A review by piyali
Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee

4.0

This book was my favorite of the three that Mukherjee has written so far. He is truly an extremely engaging writer. Sam Wyndham, the flawed yet very likable detective, has the perfect blend of charm, intelligence, wit, empathy and humor. His relationship with the young Surrender-not is endearing. Mukherjee captures the mood of Calcutta and much of Bengal, very authentically in this mystery novel. With the introduction of real life heroes of India's freedom movement like Deshbondhu C.R Das, Basanti Das and Netaji Subhash Bose, the turmoil of that age becomes very real for those readers who may not be very familiar with the history of India's freedom movement.