It is 1934 Australia, and as Hitler gains power in Europe, the conservative ruling forces of this island nation are wary of any intrusion by speakers from outside the country who might cause trouble. In particular, they don’t want to hear from a left-leaning advocate for world peace.

Author Sulari Gentill skillfully has blended actual historical personalities and events into A DANGEROUS LANGUAGE, her eighth adventure with our hero, artist Rowland Sinclair. This time, she turns the history behind the real-life banning of a renowned international peace advocate, Czech journalist Egon Kisch, into a page-turning thriller as Rowly seeks to bring him to a Melbourne rally to speak out against Hitler.

"A lawyer by education, but fortuitously a historian by chance and an award-winning author by choice, Gentill has produced eight historically accurate yet thoroughly enjoyable novels."

To the constant exasperation of his brother Wilfred, Rowly is more likely to act from his heart rather than his head. Wil habitually turns up his nose at Rowly’s Woodlands mansion entourage. An artist at heart and fabulously wealthy by birth, Rowly’s friends include the beautiful Edna, a model for his famous nude portraits; Milton, a charming ersatz poet with leftist leanings; and Clyde, a pragmatic young fellow who comes in handy in any brawl that might arise or when Rowly’s sports cars break down. Wil openly disapproves of Rowly’s lifestyle, associates and career choice; he lives in the other Sinclair estate near the nation’s capital, where he is politically and financially involved.

In A DANGEROUS LANGUAGE, Rowly quite literally owes his life to Kisch, who smuggled him out of Germany after having been held captive, nearly murdered and forcefully tattooed with a swastika by his Nazi captors (in GENTLEMEN FORMALLY DRESSED).

A lawyer by education, but fortuitously a historian by chance and an award-winning author by choice, Gentill has produced eight historically accurate yet thoroughly enjoyable novels. She has created a cast of characters who romp through these books with adventuresome joy backed by solid research into a perilous era, introduced in each chapter through brief cuts from real news articles of the times. Rowly can be found dining with a young Winston Churchill, and trading insights with H. G. Wells and other famous sages of nearly a century past.

Gentill is a real find, and fans of historical fiction and murder mysteries will consider her treasure trove of novels to be a rich discovery, especially during these challenging times.