been dying violently, one each year and always in March. The only link between the bizarre but apparently accidental deaths is the bunches of small red roses that appear on the women's graves. When a fifth wife is found with her wrists cut in a bath of blood the Govenor rejects the verdict of suicide and calls in Joe Sandilands, an ex-soldier and Scotland Yard Detective. It becomes clear to Joe that the deaths are, indeed, a series of murders and they are have not yet run their course. Who will be the recipient of the next - and last - Kashmiri Roses? As he discovers the shocking truth Joe must work fast to unmask a killer whose motives are rooted in the dark history of India itself."

Ragtime In Simla

Barbara Cleverly

2002

A Detective Joe Sandilands novel.

"Simla 1922. While the rest of India bakes in the hot season, up in the pine-scented coolness of the Himalayan hills the English have recreated a vision of home. Here are half-timbered houses, amateur theatricals, gymkhanas and a glittering vice-regal court for the socialites. The summer capital of the British Raj is fizzing with the energy of the jazz age. It is toward this country that detective Joe Sandilands is heading as the guest of the governor of Bengal. But when Joe’s travelling companion, a Russian opera singer, is shot dead at his side on the road to Simla, he finds himself plunged into a murder investigation. As Joe begins to unravel the mystery which has its roots in the aftermath of the First World War, he discovers that behind the sparkling facade of Simla lies a trail of murder, vice and blackmail."

The Damascened Blade

Barbara Cleverly

2003

A Detective Joe Sandilands novel.

"The North-West Frontier, 1910. The screams of a wounded British officer abandoned at the bottom of a dark ravine are heard by a young Scottish subaltern. Ignoring the command to retreat back to base the Highlander sets out alone, with dagger in hand, to rescue his fellow officer from the Pathan tribesmen who are slowly torturing him to death. Over a dozen years later the backwash of this tragedy threatens to engulf Joe Sandilands. After a skirmish which results in the death of a Pathan prince and the taking of hostages, Joe is given seven days in which to identify, arrest and execute the killer before the frontier erupts into war. Drawing on all his courage and detective skills Joe must find out who the murderer is before more bloody deaths occur, the legacy of a bitter feud with its roots hidden deep in the past."

An Old Magic

Barbara Cleverly

2003

"Romance, rescue archaeology, buried treasure, ancient curses and a dash of the supernatural with an original twist are the elements that make up a fast-paced and thought provoking thriller."

The Palace Tiger

Barbara Cleverly

2004

A Detective Joe Sandilands novel.

"India, 1922. In this, the fourth in the acclaimed Joe Sandilands series, Scotland Yard detective Joe arrives in the princely state of Ranipur at the request of the Maharajah, an old ally of the British. The Maharajah is dying, and the succession is unclear. The death of his first son, while panther-wrestling, is suspicious, but as Joe begins to investigate a second son dies dramatically right before his eyes. With only the youngest, aged 12, now left to succeed, can Joe ensure his survival? In the glittering and luxurious setting of the court with its array of powerful, scheming characters, Joe must find his way through the maze of intrigue to trap, at last, the palace tiger."

The Bee's Kiss

Barbara Cleverly

2005

A Detective Joe Sandilands novel.

"1926, and Joe Sandilands is back from India, enjoying the frantic pleasures of Jazz Age London. Yet, there is a darkness behind all that postwar gaiety. A woman has been discovered bludgeoned to death in her suite at the Ritz. A broken window and missing emerald necklace suggest that it is a burglary gone wrong. But the corpse is that of a much-respected member of the British establishment, Dame Beatrice Joliffe, one of the founders of the Wrens, and so Scotland Yard send Joe to conduct a swift enquiry. Her companion, an ex-chorus girl, falls from Waterloo Bridge at twilight. Two of the Dame's clique of eager young Wrens commit suicide. All these deaths make Joe suspect that Beatrice has been killed by someone close to her but suddenly he finds that the case is closed and he is asked by his superiors to surrender his files."

Tug of War

Barbara Cleverly

2006

A Detective Joe Sandilands novel.

"Joe Sandilands has been despatched to France to stay as the guest of a glamorous French war-widow on her Champagne estate. The widow is determined that Joe should support her claim that a mysterious shell-shocked soldier, suffering from amnesia and a loss of speech is her husband. The problem is that four other claimants have identified him differently, and his doctor suspects he is an English soldier. Joe decides to investigate the four claimants and picks his way through a tangle of lies, deceit, and manipulation, discovering that each of the four has an undeclared motive for claiming the unknown soldier. He uncovers a cleverly concealed murder committed during the war years and during this pursuit he finds out who the soldier really is. The discovery presents him with an even greater dilemma, he must not only to solve a killing in the past, but avert a tragedy in the future."

Folly Du Jour

Barbara Cleverly

2007

A Detective Joe Sandilands novel.

"In a box at the famed Theatre des Champs-Elysees, an ex-soldier and knight of the realm is dead, his throat savagely cut. In a jail cell, diplomat George Jardine, his evening clothes stained with the slain man's blood, awaits the arrival of his old wartime friend, Joe Sandilands. In spite of the evidence, Sandilands believes Jardine is innocent. His search for a crucial witness--a notorious beauty who quickly vanishes--leads to the discovery of a shocking series of unsolved murders. Is Sandilands hunting a serial killer? Or has he stumbled upon something even more sinister and carefully orchestrated? As the final, chilling pieces of the puzzle fall into place, Sandilands launches his own counterattack against a killer whose sadistic agenda is about to become horrifyingly clear."

The Tomb of Zeus

Barbara Cleverly

2007

A Leatitia Talbot novel.

"Born into a background of British privilege, Laetitia Talbot has been raised to believe there is no field in which she may not excel. She has chosen a career in the male-dominated world of archaeology, but she approaches her first assignment in Crete the only way she knows how-with dash and enthusiasm. Until she enters the Villa Europa, where something is clearly utterly amiss... Her host, a charismatic archaeologist, is racing to dig up the fabled island's next great treasure-even, perhaps, the tomb of the King of the Gods, himself. But then a beautiful young woman is found hanged and a golden youth drives his Bugatti over a cliff. From out of the shadows come whispers of past loves, past jealousies, and ancient myths that sound an eerie discord with present events. Letty will need all her determination and knowledge to unravel the secrets beneath the Villa Europa's roof-and they will lead her into the darkest, most terrifying place of all."

Bright Hair About the Bone

Barbara Cleverly

2008

A Leatitia Talbot novel.

"Letty's joy at snaring a place in the excavation of an ancient church in Burgundy is dimmed by the tragedy of her godfather Daniel's violent death. But when Letty receives a posthumous encoded message, she begins to believe that Daniel's death was not a random act. Her investigation into Daniel's murder sends her on a journey into a country's remote history...into the orbit of a privileged French family harboring its own damning secret...into ancient Celtic mysteries and one sacred truth kept through the ages. It is an explosive revelation that could rock modern Christianity--and force a killer out of the shadows as a country devastated by one war lays the groundwork for another."

A Darker God

Barbara Cleverly

2010

A Leatitia Talbot novel.

"In the open-air theatre of the dark god Dionysos, Letty watches a performance of an ancient Greek tragedy. But the revenge that is exacted onstage, the dagger that is wielded, and the blood that flows in full view of the audience are not theatrical effects. As Letty digs for clues, she unearths disturbing secrets and dark animosities with catastrophic implications worthy of a Sophocles—but of far more recent vintage. Now, as a killer cuts a merciless swath across a country in the throes of political instability, Letty herself steps unawares into the murderer’s savage spotlight—a light so bright she may not be able to see the dark figure behind it until it’s too late."

Strange Images of Death

Barbara Cleverly

2010

A Detective Joe Sandilands novel.

"Provence, 1926. Scotland Yard detective Joe Sandilands is on leave, driving his way south to the Riviera while dropping off his niece at an ancient chateau. A troubling crime committed at the chateau just before their arrival leaves a clear message that more violence is to come. To allay panic, Joe agrees to stay on and root out the guilty person. But, despite Joe's vigilance, a child goes missing and an artist's beautiful young model is murdered in circumstances eerily recreating a six hundred-year-old crime of passion. Helped and hindered by a rising star of the French Police Judiciaire, Joe must delve into a horror story from the castle's past before he can tear the mask from the diseased soul responsible for these contemporary crimes."

The Blood Royal

Barbara Cleverly

2011

A Detective Joe Sandilands novel.

"It's 1922. Joe Sandilands is just back in England from his trip to India, and he has learned that his role at the Metropolitan Police has been expanded. Not only is he responsible for running CID, he is now also supposed to take up the reins on the Special Irish Branch, and he's juggling Irish terrorism and high-profile assassination attempts on prominent political officials. To top it all off, Joe locks horns with a Russian princess who is running a spy network out of Kensington. Then one of the assassination attempts is successful, and the pressure escalates. Joe must find out who is behind the violence: Irish or Russians?"

Not My Blood

Barbara Cleverly

2012

A Detective Joe Sandilands novel.

"Scotland Yard Detective Joe Sandilands is caught off guard one night in 1933 by a phone call from a distressed boy named Jackie Drummond, who just might be the illegitimate son Joe never knew he had. Jackie is in trouble at his Sussex boarding school, where a teacher has been murdered. When Joe gets himself assigned to the investigation, he learns the boarding school case is more complicated than it appears: A frightening number of boys, all from wealthy families, have gone missing over the school’s history, and by some coincidence none of the families have followed up on their sons' whereabouts."

The Ellie Hardwick Mysteries

Barbara Cleverly

2012

"Ellie Hardwick is a young architect, specialising in ancient buildings. Working for a Suffolk practice, she spends her days amongst the architectural gems of East Anglia - great houses, cathedrals, medieval churches, and castles. In her work, she trips over the occasional corpse, ghost or wrong-doer. Architecture has much in common with detective work, and Ellie uses her investigative skills to unravel ancient mysteries. An ally in her endeavours is Detective Inspector Richard Jennings, who finds himself grudgingly involved with her problems."

• Love–lies Bleeding
• Here Lies
• A threatened species
• A black tie affair
• Die like a maharajah

A Spider in the Cup

Barbara Cleverly

2013

A Detective Joe Sandilands novel.

"At dawn one morning in 1933, an amateur dowsing team digging the banks of the Thames for precious metals unearths the body of a young woman with a missing toe and a priceless gold coin in her mouth. The case falls on Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard Joe Sandilands' turf, but he's been given another assignment—and a very high-profile one. London is hosting a historic global economic conference to try to solve the global Depression, and political tensions are running very high, as very influential participants are starting to take positions allied with or staunchly against the rapidly militarizing Germany. Sandilands' job is to protect and keep an eye on the visiting American senator Cornelius Kingstone, right-hand man to President Roosevelt, throughout the conference. When a strange set of coincidences link the river bank body to the senator, Joe realizes his assignment is much bigger than he'd thought, and that Senator Kingstone is caught up in a very dangerous game."

The Cambridge Mysteries

Barbara Cleverly

2013

"Four short murder mysteries, three featuring Detective Sergeant Christina Kenton, set in the Cambridgeshire countryside."

• No Picnic For Teddy Bears
• In A Dark Issue
• The place: All Hallows church. The time: Halloween night
• And in Sweet Alison

Enter Pale Death

Barbara Cleverly

2014

A Detective Joe Sandilands novel.

"One morning before dawn in the stables of her country estate, Lady Truelove meets a violent death in an encounter with a dangerous horse. Classified as death by misadventure, this appears a gruesome accident. But Scotland Yard Detective Joe Sandilands suspects foul play - a misgiving he is struggling to separate from his personal grievances toward Sir James Truelove, who is Lady Truelove’s widower and the influential academic patron of Dorcas Joliffe, whom Joe one day hopes to marry. Joe enlists old friend and former constable Lily Wentworth to trail James, and finds an ally in a fellow police officer familiar with the Truelove estate. But as the investigation yields surprising secrets about one of England’s most powerful families, Joe discovers how little he knows about not only the gilded lives of the moneyed, but also his relationship with Dorcas. Is Joe prepared to risk a future with the girl he loves to uncover the truth behind Lady Truelove’s death?"

The Corn Maiden

Barbara Cleverly

2015

"Nell Somersham’s life is complicated by the curious terms of her late father’s will. She cannot inherit his Suffolk or Scottish estates until she turns twenty-five - unless she secures permission to marry from one of her two guardians. One guardian - her stepmother - is determined to marry the strong-willed beauty to her own lover, the fortune-hunting Sir James Fanshawe. The other guardian is a second cousin who oversees the management of her Scottish estates. Nell has never met him."

The New Cambridge Mysteries

Barbara Cleverly

2015

"A collection of mystery stories set in and around Cambridge - past, present and future - including cases for Great War veteran Inspector John Redfyre in 1922, contemporary investigations for the feisty Detective Constable Stella Kenton and a disturbing, dystopian view of Cambridge (and policing) in the year 2022."

• A Night Climber
• The Cantaber Common Horror
• Kill Me Tomorrow
• No Picnic For Teddy Bears
• In A Dark Issue
• And in Sweet Alison

Diana's Altar

Barbara Cleverly

2016

A Detective Joe Sandilands novel.

"Cambridge, October 1933. Inside the old All Hallows Church on All Hallows' Eve, Doctor Adelaide Hartest bears witness to the final moments of a dying stranger. Despite the dagger plunged into the stranger's chest, the death is ruled a suicide, compounded by a formal confession before death. The victim, it is revealed, is known to Scotland Yard, and Assistant Commissioner Joe Sandilands is sent all the way from London to investigate. Thrown into a deadly ring of cloak-and-dagger politics and high-society hedonism, Sandilands must uncover the truth before the Hellfire Club, an elite society composed of intelligentsia and aristocrats, topples the institutions and harms the people he has sworn to protect - especially one he has come to truly love."

Fall of Angels

Barbara Cleverly

2018

A Detective John Redfyre novel.

"Great Britain, 1923: Detective Inspector John Redfyre is a godsend to the Cambridge CID. A handsome young veteran bred among the city’s educated elite, he is no stranger to the set running its esteemed colleges and universities—a society that previously seemed impenetrable to even those at the top of local law enforcement, especially with the force plagued by its own history of corruption. When Redfyre is invited to attend the annual St. Barnabas College Christmas concert in his Aunt Henrietta’s stead, he is expecting a quiet evening, though perhaps a bit of matchmaking mischief on his aunt’s part. But he arrives to witness a minor scandal: Juno Proudfoot, the trumpeter of the headlining musical duo, is a woman, and a young one at that—practically unheard of in conservative academic circles. When she suffers a near-fatal fall after the close of the show, Redfyre must consider whether someone was trying to kill her."