A Murder on Malabar Hill

DON'T BE FOOLED AS I WAS !! THIS IS THE EXACT SAME AUTHOR/STORY AS HER OTHER BOOK "WIDOWS OF MALABAR HILL". Both were released in 2018 from different publishers with different titles, exact same story. I highly recommend either one of these if you haven't read her books. Just be warned, don't buy both!

Good historical fiction can both instruct and entertain the reader. Sujata Massey's new novel, "the Widows of Malabar Hill, certainly does both. Set mainly in Bombay (now Mumbai) and a bit in Calcutta (now Kolkata), the book goes back and forth between 1915 and 1921. The main character, Perveen Mistry, is the Oxford-educated daughter of a busy Bombay solicitor. She is the first female solicitor in India (the character is modeled after a real woman) and works with her father. Perveen has a failed marriage in her background and one of the interesting parts of the book involve that marriage and the machinations that went toward both the betrothal and the subsequent divorce.Perveen is tasked to help three widows of the same wealthy man, who are living in seclusion or "purdah". Their husband had died and there is much confusion and consternation over both the terms of the will and it's carrying out. A murder occurs and Perveen steps in to help solve it. Frankly, the "mystery" part of the book is the weakest; Massey writes much better about the lives of the characters, whether they are Hindu, Moslem, or Church of England, and about conditions of India under the British Raj."The Widows of Malabar Hill" is the beginning of a series. If the others in the series are as good as this first book, I'll be back for more.

Perveen Mistry, one of the first female lawyers in India, had recently joined her father’s law firm. It was Bombay, 1921 and Perveen felt justified after all she had been through, in finally achieving her dream. Mistry Law was handling the affairs of Mr Omar Farid who had not long passed, and Perveen was drawn into helping her father deal with the three widows and their children who’d been left on Farid’s death. Her suspicions were roused by certain abnormalities in the papers she was going through; Perveen needed to speak to the women herself to ascertain the truth.When Perveen discovered she was correct, she immediately felt wary of danger for the women. But it was the shock of murder on the grounds at Malabar Hill that brought danger to Perveen. What had happened to cause the murder? And would Perveen be able to locate the killer before others were in danger?A Murder at Malabar Hill is the 1st in the Perveen Mistry series by Sujata Massey, also her debut novel. Set over two timeframes – 1916 and 1921 – and mostly in Bombay, I found it to be an intriguing mystery with plenty of twists and lots of cultural influences. The support of women’s rights by Perveen and her ability and knowledge of the law gave her many advantages, also some disadvantages. I enjoyed A Murder at Malabar Hill and look forward to book 2 in the not too distant future. Recommended.

(I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of the book for For The Love of Fictional Worlds)This was a intense and delightful vintage mystery novel – I use the word “vintage” purposefully for the author Sujata Massey does a freaking ah-mazing job of working her reader’s imagination of a time in our country’s past that tends to be intense and interesting for history buffs, like moi!  Perveen Mistry is the only female practicing lawyer in 1921 Bombay – she can’t argue cases yet in the open court but definitely does her best work as a solicitor for her father’s practice.  The book at its heart is a murder mystery; but that’s not all that it is! It is a slow yet informative plot that not only hooks the reader without them knowing about it, but it also a\does a very well introduction to the focus of the story – Perveen Mistry.  Perveen Mistry honestly is DA BOMB! She is a dazzling heroine and it is difficult not to commiserate with the kind of environment she is faced with, all the while feeling that nothing much has changed, even in the 21st century! She is intelligent, feisty and gutsy yet compassionate and graceful. I couldn’t help but fall in love with her tenacity to blow through the road blocks that the society ended up oh so graciously providing her!  As a reader, You go into book expecting to love or fall into the character’s lives just so you can escape your own for a while, and that’s exactly what happens when you open this book – and the credit for this only goes to Ms. Massey for her unpretentious yet effective writing style.

Combines historical fiction and mystery. Fascinating for just about anyone. The book takes place at theend of the British Raj period. I read this author with great fascination since I have recently learned I haveEast Asian Indian heritage. Read all of this author's books. Take a look at her mystery series set in modernday Japan. The 'detective' is a American who is half caucasian and half Japanese. Her name is, I believe,is Rei Shimura and she deals in Asian antiques while struggling to make a living in Japan. Fascinating!

I wasn't just impressed by this book - I was completely blown away. Not blown away as one might after reading a heavy Booker prize nominated work or something - no, just blown away about how a very approachable and almost classical murder mystery/detective fiction/legal thriller can also be so much more than a good masala read.I've been a big fan (isn't everyone?) of the whodunnit genre growing up - and it's still my go-to area when I'm suffering a readers block or something. The old Agatha Christie type never fails to suck you in and is still the best way to spend time unwinding. But as I've grown older I've always been aware in some way of it's 'foreign-ness' and craved for something more relatable? I loved reading Anthony Horowitz recently for e.g. but an Anthony Horowitz not set in an old English village or London or LA (looking at you Three Investigators, Perry Mason etc.) is what the heart craves. To that extent Sujata Massey's Perveen Mistry series seems to have created a character & a setting which seems perfect for an Indian English-reading audience (even though she's based in the US and doesn't necessarily write for an Indian audience) and hit the ball out of the park with it.It's an intelligent book with a plot which the blurb describes in a rather straightforward manner (so I won't recap it here), but let's just say - it's a realistic plot without too many narrative liberties (well OK there is this one time where our heroine escapes from a warehouse on the harbour from a gunny bag which she's tied in, but I'll let that pass). Which is not to say it eschews complexity either.Our protagonist Perveen is not a superhero, not unrealistically smart like Sherlock Holmes but a normal person with spunk and common sense and impetuousness who makes her fair share of mistakes. The other characters are also well fleshed out, consistent and largely in sync with what you would expect in that time and age with their gender, class, caste, and race roles. I particularly liked the 'wokeness' and the extent of it - perfectly balanced between being progressive and yet being realistic, with shades of grey for everyone (e.g. Jamshedji's obsequiousness towards the British) - not hitting us in the head about how progressive the good guys are and how regressive the bad guys are.It's clearly an extensively researched book and there's been an effort to be accurate down to the button about whatever is described - not just the legal proceedings but also clothing, food, rituals and social mores and especially life in Bombay. It's very educational especially in terms of giving an uncomplicated (but also not dumbed-down) picture of Indian upper-class society in the 1910's and 1920's (yes it exists a bit of an elite microcosm, but the key characters seem aware of that), the Bombay of that age, the differences between Parsis, Muslims and Hindus etc. I've grown up in Mumbai, and I particularly enjoyed this. Good fiction is always more educational than any non-fiction I always maintain :-)Since one must have something to quibble about - perhaps the solution to the murder is a bit subtle and undercovered only towards the end (which is probably how it happens in real life). But in a whodunnit, if the information has been in front of you - it really gives you that 'wow moment' - so maybe there was a lack of a punch towards the end, more a gradual uncovering which readers are conventionally used to.But I really found very little to complain about in this book and I can't really wait to read more. I'm in fact very very pleased to have come across this series. And if I ever go to Japan - I know it's Sujata Massey's Rei Sheimura series that I will be using to learn about the land :)

A crackling mystery, really. Set in the 1920s Bombay and primarily in the Persian community, this novel is a superb read. The two strands of Parveen Mysteri's personal life n her case are perfectly blended. Once I began the book, I found myself turning one page after another until I finished it in a few hours. Unstoppable. Well written, lively and complex characters and realistic plot twists and detailed descriptions that come from a deep research make it a perfect reading for a weekend, when u can finish it off quickly, enjoying the pleasure of reading a good mystery.

Beautifully written and well plotted mystery. However, while the central crime is going to satisfy murder mystery fans, there's plenty more to this than that. A fascinating slice of life from a time long gone into a culture that's doubtless moved on since but it was this aspect of the book and its central characters that has stayed with me since I finished reading. Will be recommending to friends - even if they hate murder mysteries - because it's just really good. I'm hanging out for the next book.

4.5/5A Murder on Malabar Hill is fast paced book with great character and plot development. The book’s protagonist, Perveen Mistry, was partially inspired by India’s first two women lawyers, Cornelia Sorabji and Mithan Jamshed Lam, and this actually intrigued me buy this book. Also it’s my first read involving British rule in India. Author has done an incredible job describing pre-independence India and the conditions of women during those times. One thing I loved the most: how supportive Perveen’s family was, especially her father. I’m looking forward to read more books from this series. 🤩And also, I’d love more people read and talk about this book.

I have read the author's historical novel, The City of Palaces, and loved her pacy way of rendering a story. I also loved the sheer amount of research she uses to create the ambiance. The reason why I bought this book right away. The characters are authentic, and the city is a character in the novel as well. I have seen only the post-millennial Mumbai city, and this grand old Bombay was a pleasure to know. I read this one in one sitting, in a single day. Loved it.