Book Blurb:
A Disappearance in Fiji
1914, Fiji: Sergeant Akal Singh would rather be anywhere than this tropical paradise – or, as he calls it, ‘this godforsaken island’. After a promising start to his police career in Hong Kong, Akal has been sent to the far-flung colony of Fiji as punishment for a humiliating professional mistake. Lonely and embarrassed, he dreams of solving a big case, thereby redeeming himself and gaining permission to leave. Otherwise, he fears he will be stuck in Fiji for ever.
When an indentured Indian woman goes missing from a sugarcane plantation and Fiji’s newspapers scream ‘kidnapping’, the inspector-general reluctantly assigns Akal the case, giving him strict instructions to view this investigation as nothing more than cursory. But as soon as Akal arrives on the plantation, he identifies several troubling inconsistencies in the plantation owners’ stories, and it seems there is more to this disappearance than meets the eye . . .
My review:
I have never read a book based in Fiji, so it was really nice to read a book set in Fiji, especially a historical fiction book.
I did not know much about the British Governments interactions in Fiji during this time period. I felt like this book did a great job of throwing you into the setting and the political aspect of this time and location. I felt that this was done very well. I love historical fictions that I feel I can truly learn from and get a little history lesson from it, and adding the thriller/mystery aspect to it was so ideal.
This book is the first in a series, and I am very interested to see where this series goes! There are so many layers to this book that all interlope and interact with each other. I felt like the interactions between the characters was done perfectly to really show the dynamics between not only characters but also to show the political differences.
Author Bio:
Nilima Rao is a Fijian Indian Australian who has always referred to herself as ‘culturally confused’. She has since learned that we are all confused in some way and now feels better about the whole thing. When she isn’t writing, Nilima can be found wrangling data (the dreaded day job) or wandering around Melbourne laneways in search of the next new wine bar. A Disappearance in Fiji is her first novel and she is currently working on a second.
Links:
UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Disappearance-Fiji-charming-historical-mystery-ebook/dp/B0BX3GG44R/
US – https://www.amazon.com/Disappearance-Fiji-charming-historical-mystery-ebook/dp/B0BX3GG44R/
https://www.facebook.com/nilimaraowriter/
https://www.instagram.com/zaffrebooks/
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