The Tigress of Mysore
The novel opens with Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Hervey happy indeed with his situation in India, both martial and marital. His prospects for advancement seem bright and his 6th Light Dragoons regiment is filled with both top class officers and NCOs. His personal life is equally rosy, with his wife Kezia pregnant and his daughter Georgiana on an extended visit. What more could Hervey want? A mission. Soon he is sent by the East India Company to suppress the ferocious ‘thuggee’ bandits pillaging and killing without restraint. But he also has a secret mission to dethrone the supposed leader of these brigands in Chintal, the Tigress of Mysore herself, the Ranee Syneyla. Cavalry élan, strategic deception and astute diplomacy are all called for. Not a job for any soldier, but a job only this soldier can do.
In The Tigress of Mysore Allan Mallinson adds compelling descriptions of a colonial India in the midst of a transition into the British Raj to his authoritative knowledge of British cavalry regiments. The reader is enveloped by Indian culture and buffeted by British contemporary attitudes towards the native population. Mallinson’s characterisations, honed by such a long-running series, are equally impressive. Hervey’s interactions with his closest companions, Somerville, Fairbrother, Private Johnson and Sergeant Major Armstrong, are as entertaining as always, but the novel provides a window too into both the reflective and the dashing sides of the main character. The reappearance of the Ranee Syneyla from one of Hervey’s earlier tales allows Mallinson to show real character development for his hero, a nuanced progression not often witnessed in a series like this. We have seen Hervey evolving through each book and each mission, and we can now look forward to seeing him ride on to his next adventure.
