A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee is a “cleverly constructed whodunit with an unusual locale—Calcutta in 1919—portrayed with convincing detail (NYT)”.   Detective Sam Wyndham, a newcomer to the British raj, investigates the death of a colonial official.  The author sets up an “intriguing crime, and a minefield of political pitfalls” (Criminal Element) which Wyndham must negotiate, but the story’s greatest strength is its sense of place –Bengal on the eve of Gandhi’s revolution   Meanwhile, Thrity Umrigar‘s latest story , Everybody’s Son, is set in the States. A foster child taken in by a judge is also rising through the approved circles, that is, until the secret of his birth mother is revealed.