The burning grounds A novel

Mukherjee's talent for elevating genre tropes suffuses the stellar fifth installment of his 1920s-set Wyndham and Banerjee mystery series (after The Shadows of Men). It's been three years since British detective Sam Wyndham helped his onetime partner, Indian investigator Surendranath Banerjee, flee India after being falsely accused of attempted murder. The men have since fallen out of touch, owing in part to the painful dissolutions of their respective romantic relationships. They reunite, however, when wealthy British philanthropist J.P. Millick is found with his windpipe slit in an area of Calcutta used to build funeral pyres. Though Wyndham strained relationships with his colleagues on the Imperial Police Force after he helped Banerjee flee prosecution, military intelligence chief Dawson puts him in charge of investigating Millick's death and lures Banerjee back into the fold with a promise to track down his missing cousin, Dolly, if he cooperates. Mukherjee depicts the former partners' uneasy reunion with tenderness while peppering the core whodunit plot with a string of ingenious red herrings. It's another high-water mark for a series full of them. (Nov.)

It has been three years since Surendranath Banerjee fled Calcutta due to a bogus criminal charge. When Suren finally returns, it is to ask for Sam Wyndham's help tracking down a missing cousin. Sam is reluctant. He trashed his promising career as a police detective to get the case against Suren dropped and has been on a downward spiral ever since. He is trying to solve a high-profile murder and doesn't want to blow what might be his last chance. But of course he'll help his old friend, even though romantic distractions abound. Suren longs for the woman he left behind in Paris, while Sam enjoys a flirtation with a beautiful actress. All the while, the former partners work together again to solve a murder. VERDICT In this follow-up to 2021's The Shadows of Men, Mukherjee subtly recaps key events from previous series entries so that new readers can get up to speed. The gritty, noirish tone of the chapters from Sam's perspective add to the book's intensity and are supported by well-crafted descriptions of life in 1920s Calcutta. Anyone who enjoys period mysteries should give this series a try.--Laurel Bliss