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Jessica Fellowes’ series beginning with ‘The Mitford Murders’– a series of Golden Age-style murder mysteries in which the investigations are connected to the Mitford sisters in 1920s England.
Midnight at Malabar House - Goodreads
Sometimes simplicity is so underrated. This book makes you feel the publishing house could have told the author - keep it simple. The reader can feel the eagerness of the author in creating sub plots that impose the value system of today on the past. Persis pursues the truth stubbornly & with persistence. She is hindered by her colleagues, who feel women have no place in the police service, as well as the lingering fears & prejudices of a traumatised nation. A beautifully complex plot and an Agatha Christie-ish denouement make for a thoroughly satisfying read, and a burning desire to see what's next for Persis * Observer * Lying in the heart of the Malabar house, there’s a tale of avarice,love, betrayal and newly founded India which is striving hard to clean the dark bloats of partition and imperialism. I am concerned about coincidences between this book and Sujata Massey's Perveen Mistry series of novels which were published a couple of years before Vaseem Khan's.
In 2021, the second novel Dying Day was published. Set in Bombay, 1950 again one of the world’s great treasures, a six-hundred-year-old copy of Dante’s The Divine Comedy, has been safely housed at Bombay’s Asiatic Society for over a century. But when it vanishes, together with the man charged with its care, British scholar and war hero, John Healy, the case lands on Inspector Persis Wadia’s desk. Meet the debutants: hot summer reads by new novelists". London Evening Standard. 17 July 2015. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016 . Retrieved 17 April 2016. But those of you who want 1/2 history lecture, 1/2 dry closed room top down who-dun-it with other possible procedural placements? You may like this tons more than I did. Especially if you tend to the long winded, over word copy length style of saying the same things 12 different ways. I'd read another by Khan and given that I realized when I reached the end of this that it's the beginning of a series, I suppose I will do. In 2021, Khan was awarded the Sapere Books Historical Dagger Award by the Crime Writers' Association. [9] In May 2023, Khan was elected the chair of the Crime Writers' Association. [10] Works [ edit ]
Midnight at Malabar House - Goodreads Midnight at Malabar House - Goodreads
An easy writing style which made this a compelling read, drawing on a historical time in the fledgling independent India. A note here - if you are unfamiliar with India's history, I would highly suggest reading up on the Colonialism of India by Britain and then reading up on Partition and what happened during that time and what it meant for India and its people. Because if you go in with little to no knowledge, you will be spending a LOT of time looking things up because both of those topics are vital to the story. I have read quite a few books about India, set in India or Pakistan and I still learned stuff I didn't know. So I would suggest reading something, even if it is to give yourself a refresher course via Google or Wikipedia.I enjoy the author's Baby Ganesh series, although it's lost a bit of its luster for me. (Seriously, how many books can you write starring a baby elephant?) So I was delighted to find this new series by Khan, and even happier to discover that Midnight at Malabar House is a gem of a book. The decade that Khan spent in India led to him writing The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra. Khan was offered a four-book contract by Mullholland Books, an imprint of publishers Hodder & Stoughton, for the first books in this series, referred to as the Baby Ganesh Detective Agency series. Khan keeps the narrative simple. He does not want to rush the readers towards the murderer; there is no sense of urgency to the plot. Wadia’s perspective of looking at details keep the readers engaged.
Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan | Hachette UK Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan | Hachette UK
The historical tidbit he's given and that's exactly how much of facts he's presented are irrelevant to the plot. Bibi ghar massacre and the info on Haji Ali have no relevance to the plot. it really makes no difference, whether it's included in the story or not. Haji Ali was off limits to women till as late as the 70's. Would they really allow a rich American woman to just walk in without the required dress code and smoke in the premises?? Any religion would take offence at the disrespect shown. Flushing, she cursed herself for not having considered this. The idea of appearing incompetent bothered her far more than being murdered or assaulted in the line of duty, a gruesome eventuality that Aunt Nussie predicted on a daily basis. Wadia is a very relatable, real character. The only woman among male colleagues and bosses who tell her that she does not deserve to be among them, she is plagued with doubt. Khan describes her style of investigation with an intimacy that makes the novel charming: A compelling mystery set in a fascinating period in India's tumultuous history. Inspector Persis Wadia, the India's first female detective, is gutsy, stubborn and ideally suited to navigate both the complexities of a murder in Bombay's high society and the politics of a police force that want to see her fail. A stunning start to brand new series from one of the UK's finest writers * M.W. Craven * The author's knowledge of Indian history is impressive, and he seamlessly weaves that history into an entertaining story. I enjoyed his protagonist (IMO, male writers have trouble nailing some of the angst felt by professional women, particularly those in break-out roles) and supporting characters. The pacing kept me interested, although I skimmed a bit during long prose sections. These passages were "telling, not showing," but I know enough Indian history that they might be revelatory to someone else.I would like to thank Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advance copy of Midnight at Malabar House the first novel to feature Inspector Persis Wadda, set in Bombay in 1950.
Midnight at Malabar House (The Malabar House Series) By
Archaeological Treasures of Uzbekistan: From Alexander the Great to the Kushan Empire” at James Simon Gallery, Berlin Vaseem Khan's new book is an absolute treat from start to finish. A satisfying murder mystery and a fascinating evocation of India just after Partition, it also introduces the clever, endearing (and somewhat stubborn) Detective Persis Wadia to the world. I'm already looking forward to her next case." - Antonia Hodgson New Book Announcement: “The Inscription of Things: Writing and Materiality in Early Modern China” by Thomas Kelly
This is the first in a series about the (fictional) first female police inspector in Bombay immediately after independence, in 1949-1950. I loved the story, the history, the descriptions of Bombay and rural Punjab, the strong (rather bull-headed) main character, her relationship with her father, her determination to fight against misogyny. The story is set against the turbulent period of post partition India; the country is still coming to terms with the aftermath of 300 years of British rule. The partition causes friends to become enemies, fracturing society in unexpected ways which adds to the problems faced by Persis as she investigates the death of Sir James Herriot.
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