First published 2023

Summary

Akal Singh, a formerly well-regarded police officer in Hong Kong, has been sent to Fiji in disgrace. His boss hates him and is determined to keep him busy with cases the police department deems unimportant. But when a local priest reports to the newspaper that a young Indian woman, an indentured servant, has been kidnapped from a sugar plantation right as a delegation is arriving to evaluate the indentured servant program, Akal Singh finds himself assigned to a very important case.

The problem is, his boss has told him what the result of his case must be before the investigation even gets off the ground. Kunti must be found to have runaway with a lover. Unwilling to do shoddy work, Singh decides that he’s going to follow the clues wherever they may lead. Even at the risk of his own job.

My Thoughts

What a great first book in this historical mystery series! The primary characters are appealing, the setting is unique, and the mystery is intriguing.

Akal Singh’s history is hinted at throughout the first half of the book, but in the second half, he finally shares his story with Dr. Robert Holmes who has become a close friend and shared secrets of his own. He’s a very compelling character. He’s not always free of his own prejudices, and I appreciate that we see him struggling, at times, with his feelings about caste, women, and the price of honesty. 

Taviti, is the Fijian nephew of a powerful local chief, a police officer confined to desk duty, and the only officer in Fiji Akal trusts completely. He’s smart, loyal, and has a wonderful sense of humor. I’m looking forward to their friendship and work relationship growing in future books.

I had never before read a mystery set in Fiji. That the author did a great deal of research is obvious. I was entirely unaware of the presence of indentured servants from India or the importance of Fijian sugar to the British Colonial economy, and I came away from this book with a deep interest in those topics. I also came away feeling as if I had just time travelled back to Fiji in 1914. 

Though the mystery is perhaps not the most complex I’ve read, it did keep me reading. I wanted to know what happened to Kunti, and I really cared about the well-being of the daughter she had left behind. When a book is the first in a series, I find that the mystery often takes a back seat to setting up backstory and introducing characters. In this case, I felt like the backstory and character development were interwoven into the mystery itself. 

I very much enjoyed this book and am excited that there will be more in this series.

Reading Challenges

I’ve chosen this book to represent Fiji in my Around the Globe in 193 books challenge. 

Trigger/Content Warnings

Caste prejudice

Colonialism 

Domestic violence

Misogyny

Racism

Sexual assault 

Slavery/Indentured Servitude

About the Author

Nilima Rao is a Fijian Indian Australian author who currently lives in Melbourne. This is her first book.