A Shipwreck in Fiji

Sergeant Akal Singh, an unwilling transplant to Fiji, is just starting to settle into his life in the capital city of Suva when he is sent to the neighbouring island of Ovalau on a series of fool's errands. First: investigate strange reports of lurking Germans, thousands of miles from the front lines of World War I. Second: chaperone two strong-willed European ladies, Mary and Katherine, on a sightseeing tour. And third: supervise the only police officer currently on Ovalau, a teenage recruit with a penchant for hysterics.

Accompanied by his friend Constable Taviti Tukana - who has come to visit his uncle, a powerful chief - Akal sets out to deal with these seemingly straightforward tasks. Instead, the two police officers become embroiled in a growing number of local controversies, among them the gruesome death of an unpopular shopkeeper and the imprisonment of a group of European sailors in Taviti's uncle's village. To add to Akal's woes, Katherine, an aspiring journalist, harbours an agenda of her own. As tensions mount, will Akal be able to keep her - and himself - out of trouble?

Nilima Rao's critically acclaimed debut, A Disappearance in Fiji (2023), was winner of the 2024 American Library Association Reading List for Mystery Fiction and appeared in multiple US best-of-year roundups (being named as an Amazon Best Debut of the Year and culture website CrimeReads' Best Historical Fiction of the Year).

This next instalment in the Sergeant Akal Singh series has all the charm and sparkle of the first book, offering fascinating historical insights into the realities of life in Fiji at the start of the twentieth century.

''Combining a tightly plotted mystery with a thoughtful critique of colonialism, A Disappearance in Fiji establishes debut author Rao as a writer to watch."
-Parade

"Akal finds himself learning about the harrowing effects of colonialism, indentured servitude and caste. Rao expertly juggles the weighty themes and, in Akal, has the makings of a memorable series detective."
-Sarah Weinman, The New York Times Book Review

"Alive with well-drawn characters and deftly plotted with a number of twists."
-The Washington Post

"Meet Sergeant Akal Singh, the complex and charming hero of a thoroughly original mystery set in 1914 Fiji. Fans of Golden Age mysteries will relish this debut novel by a compelling new talent, Nilima Rao. More, please!"
-Sujata Massey, Agatha Award-winning author of The Widows of Malabar Hill

"A poignant and entertaining read . . . Sergeant Akal Singh is a charmingly imperfect and captivating protagonist. I love Akal and hope we'll be seeing a lot more of him!"
-Ovidia Yu, author of the Aunty Lee Singaporean Mysteries

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, has been published on the topic as part of the SBS Emerging Writers Competition 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 was her first novel.

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