A review by natcat
A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee

dark funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I really enjoyed the setting, the portrayal of Calcutta in 1919 is vivid and fascinating, and I appreciated how much of the book was tied up in the politics and various points of view on colonialism and the struggle for Indian independence; that was probably my favourite bit! I also appreciated that the main character was kind of a real bastard, and had what felt like plausible opinions for an English policeman in India in 1919 (so, you know, warnings for that, too). He was pretty flat other than that, though, without a great deal of character, and his dead wife backstory annoyed me (particularly the fact that it just got dropped on us in a single chapter; I thought his WWI trauma was handled better). 

The mystery was pretty good, but some elements of it got dealt with super quickly in the last chapter and epilogue and I think they needed some more space to breathe in order to feel satisfying.
While I was vindicated to be right about Byrne being involved somehow, the fact that gets revealed in the epilogue was very weird pacing!


Overall I enjoyed it and I'm definitely planning on reading the next book in the series.
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