Book review ⭐️⭐️⭐️ A rising man by Abir Mukherjee, a historical crime novel.
Circa 1919, Calcutta, British India. Captain Sam Wyndham, former detective with Scotland Yard has just taken up a new position with British Imperial Police. Within a week of his arrival, a ‘burra sahib’, a senior British bureaucrat, has been brutally murdered. Sam sets out on his investigate responsibilities with his ‘native’ assistant, Surrender-Not (Nath) Banerjee.
Abir Mukherjee has a witty style of writing. It’s a very detailed account of the functioning of the Raj, the city of Calcutta and its people, sometimes enjoyable, sometimes monotonous. Its a good plot with well formulated characters, exposing the underbelly of the Raj, the sociopolitical atmosphere of British Calcutta. But, I found the pace of the story was just too slow. Sam Wyndham, though likeable, doesn’t come across as the sharpest of detectives, parts of the crime story were more obvious to me than him.
It’s an interesting read from the perspective of an ordinary British police officer. The reference to Indian freedom fighters as terrorists was a bit odd at first, and then amusing. My grandparents were freedom fighters, so it was obviously strange to have them, speak of as ‘terrorists’.
I enjoyed his style of writing and his level of research, I will read his other books. Hopefully they’ll be a little more crisp.
A rising man by Abir Mukherjee, a historical crime novel.
Circa 1919, Calcutta, British India. Captain Sam Wyndham, former detective with Scotland Yard has just taken up a new position with British Imperial Police. Within a week of his arrival, a ‘burra sahib’, a senior British bureaucrat, has been brutally murdered. Sam sets out on his investigate responsibilities with his ‘native’ assistant, Surrender-Not (Nath) Banerjee.
Abir Mukherjee has a witty style of writing. It’s a very detailed account of the functioning of the Raj, the city of Calcutta and its people, sometimes enjoyable, sometimes monotonous. Its a good plot with well formulated characters, exposing the underbelly of the Raj, the sociopolitical atmosphere of British Calcutta. But, I found the pace of the story was just too slow. Sam Wyndham, though likeable, doesn’t come across as the sharpest of detectives, parts of the crime story were more obvious to me than him.
It’s an interesting read from the perspective of an ordinary British police officer. The reference to Indian freedom fighters as terrorists was a bit odd at first, and then amusing. My grandparents were freedom fighters, so it was obviously strange to have them, speak of as ‘terrorists’.
I enjoyed his style of writing and his level of research, I will read his other books. Hopefully they’ll be a little more crisp.
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