A review by tasmanian_bibliophile
Give the Devil His Due by Sulari Gentill
4.0
‘Rowland Sinclair’s dealings with the press were rarely so civil.’
This is the seventh novel in Ms Gentill’s historical crime series which features Rowland Sinclair and is set during the 1930s. Rowland Sinclair is a wealthy gentleman artist who lives in a Woollahra mansion with his greyhound Lenin and an assortment of bohemian friends including Edna Higgins, a sculptor for whom he has feelings, and Clyde Watson Jones, a landscape painter, who can also be handy with his fists.
In this novel, Rowland Sinclair is planning to race his yellow 1927 Mercedes S-Class at the Maroubra speedway for a charity race in aid of the Red Cross. When a journalist who interviews him is killed, Rowland Sinclair is caught up in the mystery surrounding his murder. Sinclair was one of the last people to see the journalist alive. Who killed the journalist, and why?
The story, which incorporates some real characters such as the young Rosaleen Norton (known in later years as the ‘Witch of King’s Cross’), the poet Kenneth Slessor, the actor Errol Flynn, the painter Norman Lindsay and Arthur Stace ( Sydney’s ‘Eternity’ man), moves at a rapid pace. The journalist’s murder is only the first, and it seems that someone is after Rowland Sinclair as well.
I really enjoyed this novel. There are plenty of twists and turns as Sinclair and his friends try to find out who killed the journalist. Ms Gentill has a great mix of characters, and the use of actual newspaper articles from the period as chapter openings serves to reinforce the setting. I loved the depiction of Errol Flynn (he fits right in, naturally) and wanted to know more about Arthur Stace. While some aspects of the story clearly draw on facts established in earlier novels, it is possible to read (and enjoy) this novel on a standalone basis. Across this series, Ms Gentill has drawn on the political unrest that followed the Great Depression. Her exploration of the tensions between the communist and fascist sympathisers, her blending of history and fiction provide an intriguing setting.
But back to the mystery: it’s a great read, and I’m looking to read the rest of the series.
Note: My thanks to Pantera Press for providing me with a copy of the novel for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
This is the seventh novel in Ms Gentill’s historical crime series which features Rowland Sinclair and is set during the 1930s. Rowland Sinclair is a wealthy gentleman artist who lives in a Woollahra mansion with his greyhound Lenin and an assortment of bohemian friends including Edna Higgins, a sculptor for whom he has feelings, and Clyde Watson Jones, a landscape painter, who can also be handy with his fists.
In this novel, Rowland Sinclair is planning to race his yellow 1927 Mercedes S-Class at the Maroubra speedway for a charity race in aid of the Red Cross. When a journalist who interviews him is killed, Rowland Sinclair is caught up in the mystery surrounding his murder. Sinclair was one of the last people to see the journalist alive. Who killed the journalist, and why?
The story, which incorporates some real characters such as the young Rosaleen Norton (known in later years as the ‘Witch of King’s Cross’), the poet Kenneth Slessor, the actor Errol Flynn, the painter Norman Lindsay and Arthur Stace ( Sydney’s ‘Eternity’ man), moves at a rapid pace. The journalist’s murder is only the first, and it seems that someone is after Rowland Sinclair as well.
I really enjoyed this novel. There are plenty of twists and turns as Sinclair and his friends try to find out who killed the journalist. Ms Gentill has a great mix of characters, and the use of actual newspaper articles from the period as chapter openings serves to reinforce the setting. I loved the depiction of Errol Flynn (he fits right in, naturally) and wanted to know more about Arthur Stace. While some aspects of the story clearly draw on facts established in earlier novels, it is possible to read (and enjoy) this novel on a standalone basis. Across this series, Ms Gentill has drawn on the political unrest that followed the Great Depression. Her exploration of the tensions between the communist and fascist sympathisers, her blending of history and fiction provide an intriguing setting.
But back to the mystery: it’s a great read, and I’m looking to read the rest of the series.
Note: My thanks to Pantera Press for providing me with a copy of the novel for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith