A compilation of the first four books in the suspenseful and atmospheric Joe Sandilands Series . . .
The Last Kashmiri Rose
India 1922. The wives of officers in the Bengal Greys have been dying violently, one every year and each in March. The only link between them is the bunch of small red roses that appear on their graves on the anniversary of their deaths. In order to help solve these mysterious deaths, the Governor of Bengal calls on the reluctant help of Joe Sandilands, Scotland Yard detective and war hero. Joe soon learns that the deaths are indeed connected and that the series has not yet run its course . . . But who will be the recipient of the next Kashmiri rose?
Ragtime in Simla
Simla 1922. The summer capital of the British Raj is fizzing with the energy of the jazz age. Joe Sandilands is looking forward to spending a month in the cool of the Himalayan hills as the of the Governor of Bengal. But when Joe''s travelling companion is shot dead in the back of the Governor''s car, he finds himself plunged into a murder investigation. Confronted by the mystery of an identical unsolved killing a year before, Joe realizes that the Governor''s hospitality comes at a price. Behind the sparkling façade of social life in Simla he finds a trail of murder, vice and blackmail. Someone in this close-knit community has a secret and the nearer Joe comes to uncovering it, the nearer he comes to his own death.
The Damascened Blade
The North-West Frontier, 1922. On secondment from Scotland Yard, Joe is spending a fortnight with his old army friend, James Lindsay. An uneasy peace is in operation with the Afghans but into this already-delicate situation is injected an ill-assorted group of visitors to the fort. After a skirmish which results in the death of a Pathan prince and the taking of hostages, Joe and his companion James are given seven days in which to identify, arrest and execute the killer before the frontier erupts into war. Drawing on all his courage and detective skills Joe must find out who the murderer is before more bloody deaths occur, the legacy of a bitter feud with its roots hidden deep in the past.
The Palace Tiger
India, 1922. Joe Sandilands arrives in the princely state of Ranipur at the request of the Maharajah, an old ally of the British. The Maharajah is dying, and the succession is unclear. The death of his first son, while panther-wrestling, is suspicious, but as Joe begins to investigate a second son dies dramatically right before his eyes. With only the youngest, aged 12, now left to succeed, can Joe ensure his survival? In the glittering and luxurious setting of the court with its array of powerful, scheming characters, Joe must find his way through the maze of intrigue to trap, at last, the palace tiger.