Smoke and Ashes

By: Abir Mukherjee

Narrated by: Simon Bubb

Captain Sam Wyndham and his sidekick Surrender-Not Banerjee return in this prize-winning historical crime series set in 1920s Calcutta.

India, 1921. Haunted by his memories of World War I, Captain Sam Wyndham is battling a serious addiction to opium that he must keep secret from his superiors in the Calcutta police force.

When Sam is summoned to investigate a grisly murder, he is stunned at the sight of the body: he’s seen this before. Last night, in a drug-addled haze, he stumbled across a corpse with the same ritualistic injuries. It seems like there’s a deranged killer on the loose. Unfortunately for Sam, the corpse was in an opium den - and revealing his presence there could cost him his career.

With the aid of his quick-witted Indian Sergeant, Surrender-Not Banerjee, Sam must try to solve the two murders, all the while keeping his personal demons secret, before somebody else turns up dead.

©2018 Abir Mukherjee (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Good story/bad narrator

it was another interesting story set against the backdrop of Raj India. This time Sam and Surrender-Not are trying to solve a series of murders that seem to be connected, but they don't have all the pieces. Some of the secondary stories move forward a little, but still have a long way to go. The narrator changed from the first 2 books and the narration leave alot to be desired.

Good story, terrible performance

The story is solid, and keeps your attention. Someone called this a postcolonial mystery series -- I don't think they knew what postcoloniality is, as this isn't it. The author does make a point of presenting a more balanced point, even pro-South Asian point of view, which is necessary.

The audio performer, however, is poorly chosen. Most significantly, he mispronounces all the words from Hindi, Bangla, etc. That would perhaps be fine if only the main character were speaking -- the main character, a British police officer working in Colonial India, might mispronounce the words -- but not the various Indians who speak. It's really off-putting if you know how those words should be pronounced.

The accent the performer has chosen for Captain Windham also seems off, given the time and place, and his social position.

Christmas 1921

Excellent. Starts a bit slower than the previous two books in the series, but picks up steam and gravitas as it goes. A fine effort, in some ways a better and more mature story than the earlier two outings. Different narrator, but in practice just as good as the much liked earlier one. Overall a great series.

Why change narrators 😢

The narrator on this book did a fine job but he lacked the emotional depth as the narrator of the first two books. It really makes it hard to follow the story/characters when a new person is the narrator.

Malk Williams set the bar.

After listening to Malk narrate the first two books TO PERFECTION, I just can’t get my head around Simon’s reading. Malk William’s accents were perfect. His inflections caught the humor of the author exactly as I feel he intended. The tone of cynicism combined with hopefulness of the main character was well conveyed. Please, if Audible gives us more of this series, let Malk Williams narrate.