The best book I read this month is A Necessary Evil, the second book in Abir Mukherjee’s Wyndham and Banerjee series. The series follows opium-addicted WW1 veteran Sam Wyndham and Sergeant “Surrender Not” Banerjee as they solve murder mysteries in 1920s India.
What struck me the most in the first book in the series was its vivid descriptions. As a reader, I could almost feel the oppressive humidity of the Calcutta summer. The descriptions in this book are just as vivid, although the setting is different. In A Necessary Evil, monsoon season has reached India, and Wyndham and Banerjee are sent to one of India’s independent kingdoms to investigate the assassination of a prince. This time, the description that stuck with me is one that churned my stomach: Mukherjee’s description of an execution. It’s a short scene in the book, but holy cow, it was a powerful one.
It was also gratifying to see Mukherjee’s portrayal of Wyndham’s opium addiction. In the first book, Wyndham claimed to have his addiction managed, but here, we see that he’s getting worse. The time between hits is getting shorter. He’s almost constantly craving the next one. Wyndham is no static character. He’s clearly going to change—and hopefully, grow—as the series goes on.
I hope the same is true of Sgt. Banerjee, who I find endearing but not quite as developed a character as Wyndham. I look forward to reading the next installment of their adventures.