Saturday 13 April 2019

Review: A Rising Man

A Rising Man A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm a little late to Abir Mukherjee but I'm glad I got here. 'A Rising Man' is set in 1919 Raj India, a period I know little about but which Mukherjee brings to life - the intense colours, the oppressive heat, the simmering violence; the racism, both institutional and casual, of the last decades of the British Empire.

Sam Wyndham, a policeman two weeks into his career in the colonial force in Calcutta, investigates the murder of a high ranking British official, a man apparently killed by terrorists seeking the end of British rule. But when the secret police seem a little eager to close the case, Sam, along with the pompous, racist Inspector Digby and Sgt. 'Surrender-Not' Banerjee, Indian-born and educated at Cambridge, suspects that there is more to the crime than initially appears. Mukherjee's dialogue is excellent and the characters all have distinct voices. He describes the locations, from dusty back streets to opulent colonial mansions to temples surrounded by lush jungle, with a deft touch. And along the way, he drops phrases worthy of Chandler - a carpet is "thick enough to suffocate a small dog", Wyndham "tried not to stare at her legs, which was difficult because they were fine legs and I appreciate these things" - and takes a few humorous pokes at his native Scotland, a country whose climate "is rather unpleasant for ten months of the year and downright inhospitable for the other two."

I enjoyed 'A Rising Man' thoroughly. It is a satisfying and entertaining detective story but also a commentary on British Colonial attitudes to, and treatment of, 'foreign' subjects; food for thought when those same attitudes and nostalgia for the days of Empire seem to be driving the Brexit movement in England. Second in the series already purchased and high on the TBR list.

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Sunday 7 April 2019

Review: The Island

The Island The Island by Ragnar Jónasson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Perhaps I would have benefitted from reading the first in this series of Icelandic thrillers but possibly not, as they appear to be published in reverse chronological order which in itself is an interesting concept. The Island concerns the death of one of a group of friends on an island south of the Icelandic main island, exactly ten years after the murder of another of their number. This second death is investigated by Hulda Hermannsdóttir, a somewhat tragic detective, previously passed over for promotion in favour of a seemingly less talented colleague, partially due to his successful closure of the first case. Hulda is an interesting character and the Icelandic landscape, particularly the island itself, is atmospheric and haunting. The plot, however, is a little too straightforward yet Hulda makes progress by chance rather than through her investigative skills. That said, it is perhaps her downbeat doggedness that makes her interesting and I will read the other books in the series.

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#BlogTour - Still See You Everywhere by Lisa Gardner

A remote tropical island. Countless dangerous secrets. No way to call help. ‘A  master of the thriller  genre’ David Baldacci ‘Full-on  acti...