What readers think of A Disappearance in Fiji, plus links to write your own review.

4.5 stars, rounded up

This well crafted, wonderfully researched historical mystery takes the reader to 1914 Fiji. Akal Singh is a young police sergeant who has been banished from Hong Kong to Fiji. He has yet to be received into the good graces of his boss. But a delegation from India (which includes only one actual Indian, the rest are English) is coming to town to investigate how Indian indentured workers on Fiji’s sugar plantations are treated just as a female worker goes missing. A minister insists the woman has been kidnapped and gets the newspaper involved. As the “highest ranking Indian” policeman, Akal is given the assignment to investigate. But he’s also told to make it all go away.

The story moves at a steady pace. The writing is descriptive and it was easy to envision each scene. Clues are scattered like breadcrumbs at regular intervals. Akal is a great main character and I found his back story compelling. He internally rails at the English that lump him with the “coolies”. He’s not always a sympathetic character, which adds to the depth of the story.

Rao does a wonderful job of showing the brutality of the workers' existence and the racism of the English ruling class. Even those that are more enlightened, still have elements of racism. Akal sadly realizes that his boss values politics over justice. I also got a kick that everyone under-estimated anyone who wasn’t a white man.
By dint of a comment in the Author’s Note, I’m this is meant to be the start of a series. And a big thank you to Recorded Books for making sure the Author’s Note was included in the audiobook. It was fascinating to learn Rao’s great-grandparents were part of the indentured workers program and what an impact it had not just on Fiji, but other areas of the British Empire.

I was less than enthralled with Sid Sagar as a narrator. He did a great job with Akal and the English, but a few of the Fijian voices sounded more Scottish than anything.

This novel gives us a mystery but in a historical setting- the Island of Fiji, part of the British Empire at the turn of the century.
Akal, an Indian native who joined the British-Indian Police services is abruptly transferred from a great assignment in Hong Kong, after he's caught up in an embarrassing police scandal. His only option is a transfer to Fiji and he reluctantly goes.

Once on the island, Akal faces much prejudice and learns about the system of "indentured service" on Fiji. But he has a missing persons case to follow and his boss just wants the case to disappear. But Akal is tenacious and seeks the truth.

The ending of the book was not totally satisfying but I read this author will do a follow-up novel. I can't wait!

This author focuses on character development, the mystery, and a great deal of Fijian history. His skillful use of language makes the reader (in my case listener) feel as if they were in Fiji! I learned quite a bit of history about a part of the world I knew very little about.