Night train to Jamalpur - Andrew Martin

North
East India, 1923. On the broiling Night Mail from Calcutta to Jamalpur,
a man is shot dead in a first class compartment. Detective Inspector
Jim Stringer was sleeping in the next compartment along. Was he the
intended target? Jim should have known that his secondment to the East
Indian Railway, with a roving brief to inspect security arrangements,
would not be the working holiday he had hoped for. The country seethes
with political and racial tension. Aside from the Jamalpur shooting,
someone is placing venomous snakes - including giant king cobras - in
the first class compartments of the railway.

Jim also has
worries on the home front: his daughter has formed a connection with a
Maharajah's son, who may in turn have a connection to Jim's incredibly
rude colleague, the bristling Major Fisher. Jim must do everything he
can to keep his family safe from harm, as he unravels the intrigues that
surround him...