A Necessary Evil (Wyndham and Banerjee Series #2)- Abir Mukherjee

It’s not often you see a man with a diamond in his beard. But when a prince runs out of space on his ears, fingers and clothes, I suppose the whiskers on his chin are as good a place as any.

Captain Sam Wyndham, the troubled, morphine-dependent survivor of the Great War, makes a hugely welcome return in the sequel to our previous Thriller of the Month, A Rising Man. The dark heart of the British Raj beats once again as Wyndham and the redoubtable Sergeant 'Surrender Not' Banerjee uncover a network of evil behind the assassination of a Maharajah's son. 

India, 1920.Captain Wyndham and Sergeant Banerjee of the Calcutta Police Force investigate the dramatic assassination of a Maharajah's son. The fabulously wealthy kingdom of Sambalpore is home to tigers, elephants, diamond mines and the beautiful Palace of the Sun.

But when the heir to the throne is assassinated in the presence of Captain Sam Wyndham and Sergeant 'Surrender-Not' Banerjee, they discover a kingdom riven with suppressed conflict.

Prince Adhir was a moderniser whose attitudes - and romantic relationship - may have upset the more religious elements of his country, while his brother - now in line to the throne - appears to be a feckless playboy. As Wyndham and Banerjee desperately try to unravel the mystery behind the assassination, they become entangled in a dangerous world where those in power live by their own rules and those who cross their paths pay with their lives.

They must find a murderer, before the murderer finds them...