A Necessary Evil by Abir Mukherjee - 4 stars

[annapi]

The crown prince of the wealthy kingdom of Sambalpore is assassinated while in the company of Captain Wyndham and Surrender-not, and the assassin commits suicide rather than be captured. Though his superiors are satisfied with the outcome, Wyndham is not, and uses the excuse of a vacation to visit Sambalpore along with Surrender-not, who is tasked with accompanying the body back to the province. There they investigate further to try to find out who arranged for the killing, and get mired in the politics of the small kingdom.

I was quite fascinated with the descriptions of 1920 Sambalpore, its riches, politics and religion. The mystery was convoluted and the ending a bit of a surprise, not for the identity of the killer, but the outcome of the case. Will definitely be continuing the series.