Cover image of "A Shipwreck in Fiji," an entertaining murder mystery

When Americans think of World War I, we conjure up images of trench warfare on the Western Front. But the conflict was, of course, global. Most of the fighting took place in Europe and the Middle East. But Germans clashed with Allied forces in Africa, China, Siberia, off the coasts of North and South America, and even the Pacific. A German naval officer, Count Felix von Luckner, commanding the SMS SeeAdler (Sea Eagle), menaced British and American shipping in the Atlantic and the Pacific alike. Then, in August 1917, the SeeAdler ran aground on a reef. Von Luckner sailed with five of his men in a 30-foot boat 3,400 miles to Fiji. There they went ashore to replenish their supplies. In her entertaining murder mystery, A Shipwreck in Fiji, novelist Nilima Rao dramatizes their landing. She imagines a fateful encounter with the British then in possession of the islands.

A detective’s assignment as a punishment

This is the second in a new series of historical detective novels featuring a young Sikh immigrant named Akal Singh. Akal is a sergeant in British police headquarters in Suva, Fiji’s capital. Having blundered into a tragic error as an investigator in Hong Kong, his commander had exiled him to Fiji against the wishes of his new boss, Inspector-General Thurston.

In retaliation for his unwelcome arrival there six months earlier, Thurston was assigning Akal only the most minor cases. And the latest is to sail to Fiji’s second city, Levuka, to squire around two English ladies who wished to travel there. They’re the sister and a niece of Hugh Clancy, the influential editor of Suva’s leading newspaper. And as an afterthought, Thurston commands him to look into the vague rumors about a sighting of Germans near Levuka. Akal regards the assignment as simply more punishment. Which, of course, is Thurston’s intention.

A Shipwreck in Fiji (Sergeant Akal Singh #2) by Nilima Rao (2025) 273 pages ★★★★★

Photo of the German warship that wrecked in the Fiji Islands in WWI, leading to a confrontation between Germans and British in Fiji in this entertaining murder mystery
The British warship Pass of Balmaha, later renamed SMS Seeadler and converted into a commerce raider by the German Navy after its capture in WWI. The ship’s captain and five of his crew turned up in the Fiji Islands in 1917. Image: Wikipedia

A colorful cast of characters

Nilima Rao seems to have had a great time writing this book. The story is lively, well-plotted, and features a diverse cast of characters. These include:

  • Sergeant Singh himself, a 24-year-old Sikh who’d taken a job with the Hong Police to support his family back in the Punjab. He has an unfortunate habit of gravitating toward young English ladies who seem bound to get him into trouble. And they do.
  • Constable Taviti Tukana, the happy-go-lucky young Fijian who is Akal’s sidekick. Who turns out to harbor a secret that will play a central role in this novel’s clever plot.
  • Katherine Murray, Hugh Clancy’s niece, and his spinster sister, Mary Clancy. Their determination to divert Akal from his investigation into the rumor of Germans seems boundless.
  • Constable Raj Kumar, the clueless young policeman in Levuka, whose bumbling reflects his superiors’s failure to provide even the most minimal training.
  • Count Felix von Luckner, who does in fact turn up, since there really are Germans in Fiji.

All these characters, among others, come onstage in this World War I-era mystery. Oh, and not one but several murders enter the picture as well.

About the setting

The Republic of Fiji consists of more than 330 islands in the South Pacific. It lies about 1,300 miles north-northeast of New Zealand. The islands were among the earliest settled by humans venturing out from Australia. (Settlements date to the second millennium BCE.) Although Europeans first visited the islands in the 17th century, it was not until 1874 that the British laid claim there. They managed the Colony of Fiji until granting the country’s independence in 1970.

In its early years as a colony, the British established plantations raising sugarcane. To work the fields they imported tens of thousands of impoverished Indians as indentured servants for terms of five years. The regime in the fields was harsh, and nearly half of the former indentured servants returned to India after fulfilling their contracts. Today, tourism is the islands’s major source of revenue. And three out of every eight Fijians is of Indian origin. Most are Hindus. The population totals approximately 930,000.

About the author

Photo of Nilima Rao, author of this entertaining murder mystery
Nilima Rao. Image: Soho Press

Nilima Rao writes about herself on Goodreads, noting that she “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 and has been published on the topic by Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service 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.” Rao’s great grandparents were among the tens of thousands of impoverished Indians transported to Fiji (and other British colonies) in the 19th century as indentured servants. She was born there.

Previously I reviewed A Disappearance in Fiji (Sergeant Akal Singh #1) by Nilima Rao (An engaging historical mystery set in the South Pacific).

Check out The best mystery series set in Asia and The best Indian detective novels.

You’ll find other great reading at:

And you can always find the most popular of my 2,300 reviews, and the most recent ones, on the Home Page.