Death in the East
A Novel
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4.4 • 48 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Calcutta police detective Captain Sam Wyndham and his quick-witted Indian Sergeant, Surrender-Not Banerjee, are back for another exotic adventure set in 1920s India.
1905, London. As a young constable, Sam Wyndham is on his usual East London beat when he comes across an old flame, Bessie Drummond, attacked in the streets. The next day, when Bessie is found brutally beaten in her own room, locked from the inside, Wyndham promises to get to the bottom of her murder. But the case will cost the young constable more than he ever imagined. 1922, India. Leaving Calcutta, Captain Sam Wyndham heads for the hills of Assam, to the ashram of a sainted monk where he hopes to conquer his opium addiction. But when he arrives, he sees a ghost from his life in London—a man thought to be long dead, a man Wyndham hoped he would never see again. Wyndham knows he must call his friend and colleague Sergeant Banerjee for help. He is certain this figure from his past isn’t here by coincidence. He is here for revenge . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Edgar finalist Mukherjee's excellent fourth mystery featuring Capt. Sam Wyndham and Sgt. Surendranath "Surrender-not" Bannerjee of the Calcutta CID (after 2019's Smoke and Ashes) deepens the relationship between his two leads and adds detail to Wyndham's complicated past, all while toggling between two mysteries. In 1922, Wyndham goes to an ashram in Jatinga, Assam, where he hopes to be cured of his opium addiction, a struggle complicated by his belief that he's seen a dead man, someone who tried to kill him almost 20 years earlier. Flashbacks to 1905 Whitechapel gradually fill in that tantalizing backstory, as Wyndham, then a young police constable, investigates the murder of 20-year-old Bessie Drummond, whom he once courted, after she's found in a locked room with her skull bashed in. The case of Bessie's murder and the mystery Wyndham encounters in Assam are both cleverly plotted, and they're matched by Mukherjee's depiction of Bannerjee's growing assertiveness as the movement for his country's independence grows and of the almost palpable torment experienced by an addict desperate to get clean. The sky seems to be the limit for this extraordinarily talented author.
Customer Reviews
Excellent Series
I wondered as I began reading this third in the Wyndham & Banerjee Mysteries by Abir Mukherjee, whether it could hold up to the distinctive voices and stories of one and two. I missed Banerjee, but as I moved on, was completely captured by unwinding of historical fact and smart fiction. I couldn’t put it down. A Death in the East is an excellent read. The characters seem more alive and robust. The story is strong, holds the characters up to the light, and reveals the mysteries of the period and the mystery at the center of the book.