| Abir Mukherjee | |
| Nationality: | British-Indian |
| Occupation: | Author |
| Spouse: | Sonal |
| Children: | 2 |
Abir Mukherjee (born circa 1974) is a British-Indian[1] author best known for his crime novels. He wrote the Wyndham and Banerjee series set in the British Raj era in India.
Mukherjee's parents moved from Calcutta, India to the United Kingdom before he was born.[2] He grew up in Scotland and now lives in Surrey, England with his wife (Sonal) and two sons.[3] [4]
Before beginning his writing career, Mukherjee was an accountant for 20 years.[5] In 2013, at age 39, Mukherjee learned that Lee Child did not begin writing until age 40 and was inspired to begin writing himself. He began writing A Rising Man in September of that year, partly inspired by the Telegraphs Harvill Secker Crime Writing Competition, which he won the following year. The novel was ultimately published in 2016.
Mukherjee's Wyndham & Bannerjee series is based in Raj-era India. The main protagonists are Calcutta policemen Captain Sam Wyndham and Sergeant Surendranath "Surrender-not" Bannerjee. Mukherjee has stated that this era of colonization in India intrigues him because he did not learn about it in British schooling, and the stories his parents shared about India differed significantly from what he learned in the classroom.[6]
| Year | Title | Award | Result | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | A Rising Man | Telegraph Harvill Secker Crime Writing Prize | Winner | [7] [8] [9] | |
| 2017 | CWA Gold Dagger | Shortlist | [10] | ||
| CWA Historical Dagger | Winner | [11] [12] | |||
| HWA Gold Crown Award | Shortlist | [13] | |||
| Jhalak Prize | Shortlist | [14] | |||
| 2018 | Barry Award for Best First Novel | Nominee | |||
| Edgar Award for Best Novel | Nominee | [15] | |||
| Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year | Shortlist | [16] | |||
| A Necessary Evil | CWA Gold Dagger | Shortlist | [17] | ||
| CWA Historical Dagger | Shortlist | ||||
| CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger | Longlist | [18] | |||
| Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize | Winner | [19] | |||
| 2019 | Smoke and Ashes | CWA Sapere Books Historical Dagger | Shortlist | [20] | |
| CWA Gold Dagger | Longlist | [21] | |||
| HWA Gold Crown Award | Shortlist | [22] | |||
| 2020 | Edgar Award for Best Novel | Nominee | [23] [24] | ||
| Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year | Shortlist | [25] | |||
| Death in the East | CWA Sapere Books Historical Dagger | Winner | [26] | ||
| 2021 | Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year | Shortlist | [27] | ||
| 2022 | Shadows of Men | CWA Gold Dagger | Shortlist | [28] |