Ajay Chowdhury

the-cook

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The Shadow

The Spy

The Detective

The Invitation

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

The Waiter

The Cook

It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide

A real surprise... It is not just the descriptions of food that leave you hungry for more

Thrilling... This is a terrific series, a vivid portrait of the East End where a thriving economy is overshadowed by the effects of inequality

Chowdhury's portrait of multicultural London is as effective as his portrayal of the mixed feelings of his characters, who may enjoy aspects of their lives but still long for the pleasures they have left behind

Kamil and Anjali are a terrific team. Chowdhury makes the murder mystery feel like a brand-new invention. His second thriller is chockfull of authentic flavours and tasty surprises that will leave readers wanting more.

Christopher Fowler, author of the Bryant and May Mysteries

Marvellous! A vivid romp through the Londoner's London, seen through the sharp eyes of a recent arrival. The only thing that induced me to put it down was the fact that it made me so hungry...

The Cook is an ideal summer read... [a] dazzlingly clever plot

From the award-winning author of The Waiter

*As seen on The One Show* 
 
*Dead Good 14 Best Thrillers of All Time 2023* 
 
'Thrilling . . . a terrific series' Sunday Times 
 
Someone has an appetite for murder 
 
Kamil Rahman used to be a detective in Kolkata. Now he's a cook in London's East End. 
Yet trouble still knows where to find him... 
 
Kamil Rahman thought his crimefighting days were behind him. But when a woman he knows is murdered and the police arrest the most convenient suspect, he hangs up his apron and employs his detective skills once more to find the true killer. 
 
Meanwhile, restaurant manager Anjoli is volunteering with a homeless charity, where she notices a sudden troubling increase in unexplained deaths among people sleeping rough in and around Brick Lane. With the council and police uninterested, she starts an investigation of her own. 
 
Kamil and Anjoli's cases seem unrelated, but as the duo dig deeper, they discover connections that stretch from London to Lahore. Together they take on the indifference of the authorities. 
 
If the Met won't find the murderers, then they will. 
 
*A GUARDIAN BEST CRIME AND THRILLER BOOK OF 2022*

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 Guardian's best crime and thriller book of 2022 
 
From the award-winning author of the Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month The Waiter comes the second page-turning mystery starring detective-turned-cook Kamil Rahman. 
 
'A refreshing and welcome addition to the world of detective fiction' Abir Mukherjee 
______________________________________________________ 
 
Kamil Rahman used to be a detective in Kolkata. Now he's a cook in London's East End. 
Yet trouble still knows where to find him... 
 
Kamil Rahman thought his crimefighting days were behind him. But when a woman he knows is murdered and the police arrest the most convenient suspect, he hangs up his apron and employs his detective skills once more to find the true killer. 
 
Meanwhile, restaurant manager Anjoli is volunteering with a homeless charity, where she notices a sudden troubling increase in unexplained deaths among people sleeping rough in and around Brick Lane. With the council and police uninterested, she starts an investigation of her own. 
 
Kamil and Anjoli's cases seem unrelated, but as the duo dig deeper, they discover connections that stretch from London to Lahore. Together they take on the indifference of the authorities . . . If the Met won't find the murderers, then they will. 
 
 
Praise for The Waiter: 
 
'A hugely entertaining first novel' Ann Cleeves 
 
'An outstanding debut' Sunday Times Book of the Month 
 
'A rip-roaring mystery that's engrossing from start to finish... a refreshing and welcome addition to the world of detective fiction. One of my favourite reads of the year' Abir Mukherjee

The Cook

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Ajay Chowdhury

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