The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey

 

Setting

India in 1921 was under British rule. All over the country, there were struggles to gain independence. Gandhiji had launched the Non-Cooperation movement with the aim of self-governance. It was an essentially peaceful and non-violent movement with widespread hartals, refusal to pay taxes, boycotting foreign goods, government educational institutions etc. Use of handspun fabric khadi was encouraged. King George V sent Prince of Wales on his behalf as the ambassador of the British Empire to thank India for the role it played during the First World War. Indian National Congress(INC) resolved to boycott the Prince’s visit. 

Storyline

The book follows the exploits of Parveen Mistry during Prince of Wales visit to Bombay. In the times when higher education for women was frowned upon, Parveen is one of the first female lawyers of India. She is a supporter of Indian independence. When the Prince of Wales visits Bombay, there is unrest all across Bombay leading to rioting. Parveen also is a reluctant audience to the welcoming parade for Prince. She watches it with her friend Alice Hobson-Jones at Woodburn College. When the body of a Parsi student, Freny Cuttingmaster is found on college premises, Parveen resolves to bring the guilty to justice. Freny was the same girl who had approached her a few days earlier for legal consultation. 

My Thoughts

The Bombay Prince is the third book in the Parveen Mistry series. It can be read as a stand-alone book. Parveen is shown to balance her religious and family values well with her quest to solve the mystery. Sujata Massey has given an informative insight into the Parsi customs and traditions, blending them beautifully in the storyline. The story keeps you engrossed along with delineating the social, cultural and political environment of the 1920s. Having said that, I feel The Bombay Prince does not have an as strong narrative as the first two books in the series. Parveen appears to be more cautious in this. Overall an entertaining cosy mystery that I would highly recommend. 

Rating - 4/5

Recommend - Yes

The Queen’s Spy by Clare Marchant

Setting

The book is set during the late 1500s, the Tudor period during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. She was the last monarch of the House of Tudor. English Catholics attempted to dethrone Elizabeth, a Protestant and replace her with her Catholic cousin, Queen Mary. There were numerous conspiracies and plots to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I which eventually led to the execution of Queen Mary. Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth's spymaster created a spy ring to uncover such plots and thwart the attacks. 

Storyline

The story follows two time periods 2021 and 1584. In 2021 Mathilde, a photojournalist who leads a nomadic life receives a letter regarding a property in England. After the initial hesitation, she travels to Norfolk, England where she finds out that she has inherited a house called Lutton Hall from her father. A father whom she presumed to be dead was alive all this while and was searching for her. She also meets her stepsister and niece with whom she struggles to build a relationship having spent all her life alone without any close relation. In 1584, Tom wends his way to England from France and gets hired as the queens' apothecary's assistant. When Queen's spymaster Walsingham discovers his ability to lip read, he hires him in his spy ring. 

My Thoughts

Another alternating timeline story. It was fascinating to read how the author mirrored the lives of the two protagonists from different periods- Tom and Mathilde. Both of them travelling to England from France in search of their roots and eventually finding home and family there made an interesting read. Setting an espionage thriller in Tudor times was an act of genius by the author. A deaf and mute apothecary working as a spy for Queen Elizabeth I was the frosting on the cake. It's a well-researched book where Marchant has used real people and events like Queen Elizabeth's spymaster Francis Walsingham or the Babington plot and woven her tale around them.  But what ruined it for me was the present timeline. It kept interrupting the flow and stopped me from getting completely invested in Tom's story. It also affected the pace of the story and made me rush through it to get back to the Tudor times. The premise had great potential but falls short. 

Rating - 3/5

Recommend - maybe..!

The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada

Honkaku genre in Japanese literature is like an escape room or locked room puzzle wherein all the clues are given to the reader by the writer with no surprise twists thrown in. The writer plays fair and does not try to deceive the reader. Readers are encouraged to participate in solving the mystery by applying logical skills to deduce the guilty party. It is similar to Sherlock Holmes's style of mystery-solving by using logical and analytical reasoning. 

Storyline

The Tokyo Zodiac Murders belong to this Honkaku genre. The Zodiac Murders was a 40-year-old cold case that eluded and baffled all of Japan. Heikichi Umezawa, a reclusive artist was supposedly possessed by the devil and wanted to create Azoth- a perfect woman by killing and putting together bodies of six women. For this, he had picked his own daughters and nieces. The girls were murdered and their bodies were found with body parts missing. But the inexplicable part of the mystery was the fact that Umezawa was murdered before he could put his maniacal plan into action. Most of the book is a conversation between the narrator Kazumi Ishoka and his friend Kiyoshi Mitaraia self-styled detective wherein they try to analyze the clues and the pieces of evidence uncovered over the years related to the case. 

My Thoughts 

It's a whodunit that will leave you baffled and scratching your head in wonder. As much as I tried, I was unable to figure it out. And this I think is the most confounding element of this style of writing -expect the unexpected. Despite having all the facts in front of your eyes you are sure to miss the obvious. Since most of the book is about the conversation between Kiyoshi and Kazumi, therefore at times it gets monotonous and you wish for it to get moving. The solution given in the end by Kiyoshi is very methodical with diagrams to aid the explanation. Initially, it was difficult for me to keep track of all the Japanese names. So let go and just go with the flow. A very fascinating book that you may not want to put down. 

Rating - 4/5

Recommend - A big yes for all the mystery lovers.

Mr. Churchill’s Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal

 

Setting

London in 1940 was the time when Winston Churchill was at the helm of Great Britain as the prime minister, taking over from Chamberlain. With the threat of war with Germany looming, there was an added threat from IRA. Irish Republican Army(IRA) was the revolutionary Irish seeking to unify Ireland and free Northern Ireland from British rule. IRA was responsible for a series of attacks in Britain and rumoured to have joined hands with Nazis to defeat Britain. 

Storyline

Maggie Hope, a British-American came back to Britain to sell her late grandmother's Victorian house she had recently inherited. She ends up living in the house with few other girls as housemates. David Greene, private secretary to Winston Churchill and Maggie’s good friend asks her to work as a typist for Churchill. Despite being overqualified, she accepts the offer to do her bit in wartime efforts. Maggie-a brilliant mathematician yearns to solve codes but it was a time when men were preferred over women in every sphere. Women's role was constrained to taking care of children and minding their households. So she ends up taking dictations and typing letters and speeches for Churchill. When she does some digging into her past she comes across a shocking and unexpected truth. Owing to her astuteness and sharp wits, she soon uncovers a conspiracy to assassinate Churchill. 

My Thoughts

Though the story is based during the second world war, the role of the IRA is more highlighted. It is a very straightforward story with hardly any curveball thrown. The author takes her time to develop the characters and the story is slow-moving till the halfway mark. For me, the book should have been over by 80-85%, the rest did nothing to advance the narrative. Since this is the first book in the Maggie Hope series, I think the author took the time to set the premise and tone for the rest of the series to follow. The main protagonist being a mathematician with a penchant for codebreaking, I expected better utilisation of her skill. I might give the second book in the series a try but may not go for the entire series. 

Rating - 3/5

Recommend - Maybe..

The Dying Day by Vaseem Khan

 

I picked up this book as a reprieve to save myself from getting overwhelmed with World War II fiction, as that is what I have been reading lately(and that is what my next few reads are going to be). After all, a girl needs a break and who doesn't love a good murder mystery. 

Setting 

The Dying Day is set in post-colonial, newly independent India in the bustling metropolis of Bombay. Port city of Bombay was India’s entertainment capital and also the city of dreams.

Storyline

Persis Wadia India’s first police detective is entrusted with the case of a missing manuscript, a 600-year-old copy of Dante Alighieri’s La Divina Commedia- The Divine Comedy from the Royal Asiatic Society. Seemingly stolen by the celebrated scholar John Healy who was working on a new English translation of the Divine Comedy. She uncovers a series of riddles left apparently by Healy. She is assigned to supervise another case, that of a dead white woman found on rail tracks. Both mysteries are neatly tied together in the end. 

 

My Thoughts

It is the second book in the Malabar House series by Vaseem Khan. Though there are references to the first book, it can be read as a stand-alone book. A whodunit with a headstrong female character at the helm is a book tailor-made for me. Persis Wadia first women inspector in a predominantly men’s world encounters biases at every turn which she tackles with her stubborn devil may care attitude. She has her flaws and I appreciate the fact that she is not depicted as a holier than thou character who could do nothing wrong. She is brash, at times rude and does not mince her words. She does not wish to be the flag bearer for all the women out there. She only wants to do her job to the best of her ability without being in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Persis reminds me of Parveen Mistry from Sujata Massey’s Parveen Mistry series. Both of them are Parsi and first in their respective field with Parveen being the first female solicitor of free India. The atmosphere of post-independence  India is well captured. I especially savoured the way the riddles were incorporated into the story, feels like a treasure hunt giving a feel of Da Vinci code. 

The only thing which was not needed was the freemason part which did not add anything to the story. Another thing that could have been avoided was the way characters broke into monologues giving long explanations. An irresistible page-turner which I was not able to put down. 

Star Rating - 4/5

Recommend - Yes if you love mysteries

A Death Of No Importance by Mariah Fredericks

 

Setting 

The book is set in New York in the early 1900s, just after the Gilded Age, when there was rapid economic and industrial growth. It was during this time when a new section in society emerged, that of people with new money. They had made their fortunes from railroads, steel and other industries. It was also the time when the role of women in society was confined to raising the family and throwing opulent balls. Her stepping out to work or be part of the political system was frowned upon. Women suffrage was still a point of contention among the elites.

Storyline

Jane Prescott is an intuitive and quick-witted ladies maid in New York. She serves the two daughters Louise and Charlotte of the Benchley family.

Benchley’s are new money people and are trying to carve a position for themselves in the New York society. After the murder of Norrie Newsome to whom Charlotte Benchley was engaged on the night of the announcement, Jane finds herself getting involved in mystery. Being a loyal maid to Benchley's, Jane initially wants to clear Charlotte's name but gets invested in the investigation nudged by investigative journalist Michael Behan. When the press and police were baying for the blood of anarchists, Jane delves further to figure out motive and means. She does not believe the theory of anarchists being behind the murder but reckons it to be a crime of passion or vengeance.

My Thoughts

Bearing in mind the period the book is based in, what I loved about the book was that the protagonist is a woman and that too a maid. Maids were expected to be invisible and only makes their presence felt when needed or called for. But that was also their main asset.

 “You see everything, even the things you’re not supposed to.”

“See, my theory is the people who cook the food and clean the clothes see and hear a lot more than the people they work for.”

The writing is very elucidative and the New York of the 1900s comes alive in front of your eyes. The attention to detail is brilliant. The little twist thrown in the end stumped me. I believe that this is Mariah Fredericks’ first outing in the world of adult fiction but she has not deviated much further away from Young Adult fiction. Also, the reference to Tip-the elephant towards the end was more of a distraction and didn't add anything to the narration. 

Star Rating - 3/5

Recommend - Try it if you are looking for a simple mystery with no frills!