All the Tears In China by Sulari Gentill

Publisher's Synopsis

Shanghai in 1935 is a twentieth-century Babylon, an expatriate playground where fortunes are made and lost, where East and West collide, and the stakes include life itself.

Into this, Rowland Sinclair arrives from Sydney to represent his brother at international wool negotiations. Rowland is under strict instructions to commit to nothing… but a brutal murder makes that impossible.

As suspicion falls on him, Rowland enters a desperate bid to find answers in a city as glitzy as it is dangerous, where tai-pans and tycoons rule, and politics and vice are entwined with commerce.

Once again, the only people Rowland can truly trust are an artist, a poet and a free-spirited sculptress.

My Review of All the Tears In China by Sulari Gentill

It’s 1935 and Rowland Sinclair’s name is being bandied around as a suspected Communist thanks to his recent connection to Mr Egon Kisch. Robert Menzies is not happy with him, disgruntled patriots are out to kill him and his brother Wilfred continues to express his profound disapproval. In short, Sydney, Australia is becoming an unsafe place for Rowland Sinclair.

So Wilfred comes up with a solution to get Rowly to safety. He insists that Rowland, along with friends Edna, Clyde and Milton, travel to Shanghai, China to conduct some business on his behalf. The wool industry is big business and the Sinclair wool is in high demand, it just needs someone to conduct a few meetings with potential buyers and Wil can’t attend. The idea is to represent the Sinclair family but make no deals with any overseas counterparts. But, of course, where Rowland Sinclair is concerned, nothing ever works out to be straightforward or simple.

So on this incredibly fragile premise, Rowland and his friends make the trip to Shanghai and, almost immediately, find their lives in danger. Just the simple act of attempting to travel the short trip from the docks to their hotel leaves them vulnerable to attacks from would-be thieves. 

But the thieves aren’t the worst of it, a woman, whom Rowland meets and dances with on their first night in the city is found later, by Rowland, in his room with her throat cut. The woman is a Russian living off the tips of men who are willing to pay for the privilege of dancing with her. 

The local police need to be convinced that Rowland was only involved by virtue of the fact that the woman was found in his room. Not an easy task. And the owner of the hotel wants Rowly and his friends out. After all, you don’t want the other guests to be nervous about a possible killer in their midst.

This leaves the friends in their own accommodation in a foreign land, ignorant of the local customs and language. To make matters even more hairy, members of the wool industry are growing increasingly insistent that a deal be struck to secure reliable stock before the brewing trouble in Europe escalates any further.

The 9th book in the Rowland Sinclair Mysteries series continues to delight with the clever integration of real historical facts and events with Sulari Gentill’s careful fabrication. I appreciated the inclusion of a couple of local characters into Rowly’s entourage, Wing Zau, a Chinese butler and a taxi driver named Ranjit Singh who proved himself with some daring driving during a necessary getaway escape. Both provide local knowledge as well as colourful injections of humour at vital times.

The worldwide unrest taking place at this particular time in history is perfectly captured within this hugely bustling city. The intrigue of international dealings where everyone is looking for an edge in uncertain times is a tempestuous environment to throw someone as trouble-prone as Rowland Sinclair. The result is a plot that develops rapidly and rushes along making the most of the exotic city in which it’s set. 

As has become the norm, and is the drawcard to this particular series, Rowland and his friends attract trouble like a dead body draws flies. Murders, burning buildings, beatings, police scrutiny and prison time are all thrown at them to ensure that their stay in Shanghai is a particularly lively one. Rowly has been in some tricky situations in the past but this time just about trumps the lot. And the fact that he’s out of communication range for most of it means that Wil is going to be absolutely apoplectic…again.