‘Black Rain’ by Anita Sivakumaran

Published by Dialogue Books,
10 November 2023.
ISBN: 978-0-3497-0158-5 (PBO)

Detective Inspector Vijay Patel is on sick leave from the Met. Mentally and physically traumatised by a recent case, he is staying with his mother in Leicester because his girlfriend has chucked him out of their London flat. All Patel wants is peace and quiet. Unfortunately, this is not what he gets.

A once famous Bollywood actor, Majid Rahman, now a bankrupt druggie and sex-pest, is found murdered on the allotments behind Patel’s mother’s house.  Sergeant Codman from the local police does not seem particularly interested in investigating Majid’s death, but a young journalist, Neha, is absolutely determined to do so. Neha proves to have a surprising set of hacking skills and you can’t help wondering why she has such a close, personal interest in the story. She attaches herself to Patel and demands that he goes to India and extracts the truth from the gangsters she believes killed Majid. Patel’s lovely mother, Padmini, agrees with Neha. Patel and Neha jet off to Mumbai leaving Padmini, other allotment users and local hit men to search for the bag that Majid had been carrying before he was killed.

Patel’s fame as a former international cricketer opens doors to cricket-mad gangsters in Mumbai and Dubai, but it doesn’t stop Neha and Patel being kidnapped and exposed to flying bullets. It seems that their suspicions were correct.  Cricket is at the root of the problem.

Set in Leicester, Mumbai and Dubai, Black Rain exposes the darker side of international test cricket in an entertaining and suspenseful manner. Its characters – an animated mix of the usual greedy and despicable villains, the almost accidental criminals, and some delightful and endearing individuals who are doing their best to do good rather than harm - are well drawn and memorable.  Overall Dark Rain is an easy and entertaining read. It is the second in what seems destined to become a well-loved series.
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Reviewer: Angela Crowther.

Anita Sivakumaran was born in Madras and has lived in the UK since 2004. Cold Sun is her first novel in the DI Patel detective series. Her historical novel, The Queen, based on real events, has been made into a major television series. Her second book, The Birth of Kali, retells Indian mythology from a feminist point of view. She is passionate about tennis and growing vegetables. Black Rain, her second DI Patel novel, is set in Leicester, with her allotment featuring prominently as the setting of a murder. She lives in Leicester with her husband, children and a dog.

Angela Crowther is a retired scientist.  She has published many scientific papers but, as yet no crime fiction.  In her spare time Angela belongs to a Handbell Ringing group, goes country dancing and enjoys listening to music, particularly the operas of Verdi and Wagner.