Paving the New Road

Rowland Sinclair and his bohemian friends travel to Germany in 1933 on a mission for the Australian government. As Hitler's power rises and tensions escalate across Europe, they must navigate the dangerous political landscape while posing as wealthy tourists. The group finds themselves entangled with British agents, Nazi sympathizers, and Communist resistance fighters in Munich. Rowland's artistic companions - a poet, a painter, and a sculptress - provide both support and complications as they work to prevent a threat to British and Australian interests. While maintaining its core as a historical mystery, the novel brings 1930s Germany into sharp focus through the outsider perspective of its Australian protagonists. The contrast between the refined social circles of Munich's elite and the brutal reality of the emerging Nazi regime forms the backdrop for this fourth installment in the Rowland Sinclair series.

Readers on Goodreads and Amazon find this fourth Rowland Sinclair mystery more complex and darker than previous books in the series. They note the historical accuracy of 1930s pre-war Germany and appreciate how real historical figures are woven into the plot. Likes: - Rich period details and atmosphere - Integration of actual Nazi-era events and people - Character development of the main ensemble - Balance of humor with serious themes Dislikes: - Slower pacing in first third - Some found political elements overshadowed the mystery - A few readers wanted more romance development Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: 4.21/5 (437 ratings) Amazon: 4.5/5 (89 ratings) LibraryThing: 4.1/5 (21 ratings) Notable reader comment: "The author captures both the glamour and menace of 1930s Berlin perfectly without romanticizing the era." - Goodreads reviewer

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Istanbul Passage by Joseph Kanon A neutral American businessman in post-WWII Turkey becomes entangled in a web of espionage involving former Nazis, Soviet agents, and Turkish police.

The Information Officer by Mark Mills A British military intelligence officer in 1942 Malta hunts for a killer while the island endures relentless bombing from German and Italian forces.

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📚 Paving the New Road is the fourth book in Gentill's Rowland Sinclair mystery series, set in 1933 between Australia and Nazi Germany. 🎨 The protagonist, Rowland Sinclair, is a wealthy Australian artist loosely inspired by the author's husband, who is also a creative spirit and comes from a privileged background. ⚔️ The novel incorporates real historical figures into its narrative, including Nazi officials and Australian historical personalities, weaving fiction seamlessly with documented events of pre-WWII Germany. ✍️ Sulari Gentill was originally a corporate lawyer before becoming an author, and she wrote her first novel while studying for a Master's degree in International Relations. 🏆 The Rowland Sinclair series has earned multiple awards and nominations, including the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and Paving the New Road was shortlisted for the Davitt Award for Best Crime Novel.