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wc4 's review for:
A Rising Man
by Abir Mukherjee
A wonderful novel set in post-WWI India. India is still part of the British Raj and Sam Wyndham has just moved to Calcutta. A previous detective of Scotland Yard, who came home injured from the war only to find his wife has passed away, Sam moved to Calcutta for a different change of pace. He was thrust into the murder of a high-ranking government official, who is close to the Lt-Governor. They suspected Indian separatists and so the adventure begins. I love that we see an India in the midst of change. Sam is a complex character. He's a great policeman but has a weakness for opium and morphine. He finds himself working well with an Indian junior, Sgt. Surendranath (the Brits call him Surrender-Not), who is British-educated and is conflicted about his role in working for the colonizers. Along with the puzzling murder, we see the British Raj near the end of its glory. We also get incisive commentaries on racial prejudice and the business and politics of colonization. I would certainly read the next books, if only to spend more time with Sam and Surrender-Not.