A Greater God (Superintendent Le Fanu Mysteries)
Superintendent Le Fanu is returning to 1920s Madras in India from Chinese Penang to his newest love interest, Jenlin Koh. For now, racial tensions between Muslims and Hindus are ratcheting up to massive unrest. At first individual Muslims are being murdered, but then almost an entire village is discovered beaten and then murdered. His friends and subordinate associates, Mohammad Habibullah and Jackson Caldicott, are extremely upset but fear their officials are not taking them seriously. Add to the mess that the highest authorities, the insane Inspector General Jepson or “Jockey,” and his assistant are messing up every investigation because they are openly hateful racists. Le Fanu doesn’t initially respond well, as his former Indian love, Roisin McPhedrin, is very ill and possibly dying from typhoid. As Le Fanu is a man of integrity, he worries how to handle these personal and public troubles. Gandhi’s drive for Indian independence is on the wane, and Hindus who are unhappy with British reforms are following the teachings of a Hindu revolutionary, Savarkar, who in summary insists that Hindus must rule India.
Besides being a ripping great mystery, Stoddart has masterfully depicted the political and cultural problems as part of the history of India at this time. Even architecture is described as symbolizing the conflict between British rule and India with its Gothic and Indo-Saracenic features, a mixture pinpointing the idea that democracy would be a “complicated beast.” The prevailing Muslim League is another revolutionary group confounding the mess. This reviewer highly commends this mix of history and mystery as a page-turning novel, with a complex yet quite understandable plot, full of heart, passion and fury. A great read!
