BY ROGER WATSON

Published in 2017, this book has had a recent publicity boost and one without which I may never have come across it. It is self-published by the author Philip Tucker, which may explain its obscurity, but the author has clearly and happily decided to invest in having it advertised on the London Calling and Weekly Sceptic podcasts, both of which feature journalist and contrarian Toby Young. In this case, the publicity worked, and the reviews summarise the book very well. It is well-written, fast paced and has a great twist at the end.

Philip Tucker, according to the About the Author: ‘teaches investigation and counter-terrorism in Africa, the Middle East and Asia’. The Jasmine Sari is mainly set in Bangladesh. As a country I have never read much about and certainly never seen included in fiction, let alone visited, I was immediately interested.

The main characters are two westerners who have been invited to Bangladesh to teach at the police Staff College in Dhaka on counter terrorism. One is a policeman from London, Alex Cadman, and the other is Australian academic Samuel Kanowski. They must work together but there is some friction.

An enchanting young lady, the daughter of the director of the Staff College enters the narrative early. She is seen playing tennis at The Club where both men spend some time drinking. Kanowski also plays tennis. Jasmina or “Mina’ as she prefers to be called has followed her father into police work. We are treated to lavish images of her in tennis kit, her police uniform and, most sensually, in her sari. It is clear that both men fall head over heels in love with her. But the story is not about love rivalry. The Aussie lusts after her while Cadman shows more fatherly concern, perhaps a function of his greater age.

While teaching the students, all serving Bangladeshi police officers, it becomes apparent that there are mixed feelings amongst them towards their former colonial masters. Specifically, they learn about what they would describe as a terrorist incident but which some of the students clearly consider part of their fight for freedom from the British. The incident involved a female suicide bomber who attacked a British club, the epitome of exclusive colonialism with its ‘dogs and Indians not allowed’ policy, but only killed one innocent British woman. The parallels between the Indian Republican Army and the Irish Republican Army (both referred to as the ‘IRA”) are not lost on the class, or on the lecturers.

Before leaving Dhaka to return to London, Cadman meets and falls in love with Lee, an American widow working in Dhaka. Written from the male gaze, we are again treated to lavish descriptions of her beauty and seduction of Cadman. Thankfully, we are spared any of the ‘squelching noises’ often associated with sex scenes. In fact, there are no sex scenes; these are left where they should be left: in the bedroom. For this, the author is to be commended.

The action moves briefly to London where Cadman returns to resume his work in counter-terrorism. He is delighted to hear from Mina that she is in London, but the meeting is soured by the presence of her cousin, who is chaperoning her. She appears to have adopted Muslim style female dress and her cousin comes across as a Muslim fundamentalist. They part on bad terms. Cadman is then even more delighted when Lee turns up in London and it is clear that they have become a couple.

Our two main characters return to Dhaka to teach where they are reunited with the two women. Cadman happily with Lee and Kanowski unhappily with Mina. The coldness between the latter two is obvious and Cadman strongly suspects that Kanowski seduced Mina on their last visit. Cadman meets Mina socially several times to try to get to the bottom of the situation but encounters a very confused mix of bitterness—against Kanowski and the former British colonialists—but also apology for bad behaviour towards him. One light relief is that she has assumed the sari again and we are treated to glimpses of bare midriff and her contours pressed against Cadman as she greets and departs him with a hug.

The action progresses via further visits to the Staff College to teach while Cadman becomes aware of an imminent terrorist threat in Dhaka. The pair are caught up in an incident during a street protest where their car is wrecked, and they are doused with petrol. Both escape with their lives, but Cadman glimpses a familiar face among the protesters.

As the novel moves towards its climax, it is clear that something catastrophic is about to occur and that the perpetrator will be a surprise. The action converges, in a page turning finale, on The Club where Kanowski is drinking beer by the pool on the roof bar and Lee is heading to meet Mina. Suffice to say, the ending leaves you wondering where you can find more books by the same author. And you can; he has also written—next up on my Kindle—An Englishman in Terror.

The Jasmine Sari by Philip Tucker is available on Amazon.

Roger Watson is a Registered Nurse and Editor-in-Chief of Nurse Education in Practice.