Oh, Rowly, here you are – Book review for NetGalley – A Few Right Thinking Men (Rowland Sinclair #1) by Sulari Gentill

 A Few Right Thinking Men

Rowland Sinclair is an artist and a gentleman. In Australia’s 1930s the Sinclair name is respectable and influential, yet Rowland has a talent for scandal.

Even with thousands of unemployed lining the streets, Rowland’s sheltered world is one of exorbitant wealth, culture and impeccable tailoring. He relies on the Sinclair fortune to indulge his artistic passions and friends … a poet, a painter and a brazen sculptress.

Mounting tensions fuelled by the Great Depression take Australia to the brink of revolution.

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This description does not do this book any justice, none at all.

I have read this book a while ago. The reason I bought it was because (drum roll), I’ve met the author at Crime Fiction Conference at Woolongong University in NSW. Sulari mentioned than that her Rowland has been compared to Erast Fandorin (character from Boris Akunin’s novels – I was doing my MA on). I promised her then that I will read her books and let her know if I agree with comparison.

I do not. Rowland Sinclair is alive. He is breathing, eating, drinking, laughing, loving, hating and making mistakes human.

This is what I actually wrote to Sulari then:

Your Rowland is ALIVE))). He is a full blooded male who knows very well where he is from, his background, his social status/standing. He has enough pride and respect for all of it and his land, of course. Fandorin, however, is a paper-cut figure with no past, no family background, no pride, respect or support. Fandorin steers away from everything and anything that can create havoc in his personal space, including relationships and friendships.

The only similarity between those two I can think of – is the setting (historical). But even this is very vague similarity. Fandorin lives in 19th century. So, here it is. I hope I did not make you confused or wanting to read Fandorin’s adventures))).

Yeah, Rowland is alive and he is amazing. I read his adventures before I came across Kerry Greenwood and her Honourable Miss Fisher. I fell in love with Aussie-detectives while I followed Rowland on his quest.

I still have many more books to read in these series. I will get to them eventually. What I can tell you here is, A Few Right Thinking Men is an interesting trip down the Australian history lane. Read the book if you know the history, read it if you do not.

Besides murder mystery and bad guys versus good guys, you would get a beautiful, colourful image of Australia metropolitan and rural as well, in all its glory.

A Few Right Thinking Men, be one of them…