One of the risks of series fiction is that characters can become stagnant. In an effort to give readers more of what they want, authors often default to giving them too much of the same. Think of your favorite series where the lead character has barely changed across countless books in the series—in fact, in some cases, they don’t even age. This is a problem Abir Mukherjee avoided right from the start of his Wyndham and Banerjee historical crime series. Both of his main characters have continued to develop not just between novels, but even within each novel itself, readers are privy to their continual evolution—as men, as friends, as employees, and as citizens of Raj era India.
So, it is no surprise that after a brief break from the series, readers will pick up The Burning Grounds to discover that Abir Mukherjee has placed his two beloved characters in a complex situation. Detective Sam Wyndham is no longer the shining star of the Imperial Police Force, and Surendranath “Surrender-Not” Banerjee has just returned to India after some extended travels throughout Europe. To make matters worse, their once tight bond has been shattered, leaving the good friends barely able to share the same space without the uncomfortable specter of the past.
As The Burning Grounds opens, Wyndham has just discovered a body in the burning ghats of Calcutta. Not exactly unexpected, except for the fact that this man with his throat sliced open is a well-respected philanthropist. Not to be outdone, Banerjee is also in the midst of his own investigation. His cousin, one of the first female career photographers, has vanished and the family is frantic to find her. It is his respect for Wyndham’s skills that brings Banerjee to his door, asking for Sam’s help.
What follows—in alternating POV chapters—is an examination of how these two very different men navigate their investigations as they learn to reconnect with each other—not as they were historically, but where they are now, in the present. The dual investigation has them covering the same ground from different angles. Readers will delight in knowing that the backdrop of The Burning Grounds is the early days of India’s foray into the motion picture industry.
The novel is populated with fascinating side characters whom readers will instantly become invested in, but it is the Wyndham/Banerjee bond that has always carried the series and continues to do so here. The very nature of their complex, shared past makes witnessing their individual evolutions endlessly exhilarating, but it is when they work as a unit that the real magic happens.
Six books in, Abir Mukherjee has gifted readers with one of the best books in the series to date. The solution to the case(s) in The Burning Grounds will leave readers satisfied—it’s equally shocking and emotionally resonant—but it is the final developments in this novel that will have fans of the series anxiously awaiting the next in the series—when yet again, it looks like new ground is going to be covered by one of our favorite crime fighting duos.
BUY LINKS: The Burning Grounds by Abir Mukherjee
Disclaimer: A print galley of this title was provided to BOLO Books by the publisher. No promotion was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.
