"'The world is the way it is, and if you can it's better to live comfortably with it than bump along against it.'" 
 The Strangler Vine was really great. Right at the beginning, it grabs you. I especially loved how the Prologue ended: 
 "Step by step they draw closer to him, like some absurd parlor game. As they cover the last few yards he finds that, without realizing it, he has raised his arms in supplication, and is mildly disgusted by the intense desire he suddenly feels to live." 
 The book starts in 1837 Calcutta, with East India Company Army officer William Avery telling the story. He ends up unwillingly sent on a mission to locate Xavier Mountstuart, an author who vanished shortly after publishing a scandalous book about some of Calcutta's elite. Avery is young and inexperienced, and is really only on the mission in order to keep an eye on the shocking and eccentric Mr. Blake. In fact, at times Avery reminded me of a slightly more capable version of Arthur Dent, from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He isn't unintelligent, but he seems at times slow to understand things (and while I loved The Hitchhiker's Guide, I was very thankful that Avery did not go around asking everyone for tea). 
 M. J. Carter definitely did her research, but we don't receive long histories of India. The information we get is relevant to the story and is timed very nicely. M. J. Carter also used the spellings that would have been used at the time (Hindoo instead of Hindu is one example). Along with the historical accuracy, we experience the prejudice the British have against the Indians: 
 "'When you say men,' one of the planters' wives said, 'do you mean natives?'" 
 Towards the beginning of the middle of the book, the action slows down and there is a lot of "and then we traveled through more jungle." If you get bored at this point, I'd encourage you to stick with it anyway, because it picks back up again. Blake and Avery have several adventures, including a tiger hunt with a prince, several encounters with dangerous bandits, and a surprisingly secretive Company officer. The book also has several plot twists, some of which I saw coming and some that surprised me. 
 I only just found out that this is the first book in a series. I thought it was great as a stand-alone, so don't let the fact that it's a series deter you from reading it. With that said, I think I'll be picking up the sequel ASAP.