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Crime mystery set in 1930s Ceylon (a pleasurable read indeed)

9th August 2018

Fatal Finds in Nuala by Harriet Steel, crime mystery set in 1930s Ceylon.

“..when the frogs croak more loudly than usual, you could be sure of rain”

Crime mystery set in 1930s Ceylon

Fatal Finds in Nuala is no.4 in the Inspector de Silva series (it can certainly be read as a standalone). It is set in the Nuwara Eliya district of Ceylon in 1937 (we know this because Amelia Earhart’s disappearance is mentioned). The author offers a quick overview of the characters encountered in the series so far, should any reader wish to engage more deeply.

As the novel opens, Inspector Shanti de Silva, married to pragmatic Jane, finds his Morris car has broken down in the midst of the Monsoon rains. The roads May to September are treacherous with running water and often get washed away. As he decides to abandon the car, a human shriek rends the air, and the hairs prickle on the back of his neck….

Once he is back at base, he finds that a man – Velu – from a local village has gone missing at full moon, and eventually his body is found along with a scattering of gold trinkets and coins. The eccentric expert Henry Coryat, an archaeologist, is called upon to shed light on the metal discoveries and decrees them to have no market value. But can his interpretation be trusted? De Silva sets out to gain a second opinion.

A visit to the village demonstrates that Velu was perhaps an untrustworthy man, and delving into the politics and family dynamics of such a typical local village might certainly throw up some insights. Further exploration takes de Silva and his team deep into the rain sodden jungle, where further discoveries are made. De Silva’s sleuthing experience lead him to believe there is more to Velu’s murder than meets the eye.

The author is very good at portraying setting in her novels. A quick trip to Kandy and the Gardens of Peradeniya (with the famous colony of fruit bats) makes a colourful and atmospheric change to the driving Monsoon rains that swirl and whip around. 1930s Ceylon certainly comes to life.The locals speak Sinhalese, some speak Vedda; there are tantalising dishes of Ceylonese food passing through the narrative, with the odd slice of teatime Butter Cake (de Silva himself is not really a fan of bland British cooking); Sri Lanka has more than ninety species of snake, mostly poisonous; and the author well describes the tensions and functioning of British Rule in Ceylon, a theme throughout.

A pleasurable read indeed.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

Be in with a chance of winning a copy of Fatal Finds in Nuala by entering our GIVEAWAY. Closes 18/8/18 – open UK, EU and USA!

Catch Harriet talking about her Sri Lanka research here and you can follow her on Twitter Facebook and via her blog, and check out the full series on this link.

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