I didn’t know that this was book three in the series featuring Kamil Rahman when I picked it up – credit to Ajay Chowdhury as it was easy to read as a standalone. However, fans of the series will – no doubt – appreciate the character development across the books as Kamil progresses on his path to being a British police detective (something he has achieved at the start of this book).
Thanks to NetGalley for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
The book opens with the historical killing of a Jewish family in Shoreditch. Over a hundred years later, newly-appointed Detective Kamil Rahman of the Metropolitan Police is called to the same area to solve the murder of a tech company boss. As he starts to uncover the secrets and tensions at the heart of the tech company, his friend Anjoli takes an interest in the historical crimes. As they circle various solutions, it seems that danger still lurks on the streets of Shoreditch.
I really liked the fact that Kamil and Anjoli’s base was an Indian restaurant – I’m guessing the one that has been central to Kamil’s back-story in previous books? The informality of that setting as a contrast to the Met’s offices worked well – although I’m not so convinced that a civilian (Anjoli) would or should have that much knowledge about a live murder enquiry! The racism evident in the Met was explored well too – I wish I could say it was shocking or surprising, but it did add a different dimension to the story as Kamil tried to prove his worth.
The tech company angle was also interesting – it provided high financial stakes and a whole load of interesting (and sometimes baffling) information about AI and its potentially controversial uses.
I enjoyed reading about Kamil’s progression through his first murder investigation – as expected, there was some blundering and lots of rookie mistakes, but he’s a warm and appealing character. I look forward to reading more books in this series.
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Header photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
