Customer Reviews

Death In The Andamans

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you ever wanted to travel to the Andamans, then this is definitely the book for you - the detail of what the islands were like, and also life for the colonial ruling class, is wonderful. M M Kaye used to take copious notes of all the places she visited just in case she decided to write a book about them later - something she did about six of the places she was stationed with her husband. Most of the people she writes about are from the colonial class themselves, born in exotic places such as Kashmir, Egypt, etc. It was a world she recognised and wrote about with confidence

Death in the Andamans is about Copper who is invited out to stay with her friend Valerie whose stepfather is one of the colonial administrators who lives on the island of Ross. Together they challenge if only unconciously, the reigning belle of the Island, Ruby, who is in her 30's but stagnating there because of circumstances she has created for herself.

Into this stifling atmosphere Copper arrives and all around Christmas time. A christmas eve picnic to a nearby island goes horribly wrong when a storm whips up and Ferrers Shilto who is sailing back is swept away. That puts a damper on Christmas eve, but christmas is worse when his body is washed up on the shore. A cursory examination of the body cites accidental death, but a young doctor wants to look further and disappears mysteriously - later to found sewn up in the shroud the original body was in.

Meanwhile Copper and Valerie hear footsteps and creeping around inside the house and are frightened by it, and by the fact no prints are ever seen despite the wet floors.

Nicely timed mystery and lovely romances - several of them in fact.

When was the last time you curled up on a rainy day with a good whodunit? "Death in the Andamans" is the perfect book if you enjoy the "locked door" variety of murder mystery. The plot and characters can be found in many similar books - what separates this one is the good writing. It's all there: spunky young heroine, dark enigmatic stranger, a cast of suspects - all marrooned on an island during a hurricane. The outcome - a dead body and a murderer on the loose among them. Throw in some unearthly sightings and some clever detecting and you've got yourself a nice read. M.M. Kaye is one of my top five writers. In addition to her mysteries, she also wrote historical fiction. Try "Trade Wind", "Shadow of the Moon" or "The Far Pavillions" and you'll see how talented a writer she is.

Perhaps my favorite of M.M. Kaye's 'Death in' series. I wanted to visit the house in this book myself. All her mysteries take place in exotic locales under British rule. A favorite style of mine, the late 1930's to early 1950's. Tourists sightseeing, meeting for cocktails, planning murders, etc. All the fun British characters, without being heavy or too 'vedy vedy British'. I great read!

I had never read anything by M.M. Kaye. I have passed her books in the stores and they never seemed to jump out at me. However, this time I gave it a try and it was wonderful. First of all, it took place in the late 30's before World War II when the British were ruling India and it was chock full of characters, house, food, dances, etc., that fit right in to that period. Plus. several murders and two young girls trying to solve the murders without getting killed themselves. Just brimming with mystery and intrique.

M M Kaye is best known for her India romantic epic "The Far Pavilions" as well as "Shadow Of The Moon" and "Trade Wind", all of which I have read and enjoyed. However she also wrote several murder mysteries set in different parts of the world that she had visited in her well-travelled life. Death In The Andamans is available on its own or as part of the collection of three "Death In" books by M M Kaye published as "House Of Shade".

First things first, where are the Andamans? I suppose I had a vague feeling they were one of those tiny dots on the map in the pacific somewhere, or perhaps around Japan or something. Shows what I know - they are a small group of islands in the Bay of Bengal. M M Kaye had visited them when younger and been marooned briefly on one of the islands after a storm and this gave her the idea for the novel.

Death In The Andamans deals with - what else? - an unexplained death. The owner of a coconut plantation, Ferrers Shilto, is in a cluster of small boats along with seven other people in a huge storm. The boats capsize, everyone is hanging on for dear life but when they are rescued sometime later Ferrers is missing. He turns up as a corpse brought in by the waves a day later - but did he drown?

This book has a lot of people in it - not only the eight on the boats but various other people, all of whom, it seems, may have had reason to murder Shilto or may have confused him with someone else that they wanted to murder. The story is partially narrated by two girls, Copper Randal and her friend Valerie; Valerie lives on the island with her stepfather, Copper is visiting for Christmas. Valerie is engaged to Charles who is in the army that is stationed on the Andamans, Copper has found herself rather intrigued by Nick Tarrent who is visiting the island from a naval ship and gets stranded on the island during the storm. Although billed on the front of the book as a "romance" I wouldn't really say that's particularly accurate - the love story isn't particularly significant and just bumbles along in the background.

The cast of characters, being so vast, means that we don't really get to know any of them that well. The action takes place at a good pace and we're never bored but I did find myself getting a bit swamped by all those people with murder on their minds. People also seemed to speak in a "jolly hockeysticks" fashion which perhaps was accurate but seemed rather quaint. People talked about the "beastly weather" and I wondered if I'd fallen into an Enid Blyton book. The point of view sometimes changed rather confusingly mid-stream as well.

The eventual unmasking of the perpetrator was perhaps a little disappointing - although clues had been left for the reader it's unlikely anyone would have guessed for sure who it was, and it could equally well have been one of many other people. Still, it was an interesting book purely in terms of the description of the Andaman Islands and a look back into the different lives people led at the tail end of the British Empire.

I have borrowed it from my library a total of ten times in the last year, and still would love to buy it if it was available in Pakistan. This book is a must-read for anyone who has ever known the beauty of love and the exotic aura of international shores. And for those who have not, read this book because it simply keeps you enthralled

M.M. Kaye (1908-2004) was born in India and, as a writer, fostered a terrific feel for the various unique cultures she encountered during her long and transient life -- this actuality provided a firm foundation for the many compelling and remarkable books that she eventually authored.

THE STORY: Escaping from a bleak English winter and a life of mundane routine, Copper Randal travels to holiday with a girlfriend whose father is a British government official on one of the Andaman Islands and where days are hot and balmy during the Christmas season. The girlfriend is engaged to a lighthearted and charming young man and it's not long before Copper draws the interest of an equally buoyant and handsome sailor-boyfriend.

Both girls reside in "Government House" a hulking, gloomy edifice which some islanders view as being haunted. Colorful British Colonials and visiting sailors abound on the island, many of whom are frequently brought together at Government House and elsewhere throughout the primitive but picturesque countryside for various social events. Two of these individuals, the Shilto cousins, vehemently despise one another resultant of a soured real estate deal - it's not long before one of the two men is subsequently killed following a picnic on a nearby mountain, and as they are caught rowing three small boats across a bay for home when a violent tropical storm breaks upon the unfortunate assemblage.

At first this death is viewed as a consequence of the storm but when a shrewd visiting physician begins to question the manner of death, a murderer bends under the pressure and additional killings ensue!

This tale provides every gratifying stereotypical nuance for which bug-eyed cozy murder addicts universally drool... a perfectly cozy island location, a dreary mansion, a typhoon which hangs on for days, lots of furtive and swarthy characters, a Siamese cat with a shrewd sense of timing, and on and on. This first-rate entry is of course but one of the author's six compelling "Death in..." mysteries. The publishing chronology of these renowned titles is as follows:

Death in Kashmir: A Mystery (1953, revised 1984, aka, "Death Walked in Kashmir")

Death in Berlin (1955, revised 1985, aka, "Death Walked in Berlin")

Death in Cyprus: A Novel (1956, revised 1984, aka, "Death Walked in Cypress")

Death in Kenya (1958, revised 1983, aka, "[It's] Later than You Think")

Death in Zanzibar (1959, revised 1983, aka, "The House of Shade")

Death in the Andamans (1960, revised 1985, aka, "Night on the Island")

Prospective readers should be made aware that Kaye actually penned this tale just at the outset of World War II and many years prior to its ultimate publication. She had actually been spending time in the Andamans, a former British penal colony located in the Bay of Bengal, where she and a girlfriend reassessed, dramatized, and noted their mutual daily experiences, roughly giving rise to the actual story here. When Kaye was subsequently living in Iran (she preferred to call it Persia, as I do myself) she completed the work by filling in the necessary details.

I think that much of the "golden-age" mystery charm found herein derives as a direct result of the author's worldwide travels and personal encounters. This fictional account harbors a bulwark of the early 20th Century Agatha Christie/Dorothy L. Sayers/Ngaio Marsh flavor of whodunit ambiance. Kaye was quite lyrical in scribing her prose as she was masterfully adept at the subtle art of "decoying" her readers. Even as a vastly experienced mystery enthusiast, I certainly did not deduce the solution to this one at any point in the book although the clues are adequately laid out along the way.

I've read most of the other "Death in..." Kaye mysteries and this one has been my most gratifying experience with that series to date. I joyfully place this book right at the top of all my extensive mystery genre reading, right alongside The Mysterious Affair At Styles, The Yellow Room and A Man Lay Dead (Jonathan Mystery, J3).

Most highly recommended!

I am also a first time reader of M M Kaye. My mother gave me this book to read. I finished it today and was now looking for more of her books. I will get them all!! She's a great writer and her characters are colourful.

This book was doubly special because we are currently living in India and are planning to go to Andaman soon. It will make the islands that much more romantic and wonderful I'm sure.

A typically fast-moving M.M. Kaye mystery novel, Death in the Andamans features Kaye's usual beautiful heroine, suspicious characters, and a romantic interest who may or may not have something to hide.

I really enjoyed this book; however,the murderer is discovered with about 35 pages left in the novel, which doesn't sound like a lot, but these pages are mostly filler material: long, drawn out passages resolving romantic interests, etc. And the same plot points are gone over multiple times by different characters, none of whom are shedding different light on the plot. In stark contrast to the can't-put-it-down nature of the first 250 pages, I found myself annoyed and skipping over the last 30 or so. It felt as though Kaye didn't have much left to say but was reluctant to leave the beautiful island she introduced her readers to. Still, even with the disappointing ending, I would recommend this book. It's a nice, chilling read.

Never have I encountered such a sultry, oppressive and terrifying atmosphere as in this book.

It's the nineteen-thirties, approaching the final days of the Raj. A clever young woman named Copper Randal is visiting Valerie Masson, a friend from schooldays. Val's stepfather is Chief Commissioner of the Andamans, a penal settlement peopled by murderers serving life sentences. Administrative headquarters is in Government House, on the tiny islet of Ross in the Bay of Bengal.

By day Government House is a cheerful edifice in a luscious tropical paradise. By night it's full of creaks and echoes. Lizards, bats and winged insects rustle, flap and chirrup incessantly. Shrouded in mosquito netting, Copper has prophetic nightmares.

It's Christmas week, and there are dinners and a picnic. On the way back from the picnic a horrendous tropical storm arises, capsizing sailboats and drowning one of the revelers.

The storm knocks out telephones, pulverizes jetties and leaves an aftermath of turbulent seas that imprison the inhabitants of the island and their guests. As it becomes clear that the dead man was murdered and not drowned, and the murderer is still on the island, and still murderous, nerves fray and sometimes snap. The cloying heat doesn't help. Val and her finance Charles, along with Copper and her admirer Nick, relieve their tension by playing detective. A dangerous game.

Against all odds, romance thrives amidst the tiny panic-stricken populace. And the dialog often reaches incredible levels of sparkle and wit. So the reader is vastly amused as well as trembling in suspense.

This delightful mystery grew out of the author's visit to the Andamans in the thirties, explaining the authenticity of the setting. It's the first book I've read by M.M. Kaye, and I feel I've discovered a treasure. I recommend Death in the Andamans with enthusiasm.