Sulari Gentill has thoughtfully taken my weekend away in favor of an excellent murder mystery set in a fascinating setiing and era. The characters fit so well into the jobs they need to do and seem three dimensional. It's one surp[rise after another as the investigation twists and the suspects multiply.

Another solid installment in the Rowland Sinclair series. The mystery was great! Fast paced enough to keep my interest, and just convoluted enough to keep me guessing. I did have suspicions about the killer about 2 thirds of the way through. I feel like the author wrote herself into a corner with the ending though. I was really hoping for something permanent between Rowly and Edna, but the new complication for their relationship may be hard to work around. I’m not sure Rowly will feel comfortable pursuing Ed in their current situation. I’ll have to wait and see…

Where There's A Will is the 10th installment in the Rowland Sinclair WWII mystery series.

I will say this is one of my favorites in the series. It is captivating in the plot the scenic descriptions and in the historic references. So many memorable people from history are mentioned and brought into the storyline. Sulari Gentill is brilliant at interweaving the historical facts leading up to WWII with a mystery plot that feels like everyday life.

This time Rowland Sinclair and his friends, Edna, Milton and Clyde are brought to the United States to help figure out why Rowly's friend was recently murdered and why this friend made Rowly the executor of his will. The group travels between Boston and New York City and then spends some time on the North Shore of Massachusetts. The descriptions of each of the cities makes the reader feel like they are walking the street with our protagonists. The reality of life in the US during the early 1930s is realistic and presented at the beginning of each chapter with a news story from places like the Boston Globe.

As the series has progressed the characters have been developing and growing. Now it is like I know these four misfits from Australia. They are distant friends that I read about but don't get to visit with in person. Loyal to each other saving lives and sharing what they have without jealousy or regret.

Oh to have friends that loyal! I can hardly wait until the next installment of this fabulous series.

I did something I rarely do for this book, and that is to read out of order in a series. I am loathed to do it, as I really like watching how an author develops a character in a series. I broke my own rule for this book and I am so glad I did!

This is the tenth in the Rowland Sinclair series, about a rich Australian artist who solves mysteries right before the second world war. In this installment, Rowland is in Shanghai with his friends when he is told that he is needed in Boston immediately. One of his closest friends from his old Oxford days has died and named him as the executor. Along with his three fellow artist friends, he leaves for Boston only to find that his friend Daniel has been murdered and left all his money to a man no one can find.

It's a fast-paced, smart, creative story, where the author weaves in real-life events which serve as the opener of each chapter, with the story to unfold. And as Sinclair is obnoxiously rich, so are the people he meets, which means there are plenty of opportunities for cameos of famous people from history to appear in the story.

Great fun, smartly crafted, and I think I may have another series author to add to my list of favorites!

What’s not to like about this series, with its historical ambience and world-traveling cast of appealing characters combined with investigation? Ms. Gentill somehow keeps up regular installments of these delightful Rowly Sinclair adventures while also producing convoluted modern standalone novels. I enjoy both and look forward to the next ones.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital advance review copy.

I enjoy anything written by Sulari Gentill and this book is no exception. The Rowland Sinclair books are a wonderful blend of mystery and history. I highly recommend this series and Gentill's book The Woman in the Library ( my favorite book of the past year).

Rowland Sinclair and his close friends Edna, Milton and Clyde have another mystery (or three) to solve. Who shot Danny Cartwright multiple times when the head shot would have been enough, who is Otis Norcross and where has he disappeared to? Set in 1935 Boston, Rowly and his friends have flown to Boston because Danny is dead and Rowly has been named the executor of his sizable estate. Things grow tense when it turns out that Danny has not left his money to his three siblings, instead it goes to Otis, if they can find him. Along the way to unmasking the killer they encounter assorted dangers like kidnapping and assault. Might there be ties to gangsters, as well? It's a challenge to sort it out but Rowly, Edna, Milton and Clyde are up to it and we get to go along for every bit of excitement.
This is one of my favorite historical mystery series and each mystery can be read as a stand alone. The mystery engages the reader from the first chapter and never lets go. I read it well past my bedtime, the sign of a well crafted mystery.
My thanks to the publisher Poisoned Pen Press and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Having never read a book by this author and knowing this was number 10 in a series, I was pleasantly surprised. It is an historical fiction mystery which appealed to me and although a bit long it didn't feel it as there was just so much going on that it always kept my interest.

A dead millionaire, a longtime friend from university as the executor (Rowly) and a mystery that has to be solved. This is a good blend of mystery, history and thrills. It can be read as a stand alone (I didn't feel as if I have to go back and read the books before this one to understand the main character) and it will keep you enthralled and interested, But I may have to go back and read the other 9 books to see of they are as good as this one!

The story flows well, has enough action and intrigue to keep you reading and I love the Australia/America connection. A great book, fun, interesting, intriguing and mysterious.

Where There's a Will (also published as A Testament of Character) is an engrossing historical mystery, the tenth instalment in Sulari Gentill's popular Rowland Sinclair series. It's a new series to me, and I'm hooked!

The book opens in late 1935, with Australian artist-amateur detective Rowland and his coterie - beautiful sculptress Edna Higgins, poet Milton Isaacs and fellow artist Clyde Watson Jones - in Singapore, on their way back to Australia after the events of the previous book, All the Tears in China. Rowland receives a telegram bearing the devastating news of the death of his Oxford friend Danny Cartwright, in Boston. To add to Rowland's shocked disbelief, Danny has unexpectedly appointed him as executor of his substantial estate.

Upon arrival in the United States, Rowland faces another shocking situation - not only has Danny been murdered, but he's left the bulk of his wealth to a shadowy figure by the name of Otis Norcross, a man whose identity and whereabouts are an apparent mystery to all who knew Danny. Having been ruined by the 1929 financial crash, Danny's surviving siblings relied upon him for their financial security, and are none too pleased to discover he's effectively disinherited them. Poor Rowly is trapped between his grief for his friend, his desire to carry out Danny's last wishes to the best of his abilities and the substantial pressure being applied by the surviving Cartwrights to resolve the estate in their favour.

As our antipodean quartet track down leads, both to find Otis Norcross and to solve Danny's murder, they face increasingly brazen interference and physical attacks from those who want them to fail. They're tailed by thugs, kidnapped by gangsters and face a couple of shootouts in their quest for the truth. Along the way, they hobnob with members of Boston's social and showbiz set, including Marion Davies, William Randolph Hurst, Orson Welles, Errol Flynn, Joseph Kennedy and a teenaged John F. Kennedy. They attend a Lindy Hop competition at the famed Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, witnessing a performance by Ella Fitzgerald. During a trip south to North Carolina, they make the acquaintance of a declining F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda Fitzgerald. These vignettes of well-known historical figures add verisimilitude to the 1930s setting.

The story comes to a dramatic finale as a ruthless villain with a complex motive is unmasked, and Rowland weighs up his duties as Danny's executor. The tying up of loose ends intriguingly sets the scene for future adventures awaiting the courageous foursome, as they're finally able to head home to Australia.

I found Sulari Gentill's writing energetic and evocative of her inter-war setting. She cleverly weaves contemporary international issues, such as the rise of facism in Europe, into the narrative, whilst also encouraging the reader to reflect on the impact of social attitudes of the time on several of the protagonists. I particularly appreciated the character of Edna Higgins, who steadfastly strives not to be defined or restricted by her relationship to any man, defying the social norms of the time. While foreshadowing the rise of feminism, this character device also enables Gentill to maintain a sizzling sexual tension between Edna and our hero, Rowland.

Where There's a Will was my entrée to the Rowland Sinclair series, so I'm late to the party, but will be endeavouring to catch up on earlier instalments in the near future. I can assure any reader who, like me, hasn't yet encountered the series that Where There's a Will reads well as a standalone, although I imagine having read the earlier books would give a broader understanding of the relationships of the central recurring characters.

I'd highly recommend Where There's a Will to any reader who seeks high quality reads within the historical mystery genre.

My thanks to the author, Sulari Gentill, publisher Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this excellent title.

EXCERPT: He glanced at the still open grave, the lonely plot as far away as possible from the other Cartwrights. He wondered what had happened to cause such a deep rift, to make Daniel distrust his brothers so absolutely. He thought about Wilfred, the horns they'd locked over the years.

'Wills bring out the worst in families, mate.' Clyde seemed to read his thoughts. 'Any crack widens.'

ABOUT 'WHERE THERE'S A WILL': Hell hath no fury like a family disinherited...

American millionaire Daniel Cartwright has been shot dead: three times in the chest, and once in the head. His body is found in Harvard Yard, dressed in evening attire. No one knows who he planned to meet there, or why the staunch Oxford man would be caught dead at Harvard--literally.

Australian Rowland Sinclair, his mate from Oxford and longtime friend, is named executor of the will, to his great surprise--and that of Danny's family. Events turn downright ugly when the will all but disinherits Danny's siblings in favor of one Otis Norcross, whom no one knows or is able to locate. Amidst assault, kidnapping, and threats of slander, Rowly struggles to understand Danny's motives, find the missing heir, and identify his friend's killer before the clock--and his luck--run out.

MY THOUGHTS: Where There's a Will was previously published as A Testament of Character.

This is the third book I have read so far in 2022, and we are only just into the 4th week, about wills and family inheritance, all very different and all excellent reads.

I can't believe that Where There's a Will is the 10th book in the Rowland Sinclair series, of which I have previously read exactly none. But it didn't matter at all. This is a cracking good mystery with interesting characters and a plot with many twists and turns.

Set in 1935 mainly in Boston, Massachusetts, Gentill paints a picture of two very different Americas. On one hand is the wealth and privilege of the very rich, on the other those struggling to survive with little or nothing in the years following the 1929 stockmarket crash. As well as the cracking good historical murder mystery, Gentill gives us a wealth of information about life during these times and introduces a few famous people into the mix. Bigotry, sectarianism, and the appalling way people with mental health issues were treated all feature prominently, cleverly woven into the fabric of the story.

I read Where There's a Will in a day,unable to put it down, completely absorbed in the lives of the four Australians. Now I'm on the hunt for the previous nine books.

I love Gentill's writing; it seems to flow effortlessly with relatable and realistic characters, and an intriguing plot. Who could fail to be charmed by Rowly and Edna? Theirs is an interesting and intriguing relationship. I need to know more.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

#WhereTheresaWill #NetGalley

I: @sularigentill @poisonedpenpress

T: @SulariGentill @PPPress

#cozymystery #crime #historicalfiction #mentalhealth #murdermystery

THE AUTHOR: Not so long ago, Sulari Gentill was a corporate lawyer serving as a director on public boards, with only a vague disquiet that there was something else she was meant to do. That feeling did not go away until she began to write. And so Sulari became the author of the Rowland Sinclair Mysteries.

Sulari lives with her husband, Michael, and their boys, Edmund and Atticus, on a small farm in Batlow where she grows French Black Truffles and refers to her writing as “work” so that no one will suggest she get a real job.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Where There's a Will by Sulari Gentill for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

1935. Rowland Sinclair and his three friends fly to New York on discovering friend Daniel Cartwright has been shot dead, and Rowland appointed Executor of his will. A will that disinherits his brothers and sister, and leaves the majority to a Otis Norcross. Can they find Otis and discover the murderer.
A well-written and entertaining historical mystery. With its cast of varied and likeable characters. Another good addition to this series.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

My dear friend Rowly Sinclair is maturing beautifuly. He has become a wonderous gentleman by the book #10 in the series by Sulari Gentill.

Where There’s A Will is such a wonderful, colourful, suspenseful and rich novel that it is as easily reads as a stand alone book as a continuation of ‘bookish friendship’.

What can I say, I am a fan. I am a fan since the very first book. I love the characters, especially the colourful bunch of Rowly’s live in friends: Milton, Edna and Clyde, Rowly’s dog earless greyhound Lenin and Rowly’s family (they ground him in the ways only they can).

In his new adventure Rowly shows his never before seen sides: he has to battle his own feelings, has to be touch and ruthless and even has to dig a grave for a cow (yeap, he does).

Called by the death of his Oxford friend to Boston, Rowly and friends set on the perilous journey of unovering that friend’s murder and settling his will. Friends will come face to face with several American gangs, feuding relatives, victims of Depression and some very uncomfortable social truths…

Will they come out on top? Will they give up? Well, you will have to read on.

As I mentioned in the beginning Where There’s A Will is a very deserving progress of the series. It is very similar and very different to the previous books. Characters did grow up quite a bit. The events and trials of previous adventures matured and toughened them in various ways. However, their friendship remain as strong as ever… What does the future hold for the quartet? Will they remain a quarted? Will Edna and Rowly…? Well???

Where There is A Will is published by Poisoned Pen Press and is out now.

Murder at Harvard!

Rowly and the gang head off to Boston where Rowly is executor of a friend's estate, millionaire Daniel Cartwright. Turns out that Daniel, Rowly’s mate from Oxford, was murdered and of course there's another mystery for the friends to solve. This time Edna is in danger, the Irish and Italian mafias loom on the horizon, and things take a dangerous turn. The resolution is unexpected and I'm left wondering!
Another brilliant read from Gentill, once again weaving so seamlessly historical personages occurrences of the day into the storyline. It’s easy to imagine the atmosphere of those times. Helped by an excerpt from various newspapers of the day as chapter introductions, centering us on the era.
Cleverly executed, I do so love the Rolland Sinclair titles.

A Poisoned Pen Press ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

When Australian artist Rowland Sinclair receives a letter that his friend and fellow artist Daniel Cartwright, is dead and that he is the executor, his friends, Edna, Clyde and Milton decide to go with him to America. Upon arrival they meet with Cartwright's lawyers and find that he had left everything to an Otis Norcross and nothing to his brothers and sister, but no one can find Norcross. As Rowland and friends start to investigate the murder of their friend and try to find the beneficiary, others begin to harass and threaten them to have Rowland change the will.
A quick and thrilling cozy mystery adventure set in the 1930's with appearances of famous figures of the day.
Thank you NetGalley for this e-galley of "Where There's A Will".

I enjoyed this book and plan to catch up with the others in the series. I had read and liked the first couple of books in this series when they first came out and then they somehow fell off my radar. Initially I was a bit annoyed by the seeming lack of character development by any of the main characters - in some ways they all seem frozen but as I read I did see some progress in this book. The writing is smooth and clever. This book takes place in Boston and New York and Asheville, NC. True life famous people (including Joe Kennedy, Cary Grant when he was still Archie Leach, Marion Davies and Willian Randolph Hearst and others - even F Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald) come and go in believable ways. We keep seeing bits of the actual news of the mid 1930's. WWII is approaching and we have the benefit of hindsight and can see the shadow creeping up. The plot is rather involved and kept me guessing but all was revealed in the end. We know that Roland and his gang is headed back to Australia next and I'm going to find out what happened next.

The tenth installment of the Rowland Sinclair mystery series finds our quartet of detecting friends summoned from a sultry Singapore to a far colder Boston, and for less than pleasant reasons. Daniel Cartwright, Rowland’s good friend from their college days in Oxford, has unexpectedly passed on, and even more unexpectedly appointed Rowland the executor of his considerable estate. Sculptress Edna, artist Clyde and poet Milton decide to tag along with Rowland, in part to provide their friend with moral support but also to pay respects to a man who had previously hosted them all and treated them kindly.

Upon arrival in Boston, the four Australians discover that Daniel did not merely die but was murdered, and that the terms of his will likely won’t endear its executor to any of the surviving Cartwrights. Daniel had apparently left nearly everything to someone named Otis Norcross, and left it up to Rowland to both find his heir and settle the estate according to his clear if complicated wishes. Luckily, Daniel’s lawyer, Oliver Burr, is on hand to explain the many clauses and codicils to Rowland. He also tries as much as possible to serve as a buffer between Rowland and Daniel’s siblings, including the antagonistic Geoffrey and the forlorn Molly, reiterating to them:

QUOTE
“But Mr. Cartwright’s will is clear. This house and all the other properties have been left to Mr. Norcross.”

“Who do you think you are, Sinclair?” Geoffrey turned on Rowland now. “Who are you to decide where we live? What we own?”

“Rowly, please!” Molly said desperately. “You can’t do this…”

“I am your brother’s representative.”

Geoffrey’s upper lip curled. “Take a care then, that you don’t meet a similar end.”
END QUOTE

Ordinarily, Rowland would treat Geoffrey’s words as so much bluster. It soon becomes clear, however, that both Geoffrey and his brother Frank are in dire need of funds, and have known associates among Boston’s criminal element. When not only Rowland but his friends are threatened with physical harm, the search for the elusive Norcross takes on a greater urgency. But what if, as Molly posits, Norcross was the one who killed Daniel to begin with? Rowland and co will have to swiftly uncover the truth and bring a murderer to justice, while honoring their dead friend as best they can.

This was a really terrific, historically-grounded murder mystery that sensitively explores what it meant to be different in 1930s America. I was genuinely impressed by how repulsive yet oddly sympathetic the murderer was: hateful in many respects, yet imbued with an understandable desperation and rage. I also very much appreciated the way actual historical figures and events were woven into the narrative, as well as the way Sulari Gentill draws out the parallels between those times and today:

QUOTE
[Edna] turned on the chrome-grilled Philco radiogram. It was tuned to a national broadcast, a political address criticising Roosevelt’s New Deal, and the grasping greed of Jewish bankers, which the broadcaster claimed was preventing monetary reform and pushing the working man towards socialism.

Rowland turned off the radiogram.

“Who is this chap, Ed? I didn’t catch–”

“He’s a priest!” Edna said angrily. “A man of the cloth. Father Coughlin–he has a weekly radio show, apparently.”

“How many people are going to tune into a priest, Ed?” It was an attempt to comfort the sculptress rather than the fact he was unconcerned. “Church once a week is all most people can take.”

“Would he have a radio show if they didn’t?”
END QUOTE

This recognition of the political climate of the 1930s is a sobering counterpoint to the glitz of Rowland’s wealthy artistic circle, as well as to the sheer escapist thrills of the murder mystery. Taken together, it all makes for a wonderfully well-rounded novel that, for series fans, also introduces several interesting twists to Rowley and Edna’s on-going relationship. Even as a first-time reader of the series, I feel highly invested in them now, as well as in Milton and Clyde, and am looking forward to reading much more of the four’s continuing exploits.

The protagonist, Rowland Sinclair, and his cronies are Australian called to Boston after notice of the death of a dear friend, David Cartwright. Rowland is accompanied by Edna, Clyde, and Milton. To Rowland’s horror, he has been named executor of David’s will. The Cartwrights are not happy when they discover the bulk of David’s wealth is to go to Otis Norcross—assuming he can be found.

In languid prose, the narrative proceeds with the declared objective of finding Otis and the person who killed David. In the meantime, the novel introduces all manner of early to mid-thirties characters.

There are gangsters, fashions, sights and sounds of the time along with delightful and entertaining quotes from news reports. Twists, turns, and shenanigans sidetrack the MCs and I loved the tidbits regarding some of those historical figures including Joe Kennedy and F Scott Fitzgerald.

I must admit that my attention waned several times throughout the book as the gain in the whodunit was rather slow. Took a while to get to the histories of the victim and the missing Otis, and I’d guessed the antagonist shortly after introduction to the plot.

My first experience with the author and the series and I wasn’t particularly thrilled with the solution in the conclusion but any history buff would enjoy the Louella Parsons worthy gossip.

I have read some of Sulari Gentill's earlier books which I have enjoyed very much, this one is no exception - it was fabulous once again. I really love the way that the story draws you int0 the period with all its conventions and times. The characters are wonderfully drawn, so much so that one assimilates with their feelings.. The story has lost of twists and turns and really comes alive, could not put it down.

Rowly, Edna, Clyde and Milton are enjoying some well deserved down time when Rowly is summoned to Boston to serve as the executor of his old pal Danny's estate. They met at Oxford and now, in the mid-1930s, Rowly is greatly surprised to be so designated. And so are members of Danny's family who don't understand. Rowly finds himself the target not only of the family but also of other bad guys. I'm a fan of this series (yes you could read this as a standalone) so I was happy to spend time once again with this group and pleased to see them in the US. And I was happy about something else (no spoilers). Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. It's. clever read.

Set in amidst the wealthy set in 1930s Boston and New York, this rollicking novel contains all the ingredients of a proper murder mystery including a dead body, a varied cast of suspects, angst, deception and loads of mayhem. Though the tenth in the series, this was my first and I did not feel I missed anything critical.

Australian Rowland Sinclair is stunned to discover he is the executor of his American friend's will. But he isn't the only one shocked and flummoxed. David Cartwright's family members are horrified as well. And it gets worse (better!). The estate is left to Otis Norcross who must be found. Quickly. Meanwhile, there are several bends and turns and side stories until the unexpected end. Rowland's friend Edna helps with the "investigating".

My favourite aspects of this book are the inclusion of brief genuine 1930s newspaper blurbs at the beginning of each chapter which added excellent flavour and quirky characters. I chuckled when the Australian characters were told they spoke English well! Mixing different cultural mannerisms equates to all sorts of fun possibilities. Sulari Gentill writes brilliantly and wittily and weaves in notable folks of the time such as Errol Flyn and Randolph Hearst. There is adult language so this is not a cozy mystery by definition

My sincere thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this lighthearted book.