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The Cook

The Cook

From the award-winning author of The Waiter

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The gripping new novel from the award-winning author of the Sunday Times Book of the Month, THE WAITER.

Kamil Rahman is a cook in a Brick Lane restaurant. But he used to be a detective back in Kolkata. And somehow trouble still knows how to find him.

When a young woman Kamil knows is murdered the police are convinced her boyfriend is the culprit. Kamil isn't so sure and feels he has no choice but to start his own investigation. Meanwhile, his friend and restaurant manager, Anjoli, is troubled by a rise in the number of homeless deaths in their local area.

The cases seem unrelated and as the duo dig deeper, discovering tentacles that stretch from Lahore to London, they find themselves in grave danger.

Together they take on the indifference of the authorities to the homeless and the casual racism that pervades the investigation of killings of Muslims - all while a supremely intelligent murderer is manipulating events to stay several steps ahead of them.

Praise for The Waiter:

'A hugely entertaining first novel, taking us from Kolkata to Brick Lane' 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

© Ajay Chowdhury 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Reviews

  • A real surprise... It is not just the descriptions of food that leave you hungry for more
    Mark Sanderson, The Times

About the author

Ajay Chowdhury

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.
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