Ajay Chowdhury

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The Shadow

The Spy

The Invitation

From the award-winning author of The Waiter

The Cook

the award-winning first book in a thrilling new detective series

The Waiter

The Detective

Penguin Shop: 3 Clothbound Classics for £33

Ajay Chowdhury’s crime novels set in the East End are vivid portraits of modern life.

An entertaining story that ranges across love, murder and an intriguing family tree

A rip-roaring mystery that's engrossing from start to finish

Chowdhury brings his own expertise in modern tech to the plot, combining it with hot button history, and a biting wit. The series goes from strength to strength

[Kamil is a] likeable inspector . . . We shall hear much more of him

[An] enthralling new novel... Chowdhury's dazzlingly clever plot brings together the East End's history and its present incarnation as home to some of the country's most innovative technology

Ajay Chowdhury’s crime novels set in the East End are vivid portraits of modern life. His panoramic new novel has Inspector Kamil Rahman working for the Met Police, investigating the murder of the chief executive of a tech company while discovering the area’s history of Jewish immigration and lethal antisemitism.

*Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month* 
 
'A rip-roaring mystery that's engrossing from start to finish' ABIR MUKHERJEE 
 
 
A BRUTAL KILLING HAS UNCOVERED A COLD CASE. HAS SOMEONE GOT AWAY WITH MURDER? 
 
On the verge of a four-billion-dollar deal, a tech entrepreneur from Shoreditch is found dead in a construction site, which leads to the discovery of three skeletons over a hundred years old. 
 
But as fresh bodies turn up, can Detective Kamil - along with his friend Anjoli - prevent another murder? 
 
Desperate to solve his first case for the Met, will Kamil put his reputation on the line... then cross it?

*As seen on The One Show* 
*A Times and Sunday Times Crime Book of the Year* 
 
A BRUTAL KILLING UNCOVERS A COLD CASE. HAS SOMEONE GOT AWAY WITH MURDER? 
 
'A rip-roaring mystery that's engrossing from start to finish' ABIR MUKHERJEEOn the verge of a four-billion-dollar deal, a tech entrepreneur is found dead on a construction site, which leads to the discovery of three skeletons over a hundred years old. 
Desperate to solve his first case for the Met, Detective Kamil Rahman is under pressure to prove to his colleagues that he's up to the job. 
 
But as fresh bodies turn up, can Kamil - along with his friend Anjoli - prevent another murder? 
 
*The thrilling new Kamil Rahman mystery, THE SPY, is available to pre-order now!* 
 
***** 
 
Praise for the Detective Kamil Rahman series: 
 
'Hugely entertaining' ANN CLEEVES 
 
'The Detective has all the ingredients for a great crime series' SUN 
 
'[Kamil is a] likeable inspector . . . We shall hear much more of him' DAILY MAIL 
 
'An elegantly constructed thriller' THE TIMES 
 
'Outstanding' SUNDAY TIMES 
 
 
Times and Sunday Times Crime Books of the Year, 2023 
The One Show guest, November 2023 
__________________________ 
About the detectives:Kamil has always wanted to be top cop. With a father who reached the position of Police Commissioner of the Calcutta police, what else could he do, other than hanker after an honourable career chasing the bad guys, just like his dad. However, the odds are stacked against him. He's a Muslim in the Met, facing overt and covert racism and he needs to be twice as good as his colleagues to make it. All of this he could cope with, if only his personal life was humming along smoothly.Anjoli is searching, but she doesn't know what for. A high-minded psychologist who is super smart, always restless and naturally empathetic, she is meticulous and often finds connections Kamil has missed. She would love to get deeper into crime solving - possibly even have a go at it full-time but she can't shake the feeling that she is an imposter in a game of let's pretend. Kamil makes her laugh, but she doesn't know why she can't make the leap. Why is she so scared of surrendering her heart to him? Does she not feel deserving of love and adoration? Or does she fear a life where she's always waiting for the other shoe to drop?

Ajay Chowdhury was the inaugural winner of the Harvill Secker–Bloody Scotland crime fiction award. He is a tech entrepreneur and theatre director who was born in India and now lives in London where he builds digital businesses, cooks experimental dishes for his wife and daughters and writes through the night. His children’s book, Ayesha and the Firefish, was published in 2016 and adapted into a musical. 
 
The Waiter, published in 2021, is the first in his critically-acclaimed crime series about Detective Kamil Rahman, an ex-policeman from Kolkata who has moved to Brick Lane in London. It is being adapted for television by Moonage Pictures. Follow-up The Cook was published in May 2022 to excellent reviews and deals with the issue of homelessness. The third book in the series – The Detective – is about government surveillance and AI. The Spy is the fourth book in the Detective Kamil Rahman series.

The Detective

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Ajay Chowdhury’s crime novels set in the East End are vivid portraits of modern life.

An entertaining story that ranges across love, murder and an intriguing family tree

A rip-roaring mystery that's engrossing from start to finish

Chowdhury brings his own expertise in modern tech to the plot, combining it with hot button history, and a biting wit. The series goes from strength to strength

[Kamil is a] likeable inspector . . . We shall hear much more of him

An elegantly constructed thriller

Outstanding

[An] enthralling new novel... Chowdhury's dazzlingly clever plot brings together the East End's history and its present incarnation as home to some of the country's most innovative technology

Dazzlingly clever plot

A rip roaring crime novel

About Ajay Chowdhury

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