A couple of years after hugely successful tech entrepreneur and London theatre director Ajay Chowdhury won the prestigious Harvill Secker-Bloody Scotland prize for unpublished tales from BAME (black, Asian, minority ethnic) crime writers, booklovers can enjoy the full meal that’s grown from the tasty morsels that captivated the judges.

Looking for a fresh start, former Kolkata detective Kamil Rahman is waiting tables at the Indian restaurant owned by family friends. Delivering plates of curry to Brick Lane diners and scrubbing away his fall from grace. When a birthday party for his boss’s friend ends in murder, Kamil is arm-twisted into an unofficial investigation alongside Anjoli, his boss’s precocious daughter. Their sleuthing brings up bad memories of the Bollywood murder case that ended his career, and Kamil soon finds that, while he may have tried to forget his past, it hasn’t forgotten him. Dangerously so.

An exciting new voice on the British crime scene, Chowdhury tantalises readers with fascinating characters, intriguing action, and vivid scene-setting; not to mention some mouth-watering food references. Seriously, you’re going to get hungry. He deftly juggles dual timelines as murder cases present and past unfold in London and Kolkata (the author’s own hometown).

A delicious debut that left me keen for seconds.

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson