The Waiter

Nov 15

The Waiter by Ajay Chowdhury

Reviewed by Mimi
📘📙📘

This is a crime novel that felt fresh and took the opportunity of establishing a new style to the genre. There are two mysteries to solve. On one timeline Kamil Rahman is a disgraced detective who left Kolkata and is now working as a waiter in a takeaway on Brick Lane, the other shows him being given the opportunity of his life to investigate a high profile murder in India. One directly leads into the other and when there is a murder at a party he is catering at in London, all hell breaks loose.

This genre needs characters and protagonists that are different to the norm and this novel provides exactly that. It's pacy and has the suspense that all great detective novels need to have. I have to say, I was worried it was all going to be so predictable but was delighted when it really wasn't. The twists and turns keep going right until the last chapter.

An honourable mention to the locations of Brick Lane and Kolkata which are vivid but they enhance the story rather than distract you from the complex timelines and back and forth you need to follow.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!

Fictioncrime fictionajay chowdhuryvintage booksthe waitereast londonbrick lanekolkatasouth asian literaturesouth asian author

Miriam Hanna

Aka Mimi. I have known Linda for a very, very long time. We grew up together and you learn very quickly that when she gets an idea in her head, you would be an idiot not to back her to see it through. When the idea of the book club came up it was another lightbulb moment where I knew this wasn't only going to be a success but really fun.

I have always been a bookworm. Remember when you were little and you went shopping with your mum or dad and they gave you a toy or something to occupy yourself with whilst you were in the trolley? I used to get books to keep me quiet. They were and are my ultimate form of escapism and more and more they are about understanding who I am as a person. Books make me cry more than films and TV Shows. I can get lost for hours. I love historic fiction, political thrillers and gritty crime novels but also biographies and memoirs of people I find interesting like sportspeople. I was fortunate to be in the Harry Potter generation and if weren't for those books I don't know what I would have. Young literature was so poor at the point. To have a book that had me and my family queuing up at midnight to buy was seriously special.

Whether you listen to audio books, read off a kindle or stick to carrying around good old fashioned hard copies (that's me!) I truly believe reading is the best way to spend some time every day.

The books I would have with me on a desert island? 📚🏝Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Akzaban, Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Chimp Paradox by Steve Peters, The Power by Naomi Alderman, Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou, Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian, Born a Crime by Trevor Noah and The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

The Waiter

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