Cover image of "The Burning Grounds," a Wyndham and Banerjee mystery

Captain Sam Wyndham, late of the Western Front in World War I, had made powerful enemies in the Imperial Police in Calcutta, where he transferred after the war. Perhaps he was too honest, or too thorough. But when he helped his sergeant, Surendranath Banerjee, to flee India when falsely accused of treason, the hammer came down with full force. By 1925, he’s sidelined from the major investigations that were his stock in trade. And he has fallen out with Annie Grant, the woman he loves. Then, to make matters worse, Suren turns up after three years in Europe, where he had joined the Indian independence movement. And the young Bengali expects his help to locate a missing friend! This is the point of departure in Abir Mukherjee’s sixth Wyndham and Banerjee mystery, The Burning Grounds. The two old friends are now at loggerheads.

A revered philanthropist turns up murdered

But Suren’s sudden reappearance is not the only surprise. Sam had been called when a body turned up on the banks of the Hooghly River, where the Hindu cremate their dead. Someone had slit the man’s throat. And Sam recognizes him. Lying there is the revered Indian businessman and philanthropist J. P. Mullick. It’s obviously a high-profile case, which Sam’s superiors will obviously assign to someone else. But then to his astonishment the superintendent picks him. And, to his supreme annoyance, he will need Suren’s help to pursue the case. There’s no avoiding it.

Eventually, the two reach a shaky agreement. Suren will help him in exchange for his help in turn to locate his missing childhood friend, Dolly. And both cases will pose great risks to their own lives and reputations.

The Burning Grounds (Wyndham and Banerjee #6) by Abir Mukherjee (2025) 384 pages ★★★★☆

Photo of cremation ceremony along the Ganges in India, an important scene in this Wyndham and Banerjee mystery
Relatives of deceased men wait on a staircase to dip the bodies in the Ganges River for a final act of purification before its cremation. Image: Kaveh Kazemi – Business Insider

Two compelling cases in an exotic setting

Since we’re no strangers to the wiles of detective novelists, we know at the outset that the two cases confronting Sam and Suren will prove to be linked. But Mukherjee takes a long time to get us there. And along the way he introduces us to a stunningly beautiful British actress on her way to Hollywood stardom, Mullick’s feckless son, a ruthless local crime boss, the equally ruthless head of the British secret police for Eastern India, and the Russian emigré who is now Annie Grant’s infuriating new love interest. The story is complex, the setting exotic. And the history of the period, when Mahatma Gandhi and others had begun to gnaw away at the foundations of the British Raj, emerges clearly in the background. The Burning Grounds is a worthy addition to the ranks of historical novels that illuminate the past of the world’s most populous nation.

About the author

Photo of Abir Mukherjee, author of this Wyndham and Banerjee mystery
Abir Mukherjee. Image: Books from Scotland

Abir Mukherjee‘s parents moved from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to the UK before he was born in 1974. Mukherjee then grew up in Scotland. Before turning to writing crime novels, he worked as an accountant for 20 years, writing his first novel at the age of 39. As of 2025, he has published six novels in the Wyndham and Banerjee series set in the years following World War I and, recently, one standalone thriller. Most of the books in the series have been shortlisted for awards or, in three cases, won them. He now lives in the county of Surrey with his wife and two sons.

I’m reviewing all the novels in this series. For links to the previous books, see The Wyndham and Banerjee historical detective novels set in colonial India.

You’ll find similar and related stories at:

And you can always find the most popular of my 2,400 reviews, and the most recent ones, on the Home Page.