Ebook368 pages6 hours
Smoke and Ashes: A Novel
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this ebook
Captain Sam Wyndham and his sidekick Surrender-Not Banerjee return in this prize-winning historical crime series set in 1920s Calcutta.
India, 1921. Haunted by his memories of World War I, Captain Sam Wyndham is battling a serious addiction to opium that he must keep secret from his superiors in the Calcutta police force.
When Sam is summoned to investigate a grisly murder, he is stunned at the sight of the body: he’s seen this before. Last night, in a drug addled haze, he stumbled across a corpse with the same ritualistic injuries. It seems like there’s a deranged killer on the loose. Unfortunately for Sam, the corpse was in an opium den—and revealing his presence there could cost him his career.
With the aid of his quick-witted Indian Sergeant, Surrender-Not Banerjee, Sam must try to solve the two murders, all the while keeping his personal demons secret, before somebody else turns up dead.
India, 1921. Haunted by his memories of World War I, Captain Sam Wyndham is battling a serious addiction to opium that he must keep secret from his superiors in the Calcutta police force.
When Sam is summoned to investigate a grisly murder, he is stunned at the sight of the body: he’s seen this before. Last night, in a drug addled haze, he stumbled across a corpse with the same ritualistic injuries. It seems like there’s a deranged killer on the loose. Unfortunately for Sam, the corpse was in an opium den—and revealing his presence there could cost him his career.
With the aid of his quick-witted Indian Sergeant, Surrender-Not Banerjee, Sam must try to solve the two murders, all the while keeping his personal demons secret, before somebody else turns up dead.
Author
Abir Mukherjee
Abir Mukherjee is the author of the award-winning Wyndham & Banerjee series of crime novels set in Raj-era India. He has won the CWA Historical Dagger and the Wilbur Smith Award for Adventure Writing, and has been shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger, the HWA Gold Crown, and the Edgar Allan Poe Award. His novels include A Rising Man, A Necessary Evil, Smoke and Ashes, and Death in the East. Abir grew up in Scotland and now lives in Surrey, England.
Read more from Abir Mukherjee
A Rising Man: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Necessary Evil: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death in the East: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Shadows of Men: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sin is the New Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sinful Silence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Smoke and Ashes
Related ebooks
Now You See Me: A Lacey Flint Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bangalore Detectives Club: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rizzio: A Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rabbit Factor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5O' Artful Death: A Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thief of Souls: An Inspector Lu Fei Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Angel's Mark Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Beautiful Blue Death: The First Charles Lenox Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death of an American Beauty: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau: An Inspector Gorski Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Expert in Murder: A Josephine Tey Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Study in Crimson: Sherlock Holmes 1942 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5By its Cover Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Case of the Missing Servant: From the Files of Vish Puri, Most Private Investigator Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Every Seven Years Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Salaryman's Wife Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Inspector Thanet Mysteries Volume One: The Night She Died, Six Feet Under, and Puppet for a Corpse Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wolf and the Watchman: 1793: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Matchmaker: A Spy in Berlin Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Bastille Spy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Distant Echo Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Death of No Importance: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cardinal's Court: A Hugh Mac Egan Mystery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Holding: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Gentleman's Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Different Class: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Night She Died Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Hue & Cry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Inspector Singh Investigates: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Historical Mystery For You
Find You First: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady of Ashes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Untitled Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sentence Is Death: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Watchmaker's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories: A Miss Marple Collection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eight Perfect Murders: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stranger in the Lifeboat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Have Always Lived in the Castle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Spider's Web Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death: Grantchester Mysteries 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Line to Kill: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Universal Harvester: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Word Is Murder: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The ABC Murders: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Librarian of Crooked Lane Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marple: Twelve New Mysteries Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Pale Blue Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Apothecary's Poison Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Last Jew in Prague Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Under a Red Moon: A 1920s Bangalore Mystery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Supreme Justice: A Novel of Suspense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anatomy of a Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Things in Jars: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Speaks the Nightbird Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Woman on Fire: A Mystery Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Herb of Death: A Miss Marple Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries Volume One: Whose Body?, Clouds of Witness, and Unnatural Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Smoke and Ashes
Rating: 3.9929577957746476 out of 5 stars
4/5
71 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I have to be honest and say that it took me a long time to get into Smoke and Ashes, and it's got everything to do with me and nothing to do with the book because I really enjoy this series. The book starts out with Wyndham on a bender, and I have very little patience for fictional characters addicted to alcohol or drugs. Once I'd reminded myself over and over again that Mukherjee's A Necessary Evil made my Best Reads List of 2018, I picked the book up again and began to read. I'm glad I did.Wyndham is no fool. He realizes that--with that first body he stumbled across in the opium den and the subsequent police raid-- he's been set up. Someone knows of his addiction, and that someone is using it against him. Wyndham gets himself together to wean himself off the drugs. Once he started avoiding opium dens, my enjoyment of the story increased, and so did the pace of the book.The mystery and the characters are so strong, but I carried away two major things from reading Smoke and Ashes. One, Mukherjee is wonderful at depicting how unsettled India was in the 1920s-- and how good the British Raj was at making decisions that kept the Indians riled up. They brought about their own doom. The second thing that really impressed itself upon me was what an uncomfortable position Wyndham's Indian sergeant is in. No one in his family wanted him to join the Raj's police force, and many family members shun him. But Surrender-Not is as stubborn as the British mispronunciation of his given name. He is good at his job. He believes in his job. He also believes India should be free from British rule. Like I said, his position is not an easy one.If you enjoy historical mysteries with strong stories, strong characters, and a setting so vivid that you're drawn right into the thick of things, you can't go wrong with Abir Mukherjee's Wyndham and Banerjee series. I also find that these books make excellent companion pieces to Sujata Massey's Perveen Mistry historical series that take place during the same time frame, so keep those in mind, too!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This third instalment was rather sad and downbeat, I think. Sam's opium addiction is ramping up. Gandhi's campaign for independence is making life difficult for Surrender-not. Sam's hopeless pining for Annie (which I find inexplicable and annoying) pops up again. The plot is more thriller than mystery, and dragged a little in places for me. I hope the next book in this series is funnier and I want things to improve for poor Sam.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Move over Nordic Noir, Indian Noir surprises!My second reading of Abir Mukherjee's murder mystery novel set against related socioeconomic and political conditions in 1920's India, continues to enthrall. I am totally smitten with the goings on of former Scotland Yard detective Captain Sam Wyndham and his co policeman, Surendranath (Surrender-Not) Bannerjee As always Mukherjee's knowledge of political events in 1920's Calcutta is well grounded.Sam's struggle with opium addiction (a result of his psychological traumas of the Great War) continues. Not that it slows down his thinking processes but it does mean that sometimes he's in the wrong place at the wrong or right time depending on your point of view. This time Sam realizes that a ritualistic seeming murder is something he's witnessed already, in fact the night before at an opium den. And that's not a story your going to relate to your colleagues! A further murder of a nurse that has puzzling similarities and the take over of the investigation of the latter by military intelligence, has Sam and Bannerjee at a loss. All this against the background of a Calcutta preparing for a visit by the Prince of Wales--a security nightmare.Once again a tautly charged crime thriller that drew me in and has left me wanting more! Bring on the fourth novel soon, please! A NetGalley ARC
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Well done, Mr. Mukherjee. What makes his books stand out is the thoughtful, vivid history of a time and place, as seen through the eyes of one Anglo man - eyes that are gradually opening to the evils and the triumphs of British-ruled India. Ethnicity, culture, politics and belief systems all come into play as Gandhi's leadership is bringing the impoverished masses to a new awareness of their power. Wyndham's consciousness is beginning to be raised, as his opium habit is spiralling him downward. The quiet, brave, smart Sergeant Banerjee is dealing with his own family and political conflicts. Mukherjee finds fascinating - and sometimes horrifying - historical episodes to weave into his crime stories, which bring them a wider scope beyond just who murdered whom and why.
Wyndham has a tendency to paint groups of people with a broad brush: Bengalis are talkers, Gurkhas are chillingly bold killers, Nepalese or Assamese all look a certain way. Given Mukherkee's mixed cultural background, I'm not quite sure how to take that. I really DO wish that Wyndham would stop referring to young women - independent, self-sufficient women running their own households or jobs - as "girls." But maybe that's just him, and he'll get over it. And maybe get over the irritating Annie Grant as well.
Perfectly enjoyable; looking forward to #4. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fantastic story, great writing, and a little dose of history thrown in. It's the best book I've read all year.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It's a brilliant thriller that begins with an exciting chase scene and ends with an even more exciting one, involving England's Prince of Wales. Set in 1921 Calcutta, it's full of political unrest and intrigue. Captain Sam Wyndham of the Imperial Police with his faithful sergeant Banerjee investigate a series of grisly murders that lead them eventually to British military intelligence. All the while, Sam is struggling with his opium addition. I hope a sequel is coming soon.
Book preview
Smoke and Ashes - Abir Mukherjee
`0a book_preview_excerpt.html }˲6寰g3*Y)U*鎕V,$" FV͏ԗR&yo 8q;o/|~K's/U姟~^.V67uk.!-,]\Җ_:[Y.)wg<'$됻t]Yh0)cWܛ";ok
aݛC0SWOuW>'o1Xp/ K'y4L.[+ú"-].>.kZɾ-[.ϥiJw|-Ypկs)&EO|!MwI?=D~"I|-븾tF|_ioD*?ʾ,] []AC)]+a58j_zx5!J1m~wIJL/*%1?7M)>gקuuО8pP22ږ+FyPr呺Q/G$eYmjgw>z'M~z>%64Aڽs*8&b^TL4A~}C'BV
x4@aL8sB̜W, cFb%y~ʝےoїrdgNblb~r,+ig(&)fkJ]La5ӎxPL-
ʊs`1,G.BE\Lϐ T|zk;L6ŭm T؟l\vӹmkd9%yY]~&9|GnYD3./+ /oAvC"&0\TӛNjOY+NOߟ'J]VM=5 h[Jo'@=&70tE嚒Imer!6 ]*hu-G>,OȊmM eJ{J)[ 5M3.Y5}
7o2z< qf")OS^Y' tb6st@RE~|UUd/kGp0bHe '(*4>$xbiN7yO
vS!ݡ%IUIT|7uɰŰ;l4Utn92 )>F Y/+8zKYT=;pL'xU$1M*}"Q&|74^V^$BNBNV@'sahć9l
Hľ}S4A$%y) 2D"5qIWBhy娼ᗋO