A disappearance in Fiji by Nilima Rao

As a fan of the detective genre, I was thrilled to read A disappearance in Fiji, discovering a debut author who I will want to follow as well as an unfamiliar setting. Akal Singh has been demoted from his promising police post in Hong Kong and sent to Fiji, where he is given lowly tasks and not trusted. It is 1914 and the British oversee the government in Fiji. Sugarcane plantations are an important source of income, and indentured workers from India provide the labour, planting and harvesting, while living in appalling conditions. When an Indian woman goes missing, the authorities ignore it until the local newspaper headlines that she has been kidnapped. Akal is given the job of investigating and he finds that it is not a simple missing person’s case.

The historical examination of the way indentured Indian workers were exploited, the descriptions of their living quarters and the arduous work that they perform form a fascinating background to the investigation. This is an unfamiliar part of history for me and it is dealt very well by the author, who is a descendant of Indian Fijians. Witty banter between Akal and his Fijian offsider lighten the story, while the police procedures revolving around the mystery were well crafted with some twists, turns, and surprises. Akal is an appealing main character and the reason he was sent from Hong Kong is a secondary mystery that kept me engaged.

This was a very enjoyable read and I look forward to reading more books by Nilima Rao. Readers may also like The paper bark mystery by Ovidia Yu and Murder at Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey.

Themes: Murder, Detectives, Indians in Fiji.

Pat Pledger