WOW, just WOW. One of the best debut I read in some times, an enthralling and gripping story featuring a great characters.
A mix of cultures and languages, tightly knitted and fast pace plot, great characters.
Can't wait to read another book by this author.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Meticulously Drawn....
A disgraced detective, a tumultuous past and crimes new and old combine in this outstanding debut novel and the first of a new series. With a meticulously well drawn cast of characters, a refreshing protagonist, perfectly placed atmospherics and an utterly compelling storyline, deftly managed, this is a page turner from the first to last page. Superb.

In 2019, Ajay Chowdhury won the inaugural Harvill Secker/Bloody Scotland award aimed at discovering new crime writers from underrepresented communities. The Waiter, which appears at first to be two crime novels for the price of one, is Chowdhury’s debut crime novel (he had previously published a children’s book. And along the way it tips its hat to the crime greats and what appears to be Chowdhury’s inspirations for his plot and characters.
The book opens with a frenetic and confusing cold open in which a number of characters are hurriedly introduced and the body of Rakesh Sharma is found by his swimming pool. The narrator of this scene, and of the book itself, is the waiter Kamil Sharma who turns out to be a detective from Kolkata cooling his heels in London after some sort of disgrace in his home town. The narrative will catch up to that opening scene – setting out how Kamil works in the Restaurant of old family friends Saibal and Maya but also the first steps in the disastrous investigation in Kolkata. In this way Chowdhury provides two investigations for the price of one – Kamil as the amateur sleuth trying to clear the name of Rakesh’s wife, accused of the murder, and Kamil as a sub-Inspector with a father famous in the police service, charged with investigating the death of a Bollywood star and learning the depths of Indian corruption the hard way.
The Waiter builds solidly on the tropes of all of the predecessors. While claiming that life is not like an Agatha Christie novel, the murder of Rakesh is a pure Agatha Christie set up – a party full of possible suspects at the house prior to the murder, family tensions including a trophy wife and a Cinderella-style clue grasped in the hand of the dead man – and its ultimate solution is pure crime novel (and not worth thinking about for too long). The Kolkata investigation is a little more hard boiled procedural but it is hard to believe that Kamil was so naïve as to think that there would not be political interference. The connections between the two strands are hinted at through the text.
The Waiter is an enjoyable crime debut that brings a distinct voice to some well worn crime fiction alleyways. Chowdhury captures both London and Kolkata, and the very distinct differences between them, well, and the food smells almost burst from the page. Kamil is supported by an interesting range of side characters including his “offsider” Anjoli, some Bollywood stars and Rakesh’s ex wife Pinky. And while his future seems to be in the restaurant business it would not be surprising if Kamil were to be back sleuthing at some point in the future.

His former life a total mess, detective Kamil Rahman quite unexpectedly finds himself waiting tables at an Indian restaurant in London. Her literally had to flee from Kolkata since he totally messed up a high profile case. Now, an old friend of his father’s boards and employs him. When they cater a party at the multi-millionaire Rakesh, Kamil senses a lot of hatred coming from that man towards him even though he has never met him before. A couple of hours later, Rakesh is found dead in his mansion’s swimming-pool and his current wife Neha, three decades his junior and close friend of Kamil’s hosts’ daughter Anjoli, is accused of murder. Immediately, Kamil’s instincts jump in and he tries to figure out what has happened. But with the start of his investigation, also the memories of what drove him from his home town comes back.

Ajay Chowdhury’s novel is a very cleverly constructed mystery which links two seemingly unconnected crimes and events on two continents in a skilful way. By telling bits of both stories alternatingly, you advance and yet, for quite a long time, do not really get the whole picture which keeps suspense high at all times. At the same time, the story lives on the characters and their live between two cultures which are not always easy to bring together.

Without any doubt, the protagonist and his conviction of law and order and fighting for the right is the most striking feature of the novel. Seeing how his world view, which was more or less just black and white, slowly becomes blurred and he starts to question all he has ever believed in, is a great character development, especially for a mystery novel.

Both murder cases are highly complex and can only be sorted out by a very sharp mind – yet, knowing the truth does not mean that it will also win ultimately. A lesson which Kamil learns the hard way.

An intriguing read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Kamil Rahman was an up and coming detective in his native Kolkata when there was an incident. And that's all I'm saying about that... Suffice to say, this incident, forced him to flee his home and run to England where, when we first meet up with him, he is working - illegally - as a waiter for a family friend who owns a restaurant. Things are mostly ticking along for him, well as much as his fall from grace allows, until that is he helps cater a party for a rich and powerful man. A man who is later that evening, after a shock announcement, found dead. The fingers of suspicion start to point in various directions, settling finally on the dead man's young wife, Neha. And it is at this point that Kamil's training really kicks up a notch as he is asked by his host family to investigate as they know Neha must be innocent. But as Kamil starts his task it soon appears that there is so much more to what happened than on face value and that his past is swiftly becoming his present once again...
This book was a bit of a slow burn for me. It did take me a while to get into the author's writing style. Not only that but the prose is peppered with colloquial terms, some of which are explained, others easily guessed, but I did find that initially a bit jarring and it took me a little out of the story. That said, it did settle down as I got used to it so I would definitely say it's worth persevering with.
Told in two timelines with Kamil's past shenanigans adding colour, clarity and background to what is happening in the present in just the right times and amounts to well complement what is happening in the now. We follow him as he teams up with the daughter of the family he is staying with, Anjoli, who is a brilliantly crafted and very quirky character. This also means that we get two for the price of one mystery-wise as both timelines could actually be main plots in themselves but are afforded equal billing here and, as they are well managed and balanced, neither threatens to overrun the other.
As I was reaching the end of the book, as the two threads stopped meandering around each other as they started to merge and resolve, I started thinking about the two main characters and thinking that I really hope we haven't seen the last of them, that this is a series opener. Boy I hope so as I really enjoyed this book (once I got myself sorted with the style) and fingers crossed I might be right. Would be great if true. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

A very good debut with the two centres of London and Kolkata making for an interesting narrative and comparison of policing. I found the dialogue a bit stilted at times, but overall a page turner, and it will be interesting to see if Kamil returns in a further book
Thank you to netgalley and random house for an advance copy of this book.

The classic detective trope is given a new makeover in this refreshing debut crime novel by Ajay Chowdhury.

A restaurant waiter working illegally in London takes charge in leading a murder investigation of a multi-millionaire found dead in his own home. An unusual role for Kamil Rahman to take on but his interest in solving crimes isn’t a mere pastime. It’s a passion that remains in him as he was a trueblood detective back in Kolkata, his home city. His move to London wasn’t a choice but out of necessity and the story behind it takes up almost half the novel.

In The Waiter, Kamil hit the ground running after a desperate cry for help from Neha, glamorous new wife of Rakesh, the deceased multi-millionaire. His death looked like an accident at first but further police probing pointed the finger at Neha. Kamil was waitering at a dinner in the home when this incident happened. When he heard the news his investigative instincts quickly kicked in and got to work despite being told to stay off the case by the police. Kamil soon found that this wasn’t a simple murder case. He had to delve deeper into Rakesh’s business enterprises and practices because he had doubts about how Rakesh made his money. Kamil’s probe revealed shocking relationships between Rakesh and his father, his boss and the police authorities back in Kolkata. And it soon became clear why he was unceremoniously sacked from his job in Kolkata.

Chowdhury did a remarkable job as a first-time author with The Waiter. There’s plenty of intrigue, suspense, seemingly good characters, and bad characters, of course. The story held my attention from start to the startling finale. The heady mix of Indian and English cultures and crime in a cosmopolitan city gives the story setting a unique flavour. Even as a crime is being solved the reader gets a taste of Bengali cuisine and conversations. However, some of these conversations are left untranslated. This omission has left me quite frustrated not knowing what was being said. A trifling complaint perhaps, but it needs to be noted.

A note of thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC. I'm leaving this review voluntarily.

I am not normally a reader of police / crime thrillers, but, was intrigued by the difference of this premise.
Kamil Rahman is having a difficult time. He was a really good detective in his hometown of Kolkata but had to leave in suspicious circumstances; which are revealed as the book progresses.
He finds himself living with a family and working as an illegal waiter; then he becomes embroiled in a murder.

It's really well written and the characters are vivid and interesting, as is the description of London's Brick Lane through the eyes of an immigrant.

The story flows really well with chapters describing the history of the lead character in Kolkata alongside his current experiences and it's rich with Indian references; cultural and gastronomic and it's mouthwateringly good! Congratulations to the author and I look forward to reading more about this interesting character.

Thanks to Random House UK, Vintage via NetGalley for the opportunity to preview.

You’re going to want to read this book.
If you pick it up in the morning, clear out your schedule for the rest of the day.
If you book it up at night, say goodbye to your sleep.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Having been to Kolkata I was disappointed with the lack of sense of place in this book. The story is written in two interwoven threads, in London and a few months earlier in Kolkata. It is mainly dialogue and the lack of descriptions frustrated me after a while.

It’s always fun when a novel features places you know well, and I was familiar with many of the London locations in this mystery – from Brick Lane to Bishops Avenue. Kamil Rahman is a detective, who, due to a case in Kolkata, has found himself disgraced, ousted, and working illegally as a waiter for Tandoori Knights – ‘Keep Calm and Curry On….’

Kamil’s father is the retired Commission of Police in Kolkata, so, despite wanting to work his way up from traffic duty to homicide squad, finding himself with his career in freefall, has been something of a shock. The owner of the restaurant is Saibal Chatterjee, his father’s friend, who has taken him in to live with his wife, Maya, and daughter Anjoli. Kamil likes to keep himself busy to avoid thinking of the sudden, disastrous turn his life has taken, and happily agrees to help at a party for a friend of Saibal, the wealthy Rakesh, who has left previous wife, Pinky, for the much younger Neha - Anjoli’s friend, and purchased a new mansion with dubious decorating taste on Bishops Avenue.

When Rakesh is found dead shortly after the party, Neha is the obvious suspect and Kamil is asked to investigate and clear her name. He joins up with the irrepressible Anjoli and, despite events, is obviously excited at the chance to do something more exciting than wait tables. As the story unfolds, we read of what happened the previous summer in Kolkata, leading to Kamil finding himself working illegally in an Indian restaurant and whether there could be links between what happened there and London. Overall, a really interesting start to what could become a series, with an excellent lead character and setting. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

In this debut novel, we follow the story of Kamil Rahman working as a waiter in a London restaurant. He attends a party where a famous business person is murdered. The reflexes he developped when working as a detective in Kolkata kick into gear and he tries to resolve this murder. As he investigates this murder, we also learn what caused him to leave the Kolkata Police Force in disagrace: another celebrity murder.

The story has great pace, balances well between the two story lines and has good characters. Looking forward to the sequel!

It is becoming ever more difficult to stand out in the overcrowded crime genre, but Ajay Chowdhury manages by making his protagonist a former policeman now working illegally as a waiter. Ex-sub Inspector Kamil Rahman was forced out of the Kolkata police in disgrace after his murder investigation of Bollywood movie star Asif Khan went awry. He is now working at the Tandoori Knights restaurant in London's East End in Brick Lane, owned by Saibal and Maya Chatterjee, who with their vivacious daughter, Anjoli, have come to feel more like family than his own back in India. However, he is feeling like a fish out of water, a little lost, missing his old profession as a detective, when he is offered an unexpected opportunity. After his 60th birthday party celebrations, wealthy Rakesh Sharma is discovered dead by his swimming pool, his head smashed in by a whisky bottle.

The victim was married to 28 year old Neha, a good friend of Anjoli, his second wife after Sharma divorced Pinky, with whom he has a son, Arjun. Kamil makes some rookie mistakes at the crime scene, but when Neha becomes the prime suspect in a police inquiry, run by DI Campbell, he and Anjoli join forces to try and clear Neha. The story goes back and forth in time, to reveal what happened in Kolkata in the Asif Khan case where an inexperienced and naive Kamil found himself in charge, only to find himself stymied by police corruption and his life, and the lives of those closest to him, in deadly danger. In the present, Kamil wonders why Rakesh had looked at him with pure hate and fury, when he had never met him before, is there any possibility that there might be some connections with his old Kolkata case?

Chowdhury provides a vibrant, colourful and atmospheric sense of two locations, with insights into Asian culture, traditions, rituals, and with intoxicating descriptions of Indian food. He creates a great central protagonist in Kamil, who after experiencing the most devastating of betrayals, develops a more pragmatic outlook when it comes to honour, truth and integrity, tempering his idealism for justice with the realities of the world as it is. The highlight for me was the character of Anjoli with her terrific collection of personally sloganised t-shirts, having to negotiate, like so many younger members of the Asian community, between family expectations and her more independent and differing aspirations. This was such a promising crime debut, entertaining and engaging, but it was not perfect, there were times when the switch between the two timelines felt a little clunky, although this did not overly affect my enjoyment of this crime novel. Many thanks to Random House Vintage for an ARC.

I was really looking forward to reading this book but, sadly, I struggled to get into it and gave up halfway through. I loved the descriptions of Brick lane and the food but the plot failed to grip me. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

I am afraid I found this book to be just too confusing. The names - I was not sure who was male and who female, plus the two stories welded together after the disgrace in Kolkata. I found the style of writing to be very manic and I was even more confused. Sorry. I did want to like it, but could not finish it

Life hasn't exactly gone to plan for former detective, Emil. He left his hometown of Kolkata in disgrace due to messing up the murder investigation of an A-list Bollywood actor, and now he's somehow ended up waiting tables in the curry houses of London's Brick Lane.

Life is quiet but simple (and overflowing with delicious Bengali food), until his boss's multi-millionaire best friend is found dead: bashed over the head with a whisky bottle and floating in his swimming pool.

Likeable and witty Emil spots a chance to redeem his career, only to find the backstreets of Kolkata catching up with him.

This Winner of the Harvill Secker-Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Award characters was an intriguing and easy read, sprinkled with characters not above a bit of sarcasm.

from Good Reads:
Two crimes on different sides of the world come together with a disgraced Indian detective trying to discover the truth.
I initially struggled to get into the crimes themselves and how the cases were progressing - felt like a lot of leaps of faith - but it all came together beautifully and cleverly in the end.
I absolutely loved the rich descriptions of the food peppered throughout - mouth watering.
Interested to see where this goes next

Mixing a previous situation in India where the lead character operated as a police inspector, with a waiter’s job that becomes a private investigator in England, brings alive a great story; one which I could not wait to finish.

How these two mysteries bind together is a surprise until the reader finds out and this provides for many interesting twists on the way.

I enjoyed the mix of Indian with English language, the feel of Indian culture within modern England and a wonderful taste of the food most Brits enjoy. I hadn’t heard of a Vindaloo Visa before reading this book, but now understand its use and potential.

The variety of characters, keeping to their culture while maintaining change to modern day England was both interesting and stimulating.

I hope I get to read more about Kamil Rahman and wonder when Anjoli will understand his love for her. A series of this team investigating would be great fun. A free copy of this book didn’t change my review and I can’t tell you why I disliked one character so much as this may spoil some moments. At least he paid in the end…

Interesting premise but the writing felt quite stodgy and weighed down with exposition. It didn't make me want to read on and know more. DNF

I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House UK, Vintage, for an advance copy of The Waiter, a debut novel featuring former Kolkata Police Sub-Inspector Kamil Rahman.

After his last case in Kolkata went badly wrong, Kamil has moved to London to stay with family friends, Saibal and Maya Chatterjee and their daughter Anjoli. He is working as a waiter for them when they cater their friend Rakesh Sharma’s 60th birthday party. The party has ended when Rakesh’s young wife, Neha finds him dead in the swimming pool, a victim of murder. When Neha comes under suspicion Kamil and Anjoli undertake an investigation to find out what really happened to Rakesh.

I enjoyed The Waiter which is an accomplished start to what has the potential to become a series. The novel is told in the first person from Kamil’s point of view. This has the advantage of letting the reader get close to both his personality and his hopes, dreams and doubts, while at the same time allowing the novel to slip seamlessly between this current investigation and the investigation in Kolkata that lead to his downfall. I admire the plot device where current events remind him of his previous investigation and lead to more explanation. It is a neat way to do it.

I must admit that I would have been happy with either one of the investigations as a novel, so I found it quite strenuous switching between the two (I’ve been ill, so probably not the best time to take on such a detailed novel). As it is, both involve money, corruption and venality at their core and take a good look at the weakness of man. It is interesting to see the contrasts between the two countries and the universality of greed. I liked the way both investigations slowly unfold as the novel progresses with each offering surprises and twists.

Kamil Rahman is a young man of principle, which, in certain lights, could be regarded as a character flaw. He is rather serious and feeling very sorry for himself at the beginning of the novel, but this is a transformative novel, so while, by the end he is still principled, he is rather more pragmatic about applying them. Anjoli is the fun character in the novel, be it the slogans on her t-shirts, her railing against the more restrictive dictates of her parents’ way of life or her enthusiasm and impetuosity, and provides the light relief.

The Waiter is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.