Sleepy Ceylon

• Book: Trouble in Nuala. The Inspector de Silva Mysteries #1
• Location: Sri Lanka
• Author: Harriet Steel

Review Author: JustRetiring

I hope the author of Trouble in Nuala – Harriet Steel – doesn’t mind this analogy, but reading this book reminded me of TV dramas in that cosy Sunday evening slot.

Monarch of the Glen. Death in Paradise. Call the Midwife. Draw the curtains on a cold autumnal evening, stoke the fire and put the kettle on, in readiness for some gentle, well-plotted escapist drama….preferably taking place in a suitably exotic location.

Harriet introduces us to Inspector de Silva in Trouble in Nuala, based in 1930s colonial Ceylon and in the tea plantation town of Nuala. The Inspector has moved from Colombo to the cooler, quieter central highlands with his English wife, Jane, but ends up having to unravel a mysterious death in the community.

The story is engaging, but the real star of the book is the location. Harriet fell in love with Sri Lanka during her own research visits there, and that shines through in her prose. Enjoy the story’s plot and and vivid characters, but lap up the vision of the Inspector spicing up his breakfast with fiery sambal, the descriptions of lush landscape and the natural beauty of this teardrop island.

The essence of TripFiction!

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