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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I’m almost sorry that I have been reading book reviews so much lately because I keep finding new authors and placing holds at the library. Meanwhile my own extensive pile of books at home just sit there unread. I don’t remember where I saw this book reviewed, but it may have been the New York Times or perhaps Kirkus. Unfortunately, this is the second book in the series. So now I am patiently waiting for the first book in the series to come my way. While I appreciate Philadelphia’s library system, I can’t quite understand why it takes so long for them to transport a book from one library to another. I’m #1 for several older books. It’s taking forever. There is a pattern I’m noticing. A lot of the books I like seem to come from certain areas of the city. Well wherever I read about this book, it’s proven to be a home run. It’s set in 1920 India. The narrator is a former Scotland Yard detective and army officer, Captain Sam Wyndham and his partner, Sergeant “Surrender-Not” Banerjee. His name is an anglicized version of his name. Banerjee happens to be a Brahmin and hence a priest except he’s not religious. He is VERY VERY bright. Sam is as well, but he has an unfortunate addition to opium. This book centers around the Indian kingdom of Sambalpur headed by an elder Maharaja with multiple wives and concubines and, as a result, many more children than whose names he can even remember. One of his sons will be the next Maharaja until he is assassinated. Banerjee knew him from boarding school in England so Sam uses that connection to become part of the British delegation traveling to pay their respects. Banerjee is told that under no circumstances is he to do any investigation. Sam is just going along for the ride. Of course they ignore it. This one had a lot of twists and turns and red herrings. The ending was both ironic and amusing. I’m definitely going to be following this author and looking forward to reading his first and upcoming books.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Mixed feelings. The pace of the plotline like in any police thriller, the majority of the book you are going in circles without hard evidence. The pace picks up until the last few chapters.
We are going in circles trapped in political intrigue. You can easily finish the story quickly so that's a point in favor of this series.
The environment and description are wonderful, you do get the idea of where you are.
The characters did not grip me so that might be why the story was just ok. I will not be continuing the series.
We are going in circles trapped in political intrigue. You can easily finish the story quickly so that's a point in favor of this series.
The environment and description are wonderful, you do get the idea of where you are.
The characters did not grip me so that might be why the story was just ok. I will not be continuing the series.
Second in a series. I read it before the first one. Set in 1920s colonial Indian. Given that the author's name is Indian I was surprised at first to find the central character is a white British policeman who has headed out to India (which sounds awful when I write it down, after all, I probably wouldn't have been surprised if I'd opened up a book to find a white author writing an Indian character.) Anyway, I liked Sam Wyndham and I didn't have any problem getting to know him and his reasons for being in India despite skipping the first book. This story is about the death of a prince and there's no shortage of non-white characters, including Sam's sergeant in the Calcutta police.
I've since read the first book and my memory has rather merged the two stories together for me so I don't want to say things that might be about the wrong book. I enjoyed the investigations in both the books but both times had difficulty being very concerned about justice for the victims as neither book really brought them to life. Other characters did come to life though and I'll probably read some more in the future as I found these an interesting beginning.
I've since read the first book and my memory has rather merged the two stories together for me so I don't want to say things that might be about the wrong book. I enjoyed the investigations in both the books but both times had difficulty being very concerned about justice for the victims as neither book really brought them to life. Other characters did come to life though and I'll probably read some more in the future as I found these an interesting beginning.
Somewhere between a 3 and 3.5. I really wish Surrender-Not was a stronger presence here; he was way cooler than Sam, who I kind of hated. Can we end the drug-addict-inspector trope already, please?
Yet another well plotted story from an emerging crime writer.
It has colour, suspense and a good story - in right proportions!
https://onerightword.blogspot.com/2018/06/a-necessary-evil-abir-mukherjee.html
It has colour, suspense and a good story - in right proportions!
https://onerightword.blogspot.com/2018/06/a-necessary-evil-abir-mukherjee.html
I truly like this series. The setting is interesting and the characters are well developed. My only thing I dislike about the main character is the opium addiction. More often than not is a distraction and doesn't serve any purpose. However I will keep reading the series.