Abir Mukherjee: A Rising Man, Vintage (Penguin Random House) Paperback, 9781784701345 /

German edition:  Ein angesehener Mann, Heyne
 

I cannot remember how I discovered “A Rising Man” by Abir Mukherjee but I am very glad I did, he is a true find. I really fell for this captivating historical thriller set in 1915 Calcutta which had me turning the pages rapidly making it very hard to tear myself away from the book.  The novel was shortlisted for the CWA Gold and Endeavour historical daggers and was selected Book of the Year of the Daily Telegraph in 2016. A German translation is out already and the sequel “A Necessary Evil” was published this year cannot wait to read it, the second one in a new series.  The atmosphere of the book reminds me a great deal of M.J. Carter’s “A Stranglers Vine” but Mukherjee’s novel has a more realistic feel to it, painting a vivid portrait of the British Raj.

 

This highly atmospheric novel opens  in Calcutta of 1919 were the British Raj is affording many British a life they would never be able to dream of in England, all at the expense of  India’s treasures  and its citizens. Captain Sam Wyndham is thankful for his new Calcutta posting hoping to leave his nightmares of WWI behind.  Travelling with him is the ghost of his wife Sarah who died during an influenza epidemic and his addiction to morphium and painkillers, consequences of the war. Previously employed at Scotland Yard he comes with high recommendations but has barely time to settle in when he is called to his first murder victim in the darker parts of Calcutta. 
 

A senior British Official, Alexander MacAuley, aid to the Lieutenant Governor and problem fixer par excellence, was found brutally murdered with a note stuffed in his mouth signaling the British to leave India to the Indians. The murder is first attributed to rebel movements but Sam has his doubts once he starts digging.  Arrogant English Inspector Digby and a very smart but disadvantaged Indian Sergeant Banerjee, also known as “Surrender-Not”, are part of his investigative team.  I am not going to go into much more detail as it would spoil the fun, but from the opium dens of Calcutta to the Lord Governor of Bengal, a cast of very colorful characters paint a rich portrait of the early 20^th Century Calcutta and the first uprisings of the Indian independent movement.