The Strangler Vine

"Splendid, enthralling, an exotic mystery that captivated me."  -   Bernard Cornwell 

Calcutta 1837. Young officer William Avery is tasked by his employers-the East India Company-with tracking down disgraced poet and spy Xavier Mountstuart, lost in the jungles of central India. Accompanied by the dissolute and mysterious Jeremiah Blake, Avery is sure the mission is doomed. When their search leads them into Kali-worshipping Thug territory, the pair are soon fighting for their lives but are impelled to solve the horrifying mystery behind their mission. With death and danger on every side, is it too late for them to save themselves? 

“Enthralling... The Strangler Vine is more than just a picturesque quest through exotic lands. Carter makes a subtle critique of how fact and fiction, myth and history intertwine.”  -  The Washington Post

“Totally engrossing - the sort of story that makes you forget that there are other books stacked next to your bed, waiting to be read.”  -  Michael Lewis, The New York Times Book Review

There are shades of Heart Of Darkness, sly references to Conan Doyle, that bring brilliantly to life the India of the 1830s with its urban squalor, glamorous princely courts and bazaars, and the ambiguous presence of the British overlords who have their own predatory ambitions beyond London's oversight.