Smoke and Ashes, Mukherjee- B

               The setting is Calcutta at Christmastime in 1921. The entire city is on edge as a visit from the Prince of Wales is days away and the Congress Party is protesting.  Captain Sam Wyndham and Sergeant Surendranath Banerjee are investigating a series of brutal murders tied to a test conducted by the army and the military is  keeping them away from the facts. The murderer is a Gurkha soldier who is AWOL and who is possibly targeting the Prince as well.  Sam and Surrender-not (his British imposed nickname) investigate the murders, liaise with the leaders of the Congress Party, and make all the correct calls to protect the Prince. There actually was a massive protest when Edward visited Calcutta, but the threat to his life is fictional. This is the third in the series and it continues to excel at addressing the tensions between the occupiers and the occupied. Sergeant Banerjee, as a servant of the Raj, is in a particularly difficult position, experiencing the racism of the British and the disapproval of his own people. Sam Wyndham's opium addiction is explained as a result of the morphine he received as treatment for his combat injuries. The novel closes with Sam headed off to rehab.