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A monthly discussion on crime novels featuring sleuths, quirky characters and homey communities. This month's novel is A Disappearance in Fiji by Nilima Rao. Set in 1914, Sergeant Akal Singh investigates a missing indentured Indian woman from a sugarcane plantation. Fiji's economy depends on the already-controversial indentured servitude system; a high-profile case like this could imbalance the fragile colony. But as soon as Akal arrives on the plantation, he identifies several troubling inconsistencies in the plantation owners' stories, and it seems there is more to this disappearance than meets the eye.