The bee's kiss Detective Joe Sandilands Series, Book 5

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. Against the background of the looming General Strike, and pressure from unseen governmental presences he struggles on, picking his way through the political panic and rebelling against authority, through to a shattering solution to the killings. ### From Publishers Weekly *Starred Review.* Set in 1926, Cleverly's stellar fifth Commander Joe Sandilands novel finally brings the Scotland Yarder home to England from India. The empathy and shrewdness Sandilands showed in previous books (*The Palace Tiger*, etc.) is very much on display when he receives a late night summons to probe the murder of a prominent establishment figure, Dame Beatrice Joliffe, viciously bludgeoned to death in her room at the Ritz Hotel. Aided by a new pair of assistants, a former army subordinate, Sergeant Armitage, and Constable Tilly Westhorpe, the commander finds reason to believe that the crime was more complicated than a jewel theft gone bad. And though Britain is at peace, Sandilands can't ignore the anxious political undercurrents that suggest the murder may have ramifications for national security. As always, the author scrupulously plays fair, and the careful reader who puts the pieces together will be gratified with a logical and chilling explanation. *(Aug.)* Copyright � Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ### From Booklist Cleverly's Joseph Sandilands (*The Palace Tiger*, 2005) is back home from India enjoying the nightlife of Jazz Age London. After returning home late from a disappointing date, he is called to the posh Ritz Hotel, where Dame Beatrice Joliffe, the socially prominent founder of the Wrens (Women' s Royal Navy Society), lies dead. A broken window and a missing necklace point to a burglary gone wrong, and Scotland Yard wants Sandilands to resolve the case quickly and discreetly. When Dame Beatrice's companion, a former chorus girl, falls from Waterloo Bridge, and two other young Wrens commit suicide, it becomes clear that this case is no simple burglary. As always, Cleverly combines a colorful historical setting (London standing in this time for India) with a complex plot and well-developed characters. The Sandilands series, now five books old, would make a natural for fans of Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody. *Barbara Bibel* *Copyright � American Library Association. All rights reserved* When Dame Beatrice Jagow-Joliffe is bludgeoned to death in her suite at the Ritz, it looks like a burglary gone wrong and Scotland Yard detective Joe Sandilands is despatched to conduct an inquiry. Joe soon discovers this was no tweed-wearing dame - in couture gowns and a cloud of expensive perfume, her tastes included a younger lover as well as the company of an ex-chorus girl. As more murders follow, Joe begins to suspect that Beatrice was killed by someone very close to her. But suddenly he finds that the case is being closed, and his superiors demand that he surrenders the files. 1926, and Joe Sandilands is back from India, enjoying the frantic pleasures of Jazz Age London. Yet there is a darkness behind all the postwar gaiety. A woman has been discovered bludgeoned to death in her suite at the Ritz. A broken window and missing necklace suggest that it is a burglary gone wrong