A Rising Man
A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee
There was something about the place. It wasn't just the heat or god-awful humidity. I was beginning to suspect it was something to do with the people. There's a special arrogance to be found in the Calcutta Englishman, something you don't find in many other outposts of empire. It may be born of familiarity. After all, the English have been top dog in Bengal for a hundred and fifty years, and seemed to consider the natives, especially the Bengalis, as rather contemptible....
If you are looking for a mystery that wraps you up like a warm blanket while still delivering a sharp, historical edge, Abir Mukherjee’s A Rising Man is a place to start.
It’s a rare book that manages to feel like a "cozy" weekend read while playing out against a backdrop of intense colonial pressure, violent political brewing, and personal tragedy.
A Pressure Cooker of a Setting
The real star of the novel is Calcutta itself in the immediate aftermath of the First World War. Mukherjee does not just describe the city; he makes you feel the heavy, humid air, smell the spices and open drains, and hear the rising murmur of a native population pushed to its limit.
The British colonizers are living in a state of constant, quiet panic, terrified of an Indian uprising. It is a historical pressure cooker, and Mukherjee uses this tension to drive the entire plot.
Yet, despite the high political stakes, the book never loses its inviting, page-turning momentum. It strikes that elusive balance: it is light enough to be fun, but rich enough to make you think.
Flawed, Human, and Sympathetic Characters
What really saves the book from ever feeling preachy is its lead character, Detective Inspector Captain Sam Wyndham.
Wyndham is a former Scotland Yard detective who is haunted by ghosts from the WW1 front. He is struggling with severe PTSD, grief, and a quiet opium addiction. He is far from perfect, but he is deeply sympathetic.
What makes Wyndham work so beautifully as a narrator is his perspective. He is a cog in the British imperial machine, yet he is clear-eyed enough to see its profound hypocrisy. He genuinely likes the people of India and treats them with respect, refusing to adopt the casual, ugly racism of his peers.
Then there is his sidekick, Sergeant "Surrender-not" Banerjee (a British mispronunciation of his actual Indian name, Surendranath Banerjee). Banerjee is loyal to the police force, but that loyalty comes at a heavy personal cost as he navigates a system that views him as a second-class citizen. Their partnership is the emotional heart of the novel, and their slow-burn chemistry keeps the story grounded.
Woven quietly into this gritty detective work is a gentle, slow-burning romance between Wyndham and Annie, a woman of mixed heritage who belongs to neither world completely. It adds a lovely, human counterweight to the dark underbelly of Calcutta’s opium dens and police stations.
It’s a smart, evocative historical mystery that’s well worth picking up.
P.S. For a deeper look into how this world was built, I recommend checking out the Penguin Podcast interview with Abir Mukherjee. It adds a useful layer of context to how he brought 1919 Calcutta back to life.