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A review by helenh
All the Tears in China by Sulari Gentill
3.0
All the Tears in China, the ninth books in the Rowland Sinclair series by Sulari Gentill, finds our hero and his friends on their way to Shanghai, China. It is 1935. A note for readers -- it is difficult to get into this story without reading the previous books, so be warned. Don’t start here. Bad idea, anyway, as you would be sorry to miss anything.
As readers of the series know, Rowland, Rowly to his friends, has made an enemy of Robert Menzies, the governor-general of Australia. Never a good idea. To keep his brother from being arrested, or worse, Wilfred Sinclair, the patriarch of the family asks him to go to Shanghai and look into the family’s interests over there. “But don’t touch anything,” is pretty much the edict. Wilfred tasks him to nod and smile and act important without saying anything important – and certainly not to commit to anything. Well, readers of these books will also know that’s pretty much impossible for our intrepid hero.
Soon, there’s a murder – a young Russian woman that Rowly has danced with is found murdered in his suite. Chief Inspector Rudolph is not at all amused. Rowly goes to work figuring out whodunnit while trying to keep himself and his friends safe. This he does, eventually, and, since everybody seems to “have it in” for Rowly, the culprit may or may not be a surprise.
The problem I have with the Rowland Sinclair books is that they are becoming formulaic – Rowly is beaten up about every twenty pages – indeed, he gets into a fight on the very first page! I can understand that what’s going on in the world is part and parcel of the plot – the actual mystery is generally secondary – but I could do with a lot less personal violence because there’s no mystery to it, anymore; you can see it coming from a mile away. Also, Rowly gets himself in deep, deep trouble in every book; in one especially gruesome portion of this one, you’ll despair for him, but of course he gets himself out of it, or there wouldn’t be more books, would there? So that’s generating emotions that feel false to me. And then, at the end, someone is got rid of in a way that seems too pat, after causing a lot of hate and consternation (I can’t say more without spoilers).
One can’t fault the characters, however. One hallmark of the series is the sharply defined people that populate the pages, especially the trio that make up Rowly’s friends; Clyde, Milton, the men, and Edna, near and yet so far Edna. Then, of course there are the others that we get to meet, among them Wing Zau, a Chinese valet who soon begins to help Rowly with his inquiries, Voronoff, a Russian who becomes quite enamored of Edna, Victor Sassoon, the rich businessman who owns the hotel and is not too happy when the body is found there. Emily “Mickey” Hahn – goodness, what a character! Then, there are the Chinese gangsters, suspects, red herrings, traitors and spies who populate the pages. You might need a scorecard. An epilog happily gives us further information. Surely Ms. Gentile is a master at creating individuals that will be remembered after the last page is turned.
Finally – war is coming. Rowly knows it. The author knows it. And boy, does the reader know it. Every page pretty much trumpets the fact. What will his place and his friend’s place be when the war he fears finally comes? It will be interesting to see how the author handles this, although she still has some time.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy ahead of publication, in exchange for this review.
As readers of the series know, Rowland, Rowly to his friends, has made an enemy of Robert Menzies, the governor-general of Australia. Never a good idea. To keep his brother from being arrested, or worse, Wilfred Sinclair, the patriarch of the family asks him to go to Shanghai and look into the family’s interests over there. “But don’t touch anything,” is pretty much the edict. Wilfred tasks him to nod and smile and act important without saying anything important – and certainly not to commit to anything. Well, readers of these books will also know that’s pretty much impossible for our intrepid hero.
Soon, there’s a murder – a young Russian woman that Rowly has danced with is found murdered in his suite. Chief Inspector Rudolph is not at all amused. Rowly goes to work figuring out whodunnit while trying to keep himself and his friends safe. This he does, eventually, and, since everybody seems to “have it in” for Rowly, the culprit may or may not be a surprise.
The problem I have with the Rowland Sinclair books is that they are becoming formulaic – Rowly is beaten up about every twenty pages – indeed, he gets into a fight on the very first page! I can understand that what’s going on in the world is part and parcel of the plot – the actual mystery is generally secondary – but I could do with a lot less personal violence because there’s no mystery to it, anymore; you can see it coming from a mile away. Also, Rowly gets himself in deep, deep trouble in every book; in one especially gruesome portion of this one, you’ll despair for him, but of course he gets himself out of it, or there wouldn’t be more books, would there? So that’s generating emotions that feel false to me. And then, at the end, someone is got rid of in a way that seems too pat, after causing a lot of hate and consternation (I can’t say more without spoilers).
One can’t fault the characters, however. One hallmark of the series is the sharply defined people that populate the pages, especially the trio that make up Rowly’s friends; Clyde, Milton, the men, and Edna, near and yet so far Edna. Then, of course there are the others that we get to meet, among them Wing Zau, a Chinese valet who soon begins to help Rowly with his inquiries, Voronoff, a Russian who becomes quite enamored of Edna, Victor Sassoon, the rich businessman who owns the hotel and is not too happy when the body is found there. Emily “Mickey” Hahn – goodness, what a character! Then, there are the Chinese gangsters, suspects, red herrings, traitors and spies who populate the pages. You might need a scorecard. An epilog happily gives us further information. Surely Ms. Gentile is a master at creating individuals that will be remembered after the last page is turned.
Finally – war is coming. Rowly knows it. The author knows it. And boy, does the reader know it. Every page pretty much trumpets the fact. What will his place and his friend’s place be when the war he fears finally comes? It will be interesting to see how the author handles this, although she still has some time.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy ahead of publication, in exchange for this review.