M. J. Carter Books

Set in Calcutta during 1837, the narrative follows William Avery, a struggling junior officer in the East India Company, tasked with locating the missing Scottish author Xavier Mountstuart. Paired with the enigmatic Jeremiah Blake, their contrasting personalities create tension as they navigate a perilous search filled with mysteries and dangers. As Avery confronts the harsh realities of their quest, he discovers unsettling truths that challenge his beliefs and threaten his life, pushing him to confront the complexities of colonial India.

Wonderful . . . the whodunit plot takes in celebrity chefs, extraordinary cuisine, international diplomacy and and Victorian political shenanigans. The Devil's Feast proves to be a sumptuous treat. The Times

t's 1841, and something very strange is going on in the back streets of London. There has been a series of dreadful murders in the slums of the printing district, which the police mysteriously refuse to investigate, yet the culprit must be caught before he kills again. Three years after we left them at the close of The Strangler Vine, and in very different circumstances, Blake and Avery find themselves reunited in a race against time to find and stop the murderer.