A Testament of Character

I would like to thank Netgalley and Oldcastle Books for an advance copy of A Testament of Character, the tenth novel to feature Australian artist Rowland Sinclair and friends, Edna, Milton and Clyde.

Winter 1935. The friends are getting ready to return home from an extended sojourn in Shanghai and Singapore when Rowlie gets a telegram to say that his friend Danny Cartwright has died and named him executor of his will. They change plans and head to Boston where they discover a real mess. The fabulously wealthy Danny has disinherited his siblings in favour of Otis Norcross, a man no one can find. Danny’s brothers and their shady acquaintances will use any means to contest the will while Rowlie is scouring the country looking for the elusive Otis.

I thoroughly enjoyed A Testament of Character which is a rollicking adventure with a wealth of historical detail. There is plenty of action as Rowlie and his crew are assaulted and escape death on more than one occasion so the novel rips along at a fast pace. In addition there is an excellent mystery about how to find Otis and who he really is and who is behind all the violence. I must admit that it had me baffled until the denouement which unfurls in a hail of bullets and recriminations. It’s a cracker.

This is a fun read and the plot is not to be taken too seriously but that rather disguises the serious historical research involved and the social mores of the day that are now regarded as not just unacceptable but cruel and bigoted. I had a rough idea of them but to see them played out in this setting brings home how unconscionable they were. The cruelty broke my heart, not for the first time in Ms Gentill’s writing as she has a knack for exposing the wrongs of the time.

As with all her novels the author prefaces each chapter with a fitting quotation from a contemporaneous source, normally a newspaper. It is fun to read these old fashioned homilies and see how she works them into her narrative as they are always apt in some way or another. I also like the way she includes historical figures in the novel although I’m not sure I recognise them all. The F. Scott Fitzgerald episode was highly amusing.

I have come to love the freewheeling, bohemian Rowlie and his chums. They are a tight knit group who support each other through thick and thin but there are hints of a change in the dynamic in this novel and it will be a long wait to see how it plays out.

A Testament of Character is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

I'm a huge fans of Rowland Sinclair mystery and I love the mix of historical facts and fiction.
Sulari Gentili never fails to deliver an engrossing and entertaining story and this book was no exception.
Even if I prefer the instalment set in Australia I loved this one, full of twists and turns and interesting characters.
The plot kept me hooked and it's full of twists and turns.
The cast of characters is interesting and well thought as usual and the historical background well researched and vivid.
It was an excellent read and I can't wait for the next instalment.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

The Unenviable Position Of Rowland....
The tenth book in the excellent Rowland Sinclair series finds Rowland in an unenviable position following the suspicious death of an old friend. As ever, so well drawn with a superb sense of time and place, fully credible characters and an engaging storyline. A very worthy addition to this series.