A Necessary Evil
The thrilling historical crime novel you won’t be able to put down
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4.0 • 5 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
** A THE SUNDAY TIMES 100 BEST CRIME NOVELS AND THRILLERS SINCE 1945**
**WINNER 2018 WILBUR SMITH ADVENTURE WRITING PRIZE**
'Even better than his first' Daily Telegraph
India, 1920. Captain Sam Wyndham and Sergeant Banerjee of Calcutta Police must investigate the dramatic assassination of a Maharaja's son...
Sam Wyndham is visiting the kingdom of Sambalpore, home to diamond mines and the beautiful Palace of the Sun.
But when the Maharaja's eldest son is assassinated, Wyndham realises that the realm is riven with conflict. Prince Adhir was unpopular with religious groups, while his brother - now in line to the throne - appears to be a feckless playboy.
As Wyndham and Sergeant 'Surrender-not' Banerjee endeavour to unravel the mystery, they become entangled in a dangerous world. They must find the murderer, before the murderer finds them.
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 HISTORICAL AND GOLD DAGGERS*
*LONGLISTED FOR THE 2018 CWA STEEL DAGGER*
Praise for the Wyndham and Banerjee series :
'An exceptional historical crime novel' C.J. Sansom
'A thought-provoking rollercoaster' Ian Rankin
'Cracking... A journey into the dark underbelly of the British Raj' Daily Express
If you enjoyed A Necessary Evil, further books in the Wyndham and Banerjee series are available now:
A Rising Man
Smoke and Ashes
Death in the East
The Shadows of Men
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1920, Mukherjee's impressive sequel to 2017's A Rising Man finds Capt. Sam Wyndham, a former Scotland Yard officer, and his astute sidekick, Sgt. "Surrender-Not" Banerjee of the Bengal Police, transporting Crown Prince Adhir Singh Sai, of the small kingdom of Sambalpore, back to the prince's Calcutta hotel after a conference. The royal, who attended boarding school with Surrender-Not, wants his advice about notes that were left for him in his rooms. But before he can discuss their contents, a religious procession forces their car to take a detour, placing them in the path of an assassin who fatally shoots the prince. Sam and Surrender-Not's failure to apprehend the killer only makes things worse, and, though they eventually track the man down, he takes his own life, leaving the investigators still in the dark about his motives. The road to the truth takes them to Sambalpore, a hive of intrigue and suspects. This successful evocation of the Raj in the service of a brilliant whodunit demonstrates that Mukherjee's debut was no fluke.
