A Decline in Prophets

Fans of Australian writing (not just crime fiction) if you've not caught up yet with Rowly Sinclair and his wanderings through 1930's Sydney and beyond, where on earth have you been?

A DECLINE IN PROPHETS is the second book in the Rowland Sinclair series from Sulari Gentill and after dithering around for a week or so trying to come up with something that describes the book accurately. I'll just have to settle for my first reaction when I got to the last page. Blast - wonder when the next one will be out...

In my review of the first book - A FEW RIGHT THINKING MEN - I did comment something along the lines of there being just a little more history than mystery at points, but that balance has been elegantly sorted out in the second book. Not show more to say that the history suffers here either - the research that goes into the background of these books is fantastic, but the story-telling is even better. In A DECLINE IN PROPHETS Roly and his band of supporting artists and bohemians have been off around the world, but the action of the book mostly takes place on the RMS Aquitania - giving a very believable closed room setting. Both on ship and on land, there's a good range of puzzles and mysteries, a good dose of the relationships between Roly and his friends, and as an added extra a lot of Roly and his family when the travellers eventually return home.

The great thing about these books is that you can really see them appealing to lots of different reader's preferences - the historical period is wonderfully evoked, the action is strong but there's no overt sense of thriller going on. The deaths are believable, but the scenes described with sufficient detail to give the reader a sense of what is happening, without any gore or sensationalism. There's a touch of romance, just the slightest bit of unrequited relationship between Roly and sculptor and companion Edna but not enough to make me throw my hands in the air and scream not again! There's also a great cast of the slightly eccentric through to flat out mad as a hatter types all of whom serve their part in the cast without raising any sneaking sense of affect.

What really sticks in my mind about A DECLINE IN PROPHETS is that it's just flat out, great story telling. Good characters, a believable plot, both of which transport the reader to a place and a time that just feels right. Regardless of your preference in crime fiction, lovers of cozies, procedurals, historical or current day settings, A DECLINE IN PROPHETS is just a fantastic book. show less

Another enjoyable tale in this series, set in the 1930s and again featuring our hero, Rowly, from the entitled society set of Sydney. Narrator Rupert Degas deserves a special mention, as his narration of the audiobook (necessitating a range of posh and ocker accents) made this tale come alive. So - well done to you, old chap, I say!

A Decline in Prophets - Gentill
Audio performance by Rupert Degas
4 stars

I think I’m hooked. This is the second book of Gentill’s Rowland Sinclair mystery series. I like the amateur detective, the artist, Rowland Sinclair. I like his cohort of unconventional artistic friends.I enjoyed the historical atmosphere which is thick with the worldwide political complications of the 1930’s. This book begins with murders aboard a luxury cruise ship, leaving England, with a stop in New York City, before it’s return to Sydney, Australia. I couldn’t ask for more interesting settings, and I enjoyed the cameo appearances of several famous names.

The cast of shipboard characters is colorful. There’s a volatile atmosphere of conflict between show more prominent members of the Theosophical movement and several high ranking Catholic clergymen. There’s a fairly clear good guy/bad guy line drawn in this book, as in the first one. The sympathetic characters are the liberal Theosophists. The characters you will love to hate are the conservative Catholic priests.

Back in Sydney, Rowland’s wealthy, conservative family are ridiculous to the point of caricature. Rowland’s passive acceptance of his brother’s manipulations, and the narrow minded rudeness of his relatives became so annoying that I began to lose interest in the mystery plot. The dangling plot lines do tighten up at the end. There was quite a lot of suspense before the climactic denouement. But, I couldn’t help feeling that the book would have been improved with some judicious editing.

Overall, I was interested and entertained. I think I can expect to have the same levels of interest and annoyance in the next book. show less

international-crime-and-mystery, murder, murder-investigation, friendship, historical-novel, historical-places-events, historical-research, 1932, family-dynamics, famous-persons, Australians, politics, Cunard-ships, series, artist, photography, attempted-murder, Theosophical-Society, Australian-author

From Europe to New York to Sidney via the Cunard luxury liner RMS Aquitania in HOW many murders and attempts?
Somehow I missed this second book in the Rowley Sinclair series! Bought it two years ago and just now found it in my TBR pile! Oh well, it's always good to read a Sulari Gentill book. I geek history, so her books are always a treat for me. There is so much real history embedded in the stories! So many things to learn from a different show more national perspective! This does not diminish the excellent investigative work, terrific characterizations, sneaky red herrings, or astounding plot twists. Rowley is the center of each story (addictive as they are), but each character is so definitively independent yet necessary to the plot/series. Loved it! show less

This novel was sent to me by the publisher Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. Thank you.

This absolutely delightful mystery and novel of manners is set in 1932. The hero/detective, with a nod to Lord Peter and Nick Charles and Fred Astaire, is Australian millionaire Rowland Sinclair. Handsome, suave and witty, he and his three friends are on RMS Aquitania crossing the Atlantic to New York when they become involved in a murder aboard the luxury liner. The ship has more than the usual number of suspects since, aside from the society guests, there is a very intolerant Catholic bishop and his priest companions. Add to that the World President of the Theosophical movement and its named messiah and the scene is set for a theological murder! But show more the victim was just a bounder and Rowland Sinclair’s walking stick was found near the scene of the crime…

As the plot shifts from sea to New York to Australia, Rowland and his buddies, two artists and a poet, sift through the clues until the murderer is revealed. It is a neat mystery with a very satisfying puzzle.

But for me it was like watching those wonderful 1930’s movies. The author has the banter right, the costumes right, the settings right. A very good four star read. show less

This is the second book in the Rowland Sinclair Mysteries series. The story is set in the 1930s and follows the adventures of dashing artist and amateur sleuth Rowland Sinclair and his small group of artsy friends. The group is on a long haul cruise aboard a luxury ocean liner - traveling from Europe to Australia with a stop in New York. Rowland delves into a murder investigation along the way, and the puzzle follows the group all the way back to Australia. The story weaves through a tapestry of interesting historical and cultural references from the 1930s. I found it handy to have my smart phone handy to get more back story when my curiosity was piqued.

I haven't read the first in the series...the reviews indicate it may be a dull show more start with some great potential - and not sure I've got the energy for a dull start. That said, I didn't feel like I'd missed anything too significant for having not read the first book. Can't wait to read #3! show less

In this sequel to A FEW RIGHT THINKING MEN Rowly and his entourage have been to Europe and are returning aboard a luxury liner. When the first murder occurs it is not clear what the reason behind it is. It seems that the real target may be the Theosophist leader Annie Besant but then the attacks continue and one victim is a seemingly innocent girl.

Rowly returns home, the central figure of newspaper headlines much to his elder brother's disgust. Wilfred has been hoping the world trip will have settled his brother down. Rowly himself would like nothing better than to be able to return to the quiet life in Sydney and to take up painting again, but Wilfred's son is being christened and Wilfred is determined that Rowly will also take up some show more familial obligations. Things get nasty when the murderer from the RMS Aquitania makes another appearance.

Once again Sulari Gentill has put together an interesting mix of fact and fiction: 'real' people like Annie Besant, Charles Leadbetter and Norman Lindsay; and fictional creations. The mixture of fact and fiction even extends to the luxury liner she uses as her setting for the first half of the novel. The Aquitania was the longest serving Cunard liner built in the 20th century and survived service in both World Wars. Although I could vaguely remember reading about Annie Besant, I knew next to nothing about Theosophy and went scurrying off to do some research.

The main characters from the first novel in the series, Rowly's bohemian friends, are all there, and provide a good reason for reading these books in order.

A very satisfying read, good Australian flavour. show less