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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
One of the better books I've read this year. Solid mystery with lots of surprises plus completely immerses the reader into early 20th century India, complete with all its class struggles and political intrigue. Love a book that can make you want to learn more about its subject while entertaining on another level. I see there are now 4 books in the series. Hopefully, they will all be as strong as this initial offering.
A fantastic read, a superb new double-act in Sam & Surrender-Not
I purchased this book after reading an article about the author in The Writing magazine Feb 2020.
Set in Calcutta, India and at the same time as the massacre at Amritsar 13th April 1919, The Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee is his glorious debut.
Captain Sam Wyndham arrives in Calcutta as a new member of the Imperial Police Force and is immediately tasked with investigating the murder of a high ranking Government official who was left with a mysterious message. Sam works with his new partner Sergeant "Surrender-Not" Banerjee to investigate the murder but finding out more than they bargained for and that perhaps not everyone on your side is to be trusted.
This is a beautifully written and impeccably researched historical crime novel, the descriptions of the buildings and Writers building were fabulous and the scene on the Hooghly, with the funeral pyre and the priest, all gorgeously detailed
Highly recommended
I purchased this book after reading an article about the author in The Writing magazine Feb 2020.
Set in Calcutta, India and at the same time as the massacre at Amritsar 13th April 1919, The Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee is his glorious debut.
Captain Sam Wyndham arrives in Calcutta as a new member of the Imperial Police Force and is immediately tasked with investigating the murder of a high ranking Government official who was left with a mysterious message. Sam works with his new partner Sergeant "Surrender-Not" Banerjee to investigate the murder but finding out more than they bargained for and that perhaps not everyone on your side is to be trusted.
This is a beautifully written and impeccably researched historical crime novel, the descriptions of the buildings and Writers building were fabulous and the scene on the Hooghly, with the funeral pyre and the priest, all gorgeously detailed
Highly recommended
A promising start to a new series. Set in Calcutta in 1919, this book is look at a long-gone place and era. Sam Wyndham, the protagonist, is a World War I vet who lost his wife in the 1918 influenza epidemic. He's in India because he has nothing left in England. While the mystery is decent, the best part of this book is the author's depiction of Calcutta - the heat, the corruption, and best of all the British Empire itself. Seeing that presented and looking at it through a current eye is very eye opening. Looking forward to reading the next books in this series.
This is the first book in a new series set in 1917 Kolkata. The protagonist is a British detective who moves to India in order to forget the horrors of WWI.
Sam Wyndham, veteran of WWI and former inspector with Scotland Yard, has been persuaded to move to Calcutta and work with the police there. He is still trying to find is footing in this strange new country when a white high-placed government employee is found murdered outside an Indian whorehouse.
This would have been an excellent mystery anyway, but I believe it is even more so because the author is a Brit from an Indian heritage who is able to give the reader insight into the thinking and attitudes of both the British Raj and the Indians. How do 150,000 Brits manage to control (enslave?) one hundred million natives? Highly recommended and looking forward to the next installment.
This would have been an excellent mystery anyway, but I believe it is even more so because the author is a Brit from an Indian heritage who is able to give the reader insight into the thinking and attitudes of both the British Raj and the Indians. How do 150,000 Brits manage to control (enslave?) one hundred million natives? Highly recommended and looking forward to the next installment.
A strong start to the Sam Wyndham series. I will definitely keep reading.
A strong start to the Sam Wyndham series. I will definitely keep reading.
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
From the very beginning with its wonderfully Chandler-esque opening line, “At least he was well dressed. Black tie, tux, the works. If you’re going to get yourself killed, you may as well look your best,” I was totally in the thrall of this book from start to finish. Not only is the writing whip smart and intuitive with a clever and engaging plot, but the depth of the historical research to so vividly portray the teeming life of this beautiful, yet socially and racially torn, outpost of the former British Empire sings from every page. I always think that historically drawn fiction treads a difficult line between force feeding the reader too much factual detail, or being too sketchy on how well it integrates the historical aspect which then doesn’t draw the reader into the reality of the period. Not only does Mukherjee present Calcutta and its social and political tensions with such clarity of detail, and the heinous crimes perpetrated by the British at Amritsar, but he also weaves into the story the echoing resonance of the trauma of WWI in the characterisation of his main protagonist Captain Sam Wyndham.
I liked the way that these momentous moments in history were brought centre stage at times, but then also cleverly just playing out in the background against the murder investigation adding a sense of the ebb and flow to the story and keeping the reader’s interest throughout. I also enjoyed the way that the interactions between the main characters and their responses to one another added another dimension to the difference in their societal position or racial status again reflecting the tensions of the time. This is very much in evidence by not only Wyndham’s experience as an ‘incomer’ to India, and the barriers to his investigation that he experiences, but also in his own interactions with his fellow Englishman, the prickly Inspector Digby, and the delightful Sergeant Banerjee. The interplay between these three incredibly disparate men was a source of pleasure throughout the book, and the development of their differing relationships, both personally and professionally, gave a further emotional pull on the reader’s empathy to these characters. Wyndham is a particularly complex man with previous trauma, and the loss of the love of his life, placing its own unique strain on his psyche. However, despite his insomnia and wavering dependence on chemical pick-me-ups, what Mukherjee so assuredly shows is Wyndham’s singular integrity as a man, his open mindedness, and his ability to place himself apart from his compatriots in order to fully investigate this case, finding his way in an alien and corrupt society.
So, A Rising Man, bulging with beautifully controlled historical detail, the atmospheric backdrop of Calcutta, a twisting and dangerous murder investigation, and a wonderfully drawn cast of characters, did not disappoint in the slightest. A strong contender for my top 5 of the year, and a completely absorbing, and thoroughly enjoyable debut. Highly recommended.
I liked the way that these momentous moments in history were brought centre stage at times, but then also cleverly just playing out in the background against the murder investigation adding a sense of the ebb and flow to the story and keeping the reader’s interest throughout. I also enjoyed the way that the interactions between the main characters and their responses to one another added another dimension to the difference in their societal position or racial status again reflecting the tensions of the time. This is very much in evidence by not only Wyndham’s experience as an ‘incomer’ to India, and the barriers to his investigation that he experiences, but also in his own interactions with his fellow Englishman, the prickly Inspector Digby, and the delightful Sergeant Banerjee. The interplay between these three incredibly disparate men was a source of pleasure throughout the book, and the development of their differing relationships, both personally and professionally, gave a further emotional pull on the reader’s empathy to these characters. Wyndham is a particularly complex man with previous trauma, and the loss of the love of his life, placing its own unique strain on his psyche. However, despite his insomnia and wavering dependence on chemical pick-me-ups, what Mukherjee so assuredly shows is Wyndham’s singular integrity as a man, his open mindedness, and his ability to place himself apart from his compatriots in order to fully investigate this case, finding his way in an alien and corrupt society.
So, A Rising Man, bulging with beautifully controlled historical detail, the atmospheric backdrop of Calcutta, a twisting and dangerous murder investigation, and a wonderfully drawn cast of characters, did not disappoint in the slightest. A strong contender for my top 5 of the year, and a completely absorbing, and thoroughly enjoyable debut. Highly recommended.