Stardust in Nuala (The Inspector de Silva Mysteries Book 12) by Harriet Steel #RBRT #TuesdayBookBlog

A celebrated Indian film company comes to Nuala, sprinkling its stardust over the quiet little town and keeping Inspector de Silva busy. With the end of the visit at last in sight, he looks forward to returning to a more peaceful existence, but a sudden death dashes his hopes. With Jane’s help and that of a new ally, he’s drawn into the turbulent affairs of a warring family. Meanwhile, a mysterious intruder is causing trouble at the Residence.

My Review

It is Spring 1941 in Ceylon and in the small hill town of Nuala the war in Europe has little effect, but a visiting film crew from Bombay is very disruptive to the peace and quiet as Inspector Shanti de Silva’s small police team is responsible for controlling the excited crowd. All goes well for the final filming at the Royal Nuala Cricket Club of a dramatic, colourful devil dance. The film company is owned by the famous actor, Dev Khan, who stars as the King, with his second wife, Sunita, as the Queen. Shanti and his English wife Jane are invited for drinks by Ashok, Dev’s efficient PA, but they find Dev rather full of himself and his relationship with his two stepsons, who also work for the film company, is problematic.

When a member of the family is found dead in the grounds of their hotel Shanti asks his friend, the hotel manager to assist him with investigations. Meanwhile at the house of Archie Clutterbuck, the Assistant Government Agent, the mysterious disappearance of small items and the distress of his dog, are alarming and of course Shanti is expected to solve this case too.

The delight of this series is the warm relationship of the de Silvas and the pleasure Shanti takes from good Sinhalese food and sitting quietly with his cat Bella on his lap.  His leadership and care about his sergeant and constable are admirable and he puts his clever mind to good use solving seemingly impossible investigations. If this is the first volume of this series you read, the cast list at the beginning will be very helpful. Another intriguing mystery in a fascinating era.

Stardust in Nuala on Amazon UK

My Review of Break from Nuala

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