A Rising Man: A Novel (Wyndham & Banerjee Mysteries Book 1) Kindle Edition

When my sister in law told me she had found a really great writer in the NYT book list, I was interested and read the story. Having been hooked by Abir, I began working thru his little jewels via my local library. Wanting my own copy I went back to the first and can now write a review to share the pleasure with everyone. Mukherjee is right up there with Box and Child in craft and smarts. He's nailed the Raj reality, and built a very solid cast of characters to carry out the plots. Each on is better than the last. What are you waiting for, go read this book.As for Abir: Rock on Dude!!!Dave Tucker

In an excellent start to a promising series of historical detective fiction stories, A Rising Man satisfies on almost every level. The attraction of old colonial Calcutta, the last days of British Imperial power in India provides the backdrop for what will continue on as a series of detective stories set in Calcutta. The main character, Sam Wyndham, is an attractive figure with an interesting backstory. His assistant Surrender-not Banerjee makes for another interesting character with an intriguing backstory. I found the social commentary and political intrigue of this period in Calcutta history, with the coming sunset of British rule, a storyline worthy of filling many more stories of the adventures of this colorful pair. The sturdy Bengali culture provided enough seeds of rebellion to fuel the eventual political movement toward Indian independence. I can forgive the poor editing and the typographical errors. I found A Rising Man appealing as a very good story with potential for the future. I am looking forward to the next edition of this series.

Well I have come to this series late but at least that means I have four more ready to read and that is a good thing because A Rising Man is excellent.Captain Sam Wyndham is a Scotland Yard detective damaged, in the way of many men in 1919, by his experiences in the war, the loss of his wife to Spanish flu, and an addiction to the opium used in his medical care. He moves to Calcutta and joins the Police force there in an attempt to begin a new life.The book opens with a murder which Sam is determined to solve despite huge obstacles along the way. He is assisted by Sergeant Banerjee who turns out to be a really likeable offsider, kept busy mostly in trying to keep Sam alive. The two develop an entertaining partnership.The author writes exceedingly well and creates the atmosphere of Calcutta under the Raj perfectly. The heat, the humidity, the crowded streets are palpable and the extreme differences in the way people lived was made very clear. I can see that Sam, with his slightly more moderate views on life, is going to have a few very serious struggles along the way. I am very much looking forward to reading the next book!

It is always so rewarding to find an author who is new to me writing a novel set in a time and location I'm unfamiliar with. In this case the time is 1919 and the location is Calcutta, India. Abir Mukherjee has made the time and location as much a part of the novel as it's possible to be. All of India is simmering under the surface with resentment and outright hostility toward the British who rule over their country. Change and self-government are not taking place at a pace desired by many of the Indian population and there is always work for the military police secret service to do. Into this hotbed of unease steps Captain Sam Wyndham, formerly of Scotland Yard, now a Detective Inspector in the Imperial Police Force. Disillusioned by all he had seen in the war, disheartened by the loss of his wife and all his family, Wyndham is making a new start in a place completely different from the grey, rainy England of his birth.This first case for Wyndham begins with the discovery of the body of a white sahib in a neighborhood where he should not have been, especially after dark. Why was Alexander MacAuley murdered and what should the police make of the note found stuffed into his mouth? The deeper Wyndham digs the closer his case comes to stepping into the territory of the infamous Section H, military secret police.The different culture, geography and historical time period all combine with well defined characters to make this an intriguing and enjoyable reading experience. I'm looking forward to the second book in the series.

This is a splendid and intriguing plot set against on exotic and fascinating backdrop. A less-than-perfect but credible main character aided by an equally interesting indigenous bobby.

Brilliant! A leading government official has been murdered in Calcutta, still under British administration in 1919. Captain Sam Wyndham, newly arrived, has the mystery to solve. In a fast-moving plot which encompasses the move for Indian independence and the massacre at Amritsar, Wyndham is forced to confront both his enemies and those he imagines to be on his side. This is a beautifully written novel, far more than just a well-plotted crime story. I have visited India many times and few writers evoke its sights, smells and landscape as evocatively as this. The period detail is well researched, done with a light touch and deftly incorporated into the narrative. Entirely superb is Wyndham's Indian sidekick, the bandy-legged, blushing, Cambridge-educated Surrender-not, who has the knack of being in the right place at the right time. This is a serious book but it is also a hugely funny one. All in all a wonderful read and a truly exceptional first novel.

This is great for what it is and what its supposed to achieve. The Siege of Krishnapur this is certainly is not. Its not in that league , but this never pretends to be anything other that a character based murder mystery novel. The 1-star reviews for this book generally do make some valid points but this is a pool-side book and for me the standard of writing is easily above the norm in that arena. The writer deliberately uses clumsy cliches at times and they are cleverly put into the book in places that add some genuine emphasis. This was missed I feel by many who reviewed this poorly, they failed to grasp this subtle writing technique in my opinion. The humorous first person musings of a troubled main character are very funny at times and quite poignant at others. I love these characters and will be reading the next one soon....

The ladies of the Memsahib's book club shortlisted "A Rising Man" for their next read but instead chose Diane Setterfield's "Once Upon A River". However the idea of a crime thriller set in early twentieth century Calcutta appealed to me, so I dived-in.Now let me start by saying that I haven't read Diane Setterfield's "Once Upon A River" so comparisons would be unfair, but albeit uninformed I think the book club ladies may have made the right choice because "A Rising Man" is disappointing. It's a great idea, a new arrival in colonial India is a gift to a writer, an opportunity to compare and contrast observations and experiences, but instead we have a light-weight whodunit with very little descriptive narrative that centres on a feeble and not very original plot. The detective is of course flawed, the cast of characters reads like a Merchant Ivory script and includes the naïve and good-intentioned arriviste, the dyed-in-the-wool old-colonial hand, the helpful Indian, the chip-on-shoulder mixed-race, the stuffy civil servant, the canny Scottish entrepreneur, the crusty colonel, the high and might lieutenant-governor, the hell-fire-and-brimstone man-of-god and so on and everyone of them is a one-dimensional stereotype; and if that were not bad enough the dialogue and the narrator's thoughts made me cringe as they pour from the page in a bizarre mix of dated colonial old-boy'isms and twenty-first century idioms.In short, this book is so risible that at time I wondered whether it was meant to be taken seriously or was it perhaps meant to be a parody in the style of George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman series, I assume the former, but in either case it comes up short, very short.I could be charitable, it's Mukherjee's first book [I think] and the next book in the series may be better, but to give it more than one star would be a disservice to other Amazon customer.

This is a confident and assured debut by Abir Mukerjee with this historical thriller set in Calcutta, in the Raj era of India in 1919. Captain Sam Wyndham is a new arrival to the city, joining the Imperial Police Force, working with the resentful Digby, and the British educated Sergeant Banerjee, referred to as 'Surrender-not' because the British cannot pronounce his name. Wyndham is a weary and cynical man with a background in the police and Special Branch back in England, and having seen the futile deaths of so many whilst serving in the trenches of World War I. Compounding his trauma is the loss of his wife, Sarah, from a flu epidemic. He arrives in an India experiencing turbulent times, where the cracks are beginning to show in colonial rule with the growing number of people fighting for home rule. When the murdered body of Alexander MacAuley, a rising man, an aide and fixer to the Lieutenant-Governor, is discovered in Black Town, down an alley adjacent to a brothel, a note is found inside his mouth warning the British to quit India. There is a lot of political and media pressure on Sam and his team to find the terrorists and agitators responsible.In a sweltering city, Sam tries to find his bearings, he does not buy into the mythology and hype that the British are superior and more moral than the natives. However, he is more than capable of lapses of judgement and display a casual racism, particularly towards the symbolically named Surrender-not. He observes the Little Englander attitudes of Colonel and Mrs Tebbit and others at the Guest House he is staying in, the lower middle classes who live immeasurably better lives in India than at home, with their social circles that exclude the natives they consider so inferior. Then there are the powerful, operating under the Rowlatt Acts that allows them to act as they please with no form of judicial justice, acting with impunity when it comes to killing locals. The stench of brutality and hypocrisy from the British, the nature of sexual relations with Indian women, the greed and the economic exploitation is laid out clearly. The fractures of British rule become deeper fissures with the massacre of unarmed men, women and children in Amritsar which the British try to cover up, but knowledge of it spreads like wildfire amongst Indians. As Sam investigates, all is not as it seems as he faces unseen forces manipulating his inquiries, that Section H, the military secret police, are interfering with justice, and that as he continues to pursue the truth, he wades into dangerous waters with the knowledge he may not live to tell the tale.The research carried out by the author is detailed and impressive. Calcutta and India are beautifully described and the narrative is drenched in atmosphere, capturing the dominant prejudices and attitudes of that time. Whilst justice is not seen to be served at the end of the novel, what arises is the ability to sway decision making marginally for the better. The highlight of the novel is the complexity of the relationship between Sam and Surrender-not. The tensions within India are replicated in it, whilst Sam is flawed, he comes to recognise the invaluable source of help his sergeant provides, including that of saving his life more than once. Sam's dogged determination and his attempts to be moral in his pursuit of real justice make him a compelling personality with a desperate need for opium, a Brit trying to do the right thing in the face of enormous obstacles. Sergeant Banerjee is the face of India that sees the possibility of home rule coming and is unconsciously preparing for it by acquiring the requisite skills. This is an outstanding historical thriller, and the period and location makes it a riveting and gripping read. Highly recommended! Cannot wait to read the next in the series.

I read this book after seeing the very likeable Abir Mukherjee at the Edinburgh Book festival promoting the latest book in his series of historical crime novels set in Calcutta. I decided to start with the first, which I think was a good decision. It is interesting that Mukherjee, who is of Bengali extraction, although he has grown up in Britain, decided to adopt the point of view of the English policeman, Sam Wyndham, rather than that of his Indian side-kick, 'Surrender-not' Bannerjee. He views the Indians of Calcutta and the racial situation through Sam's rather naive eyes.The book describes how Sam investigates the murder of an English civil servant who has close ties with a wealthy ex-pat jute baron. He also becomes involved with Annie Grant, a beautiful mixed race girl, although he had been broken hearted by the death of his English wife Sarah in the 1918 flu epidemic. I was kept interested in both the mystery and the cultural setting. I was startled by a couple of anachronisms, though. The book is set in 1919. Sam describes how he is attracted by Annie's nice legs - but in 1919 skirts were still long - the most he would have glimpsed would have been an ankle! Even more jarring is the part when Sam sums up what he has learned of the case in 'bullet points'. I'm not sure when bullet points were first used, but they don't suggest 1919 - surely they are part of computer terminology!Nevertheless, I'd like to read more of Sam's adventures, and hope to hear more of Annie, too, but hopefully with her costume details more accurately researched.