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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
A mostly strong debut. I liked the main character, despite his flaws, and the setting was very interesting. I enjoyed the mix of history and culture along with the mystery. The secondary characters were mostly good but a few were forgettable.
My only complaint was the core mystery which I didn't feel was resolved in a satisfying way.
But overall I think I'd try another book in this series.
My only complaint was the core mystery which I didn't feel was resolved in a satisfying way.
But overall I think I'd try another book in this series.
adventurous
funny
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I enjoyed this book, it covers a part of history that I don't know too much about. The central plot is well embedded in historical fact and the author really evokes a sense of place and time. There is a lot about race, politics, religion and war, all discussed by the main characters with a wry humour. I will certainly read the rest of the series as I felt the characters will develop more over future instalments, but in this book they got a little lost at the beginning underneath the plot.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Calcutta (known as Kolkata these days) seems to be the home of the Indian whodunnit. The country's two most famous fictional detectives—Byomkesh Bakshi and Feluda—both hail from the Bengali city, where they unravel a variety of dastardly golden-age plots: poisonings, locked-room murders, and inheritance scams.
A Rising Man is a different kind of entry in the annals of Calcuttan crime lore. Instead of taking the Conan Doyle/Agatha Christie path, in which a brilliant but idiosyncratic private investigator cleverly undoes the work of a scheming mastermind, Abir Mukherjee gives us a police procedural bound up in the politics of the Raj.
It starts off unpromisingly, to be honest: a paint-by-numbers setup with a dead body in an alley, a detective with a troubled past, and stiff prose that feels like the work of a debut author who's spent twenty years in finance, as his bio rather strangely informs us.
Thankfully, it gets better. Sam Wyndham, our white detective/narrator, grows less bland as he begins to grapple with the fundamental contradiction of his dual role as seeker of justice and agent of empire. His right-hand-man, "Surrender-not" Banerjee, likewise must confront a crisis of conscience. And the mystery itself is compelling. Even if parts of the resolution felt contrived, it held my interest and kept me guessing.
Best of all, as the book went on I began to appreciate how skillful some of the writing actually was. The romantic elements were pretty clumsy, and Mukherjee has an irritating habit of stating the obvious, especially in dialogue, but the setting of early 20th century Calcutta is evoked with a power and richness that kind of sneaks up on you. Toward the end, when Wyndham and Surrender-not take a boat trip up the Hooghly River, we are shown what Wyndham calls "the India I'd dreamed of," a vision of low, shrouding mist, Kali temples jutting up from jungle, votive offerings drifting on the water. It dawned on me that Mukherjee had earned this moment of otherworldly exoticism by doing the hard work of the previous 300 pages—building a Calcutta that felt real, lived-in, and complex. In other words, the sort of place a person could toil, make their fortune, or get themselves murdered in.
More good news: It looks like there are already two more entries in this series.
A Rising Man is a different kind of entry in the annals of Calcuttan crime lore. Instead of taking the Conan Doyle/Agatha Christie path, in which a brilliant but idiosyncratic private investigator cleverly undoes the work of a scheming mastermind, Abir Mukherjee gives us a police procedural bound up in the politics of the Raj.
It starts off unpromisingly, to be honest: a paint-by-numbers setup with a dead body in an alley, a detective with a troubled past, and stiff prose that feels like the work of a debut author who's spent twenty years in finance, as his bio rather strangely informs us.
Thankfully, it gets better. Sam Wyndham, our white detective/narrator, grows less bland as he begins to grapple with the fundamental contradiction of his dual role as seeker of justice and agent of empire. His right-hand-man, "Surrender-not" Banerjee, likewise must confront a crisis of conscience. And the mystery itself is compelling. Even if parts of the resolution felt contrived, it held my interest and kept me guessing.
Best of all, as the book went on I began to appreciate how skillful some of the writing actually was. The romantic elements were pretty clumsy, and Mukherjee has an irritating habit of stating the obvious, especially in dialogue, but the setting of early 20th century Calcutta is evoked with a power and richness that kind of sneaks up on you. Toward the end, when Wyndham and Surrender-not take a boat trip up the Hooghly River, we are shown what Wyndham calls "the India I'd dreamed of," a vision of low, shrouding mist, Kali temples jutting up from jungle, votive offerings drifting on the water. It dawned on me that Mukherjee had earned this moment of otherworldly exoticism by doing the hard work of the previous 300 pages—building a Calcutta that felt real, lived-in, and complex. In other words, the sort of place a person could toil, make their fortune, or get themselves murdered in.
More good news: It looks like there are already two more entries in this series.
(2.5/5★)
While I think A Rising Man does a great portrayal of the time period that it is set in as a historical fiction novel, I had a difficult time keeping myself engaged considering this is a mystery/thriller book. The premise itself is interesting enough, but the characters are forgettable and the pacing of the book was much too slow for the majority of it. The descriptions of their surroundings in India were great in particular, but it wouldn't be enough on it's own to get me to read more of this series.
While I think A Rising Man does a great portrayal of the time period that it is set in as a historical fiction novel, I had a difficult time keeping myself engaged considering this is a mystery/thriller book. The premise itself is interesting enough, but the characters are forgettable and the pacing of the book was much too slow for the majority of it. The descriptions of their surroundings in India were great in particular, but it wouldn't be enough on it's own to get me to read more of this series.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-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:
Complicated