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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A solid 4 stars for this wonderful novel. If you're like me and enjoy a good read ( no pun) set in colonial India, this one is for you. A great way to start off the new year!
I usually don't read detective fiction like this. Maybe a one off mystery or so but it's rare that I feel invested enough to go through the often formulaic "english policeman" genre.
Apparently all it takes is for it be a bit self aware of itself and to be moved to India. And to actually engage with its own time period. There be racism and colonialism abound but it is not sugarcoated or unexamined.
Sam Wyndham is a Great War veteran, an ex-Scotland Yard officer, and a widower. He takes a job working as a a policeman in Calcutta and on his first day there is, of course, a rather prominent murder.
There is a great deal of politics going on her. Racial (one of Sam's sergeants is Banderjee, whose first name no one has bothered to properly learn), interdepartmental, and a whole lot of cloak and dagger between different people in different industries. It's a really rich world and it's not something I've seen done before.
It was a really spellbinding read and I hope there's going to be another one.
Apparently all it takes is for it be a bit self aware of itself and to be moved to India. And to actually engage with its own time period. There be racism and colonialism abound but it is not sugarcoated or unexamined.
Sam Wyndham is a Great War veteran, an ex-Scotland Yard officer, and a widower. He takes a job working as a a policeman in Calcutta and on his first day there is, of course, a rather prominent murder.
There is a great deal of politics going on her. Racial (one of Sam's sergeants is Banderjee, whose first name no one has bothered to properly learn), interdepartmental, and a whole lot of cloak and dagger between different people in different industries. It's a really rich world and it's not something I've seen done before.
It was a really spellbinding read and I hope there's going to be another one.
Traumatized by his experiences in the trenches, and adrift after the death of his wife (Spanish flu), Sam Wyndham of the Metropolitan Police takes a job in Calcutta in 1919. On his first day he is confronted with a murdered civil servant and finds himself navigating the power structures of the British Raj. It's a great setting for a mystery--distant in time and place yet offering the opportunity to reflect on issues that are still with us. Mukherjee treats his characters fairly and he ably conveys the ambivalence of a man who believes in British fair play, yet is a functionary in this racist colonial world. His relationship with his Indian Sergeant, "Surrender-not" Banerjee, offers further insight into this strange-yet-familiar place. In the end, Captain Wyndham turns out to be a bit of a bumbler, but this is a satisfying detective novel nonetheless.
Years ago, I tried the first book in the Inspector Rutledge series, having been drawn in by the concept of a veteran of the WWI trenches coming back from the war to be a Scotland Yard detective. That debut didn't really captivate me, so I didn't read further in the series (now at 15 books I think), but the idea of the war vet as detective still captures my imagination. This first in a projected series delivers on the same premise, although here, the hero has shipped out to India to join the colonial police in Calcutta in 1919.
Captain Wyndham provides a literal "fresh off the boat" perspective on the bustling Raj capital for readers, and he's barely installed in a dreary English-run rooming house before being called to his first murder scene. A notable white man has been stabbed outside a brothel in an unseemly part of town, and he has to discover if it was an act of terrorism by Indian freedom fighters or something else altogether.
In order to do so, he is forced upon a crash course in local social mores and politics, some of which are delivered by his English deputy, some by his Indian Sergeant, some by the beautiful Anglo-Indian secretary to the dead man, and some by the various officials he has to navigate en route to the truth. He soon finds himself entangled with military intelligence types and others getting their fingers into the investigation.
In many ways, it's a pretty conventional historical murder mystery, full of red herrings, misdirection, and dastardly villains. I suspect a lot of readers will spot some of these along the way, but it's still a pretty fun read with lots of potential to to grow into a long-running series. Definitely worth reading in conjunction with other fiction or non-fiction about Raj-era India, as it does a very good job showing the shaky moral foundations of that oppression.
Captain Wyndham provides a literal "fresh off the boat" perspective on the bustling Raj capital for readers, and he's barely installed in a dreary English-run rooming house before being called to his first murder scene. A notable white man has been stabbed outside a brothel in an unseemly part of town, and he has to discover if it was an act of terrorism by Indian freedom fighters or something else altogether.
In order to do so, he is forced upon a crash course in local social mores and politics, some of which are delivered by his English deputy, some by his Indian Sergeant, some by the beautiful Anglo-Indian secretary to the dead man, and some by the various officials he has to navigate en route to the truth. He soon finds himself entangled with military intelligence types and others getting their fingers into the investigation.
In many ways, it's a pretty conventional historical murder mystery, full of red herrings, misdirection, and dastardly villains. I suspect a lot of readers will spot some of these along the way, but it's still a pretty fun read with lots of potential to to grow into a long-running series. Definitely worth reading in conjunction with other fiction or non-fiction about Raj-era India, as it does a very good job showing the shaky moral foundations of that oppression.
medium-paced
So enjoyed this book. I don't rad crime/ who done it books that often, but this one was a winner! I look forward to the next one.
I wish I had listened to this book on audio, which would have made the traditional gumshoe beats of the story come alive. There is a lot of background provided on the history of the Raj on the subcontinent, which is something I've studied in depth, so to me it felt like a lot of research was showing (though this could be really handy for a different reader). I'd like to read the novel from Sargent Banerjee's perspective rather than the white English detective's, but I recognize that Wyndham as a character has more room to grow, and the ability to make minor social change for his junior officer.
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.