A Dangerous Language

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Set against the glamorous backdrop of the 1930s in Australia and overseas, A Dangerous Language is the latest in the much loved, award winning Rowland Sinclair Mysteries.
When a Communist agent is murdered on the steps of Parliament House, Rowland Sinclair finds himself drawn into a dangerous world of politics and assassination.
A disgraced minister, an unidentified corpse and an old flame all bring their own special bedlam. Once again Rowland Sinclair stands against the unthinkable, with an artist, a poet and a brazen sculptress by his side.

This is book 8 of the Rowland Sinclair mystery series. I have read a couple previously - which I recommend. There is a lot of backstory and character quirks that have made their way into the story that reading the earlier books is almost a must.

Another Rowland Sinclair novel, another few days lost in between the pages of this excellent story. Set against the backdrop of Australian politics of the 1930's, this book (like many of the previous ones) is a mixture of mystery, adventure and history. And that is a wonderful combination in this authors hands.

What's to like about this book? There's a number of things, but most importantly it is the mystery at the heart of this book. Ultimately, there is a murder to be solved and the plotting and pacing of that issue were done so very well, by the time I had gotten to the end, I was nodding my head in appreciation!

What else? Well, the time period has been done flawlessly - it is a little bit of a cliché but I am going to say it anyway: I feel like I was transported back to the '30s. I enjoyed all the little sidebars of info along the way, just adding a little more depth to the story without dragging out the story itself. I love the characters - after reading a few of these, it feels like re-visiting friends you haven't seen for a while.

The one letdown for me was the seemingly over-reliance on the political story to push the story along. I am certainly not against politics being a motivator for a novel, but this one did seem to get bogged down with the machinations of Canberra - sometimes, it actually worked against the plot by slowing the story down and it felt like the battle of Communists and the Fascists overtook the mystery and kinda took the story sideways, instead of forwards.

Overall, another wonderful addition to the series and one I would have no trouble recommending!


Paul
ARH