Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
As in the first book, the location is the star here. We don't spend as much time in Calcutta this go around but into the kingdom of Sambalpore, where the British do not have jurisdiction.
It's been about a year since "A Rising Man". Sam and "Surrender-not" are still living together, Sam is still smitten with Annie (who is rightly having none of this or is at very least playing coy), and our boys witness an assassination. Of the Maharaja's son, who was pushing reforms. They end up investigation anyway even while staying in Sambalpore and of course the assassination isn't what it seems.
My heart is still stolen by "A Rising Man" but this was a solid follow up and, also like the previous one, I'm game for more.
It's been about a year since "A Rising Man". Sam and "Surrender-not" are still living together, Sam is still smitten with Annie (who is rightly having none of this or is at very least playing coy), and our boys witness an assassination. Of the Maharaja's son, who was pushing reforms. They end up investigation anyway even while staying in Sambalpore and of course the assassination isn't what it seems.
My heart is still stolen by "A Rising Man" but this was a solid follow up and, also like the previous one, I'm game for more.
1920s India, the decline of the British Raj. The main character, Sam Wyndham, is an interesting protagonist. He's white, and although he's a pretty good detective, one of the most interesting things about him is that he's starting to grapple with his own racism toward the people of India. An enjoyable mystery with an extremely interesting setting.
I persuaded my local library to buy this book, so I hope others enjoy it after me. This is the second in the Captain Sam Wyndham series, and here he travels to Sambalpore from Calcutta to investigate further, albeit unofficially, the assassination of the Yuvraj (Crown Prince). I learnt a lot about the distinction between princely kingdoms (rajs, I think) as distinct from British India.
Again, I appreciated the dry humour and the relationship between Sam and his Sergeant, Surrender-not. Surrender-not was out of his element too in Sambalpore, which was a shame; I enjoyed the way his status in and knowledge of Calcutta affected the power balance between the two men in the first novel. Thought-provoking about Empire and prejudice. I know many readers appreciate Sam's opium addiction, but it doesn't do a lot for me!
The library is in the process of obtaining the next book...
Again, I appreciated the dry humour and the relationship between Sam and his Sergeant, Surrender-not. Surrender-not was out of his element too in Sambalpore, which was a shame; I enjoyed the way his status in and knowledge of Calcutta affected the power balance between the two men in the first novel. Thought-provoking about Empire and prejudice. I know many readers appreciate Sam's opium addiction, but it doesn't do a lot for me!
The library is in the process of obtaining the next book...
Wow jam packed with action, tension, mystery, murder and suspense. Brilliant once again
I enjoyed this even more than the first book in the series. There's a little less exposition (although there's enough exposition about the plot of the first book that you probably don't need to read that one first) and I love learning about the history of India which made the plot particularly interesting. The story moves out of Calcutta to a semi-fictional Indian kingdom, exploring the relationship between British India and the somewhat independent but legally subordinate royal territories within India, as Wyndham and Banerjee investigate the death of a fabulously wealthy Maharaja's son.
I enjoyed this one a lot, the only real sour note for me was that even though the book has a wider range of female characters than A Rising Man did, women continue to come off quite badly in this series, and Sam Wyndham in particular continues to be a dick where his love interest is concerned (and he's not exactly a deductive genius, either). But the all-round lack of saintliness in the characters does add to the atmosphere and the sense of place, which is great. I loved the description of the monsoon, and the smells and sights and all that good stuff are immersive. Looking forward to reading the next in the series.
I enjoyed this one a lot, the only real sour note for me was that even though the book has a wider range of female characters than A Rising Man did, women continue to come off quite badly in this series, and Sam Wyndham in particular continues to be a dick where his love interest is concerned (and he's not exactly a deductive genius, either). But the all-round lack of saintliness in the characters does add to the atmosphere and the sense of place, which is great. I loved the description of the monsoon, and the smells and sights and all that good stuff are immersive. Looking forward to reading the next in the series.
A Necessary Evil takes place outside the confines of the Raj – in the princely state of Sambalpore, whose crown prince Adhir – a friend of Surrender-Not’s – is assassinated in Calcutta when he is in town for a meeting of the Chamber of Princes.
Wyndham and Surrender-Not are charged with investigating the murder and they travel to Sambalpore to carry out their task, a move fraught with danger since the limbs of the Raj do not extend into princely states.
Mukherjee scores yet again on detailing, and the plot is unconventional but it ends up getting more than a little convoluted, which takes away from the book.
The bevvy of interesting characters rescues the slightly complicated proceedings, and one really has to hand it to Mukherjee for the seemingly effortless way in which he conducts his protagonists’ interactions with these people.
Wyndham and Surrender-Not are charged with investigating the murder and they travel to Sambalpore to carry out their task, a move fraught with danger since the limbs of the Raj do not extend into princely states.
Mukherjee scores yet again on detailing, and the plot is unconventional but it ends up getting more than a little convoluted, which takes away from the book.
The bevvy of interesting characters rescues the slightly complicated proceedings, and one really has to hand it to Mukherjee for the seemingly effortless way in which he conducts his protagonists’ interactions with these people.
My favourite genre
Bit of history to set a scene with some extra fiction
Colonial India, tiger hunts and maharajahs
Great
Bit of history to set a scene with some extra fiction
Colonial India, tiger hunts and maharajahs
Great
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
If you read my review for the first audiobook in this historical crime fiction series, you’ll know that I loved it. Well, I loved this second book even more!
As the above synopsis says this book is set in the ‘fabulously wealthy kingdom of Sambalpore home to tigers, elephants, diamond mines, and the beautiful Palace of the Sun.’ Right from the beginning of the book there were wonderful descriptions of the opulence of the kingdom and of the princes wearing jewel encrusted outfits, including their beards!
This was a fantastic murder mystery that tied me up in knots, as I tried to work out who the murderer was and what the motive was behind the killing. The murder trail took Sam and Banerjee right into the heart of the Sambalpore, where they got caught up in the intrigue of the goings on of the Maharaja and his court, and they really didn’t know if anyone could be trusted.
The relationship between Sam and Banerjee is definitely warmer in this book, and it was nice to see that Sam took the Sargeant more seriously as they investigated the murder. This was a welcome change, as Banerjee is a very clever policeman, and definitely more on the ball than his boss!
Simon Bubb’s narration was brilliant again, definitely making him one of my new favourite narrators! He’s become the voice of Sam and Banerjee, and I can’t wait to hear him bring them to life once again in the next book, Smoke and Ashes!
I definitely recommend this story on audiobook, especially if you enjoy historical crime fiction.
As the above synopsis says this book is set in the ‘fabulously wealthy kingdom of Sambalpore home to tigers, elephants, diamond mines, and the beautiful Palace of the Sun.’ Right from the beginning of the book there were wonderful descriptions of the opulence of the kingdom and of the princes wearing jewel encrusted outfits, including their beards!
This was a fantastic murder mystery that tied me up in knots, as I tried to work out who the murderer was and what the motive was behind the killing. The murder trail took Sam and Banerjee right into the heart of the Sambalpore, where they got caught up in the intrigue of the goings on of the Maharaja and his court, and they really didn’t know if anyone could be trusted.
The relationship between Sam and Banerjee is definitely warmer in this book, and it was nice to see that Sam took the Sargeant more seriously as they investigated the murder. This was a welcome change, as Banerjee is a very clever policeman, and definitely more on the ball than his boss!
Simon Bubb’s narration was brilliant again, definitely making him one of my new favourite narrators! He’s become the voice of Sam and Banerjee, and I can’t wait to hear him bring them to life once again in the next book, Smoke and Ashes!
I definitely recommend this story on audiobook, especially if you enjoy historical crime fiction.
I considered rating this conservatively and giving it a 3. But ya know what, I definitely "really liked it." Like, okay, I totally got confused at the library and thought this was a complete standalone and only after getting partway through and looking up info about the book to write about it, did I realize that this is the second in a series. But, I don't think that detracted from my reading experience.
As a crime/mystery novel, pretty good, I guess. I'm no real judge of this because this isn't my usual genre at all. But it did keep me guessing and I was consistently engaged in the story, wondering what actually happened and turning the pages. Lots of times I was surprised and the mystery felt really complex in a good way.
The reason this book got 4 stars from me, the real reason, is because as a historical fiction novel, it grabbed my heart and didn't let go, okay? Ugh! Like, let's be real here, the moment I saw this was a historical fic/crime/mystery set in 1920s India, I HAD to check it out of the library (the haste with which I did is probably why it took me so long to realize it's actually the second in a series). Like, I LEARNED things, like the fact that the man whose name is on the Henry Fingerprint System took the credit for the work that Haque and Bose, two Indian men, had done to create this fingerprint classification system. And just a lot of things in here where it was like "that's a word that I know what it's supposed to sound like!" AND AND, and I think this is really important - while the narrator in this story is a white man with the Indian man as the secondary main, I think it's super important that the AUTHOR is an Indian man. It makes the narrative of a white man in 1920s India actually the opposite of cringeworthy.
I'll go back and read book 1 and probably continue to read this series.
It really is just such a different feel of novel than what I usually gravitate toward when I want to have something that can keep me engaged and I'm thinking that the specifics of most popular novels of this genre are probably what's kept me away so far and this has shown me that I can actually enjoy the genre !
As a crime/mystery novel, pretty good, I guess. I'm no real judge of this because this isn't my usual genre at all. But it did keep me guessing and I was consistently engaged in the story, wondering what actually happened and turning the pages. Lots of times I was surprised and the mystery felt really complex in a good way.
The reason this book got 4 stars from me, the real reason, is because as a historical fiction novel, it grabbed my heart and didn't let go, okay? Ugh! Like, let's be real here, the moment I saw this was a historical fic/crime/mystery set in 1920s India, I HAD to check it out of the library (the haste with which I did is probably why it took me so long to realize it's actually the second in a series). Like, I LEARNED things, like the fact that the man whose name is on the Henry Fingerprint System took the credit for the work that Haque and Bose, two Indian men, had done to create this fingerprint classification system. And just a lot of things in here where it was like "that's a word that I know what it's supposed to sound like!" AND AND, and I think this is really important - while the narrator in this story is a white man with the Indian man as the secondary main, I think it's super important that the AUTHOR is an Indian man. It makes the narrative of a white man in 1920s India actually the opposite of cringeworthy.
I'll go back and read book 1 and probably continue to read this series.
It really is just such a different feel of novel than what I usually gravitate toward when I want to have something that can keep me engaged and I'm thinking that the specifics of most popular novels of this genre are probably what's kept me away so far and this has shown me that I can actually enjoy the genre !
I love just about any detective story and this series is at the top of my list. Well-researched and strongly situated in time and place. And a tricky plot. All add up to many, many stars. This author is an auto-read.