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Persis Wadia is the first female police officer in India. She works at Malabar House, home to misfits or policemen who have made career limiting mistakes. Persis is on duty on New Year's Eve in 1949 when a call comes in to investigate the murder of a prominent British official, Sir James Herriot, during a party he is hosting. His throat has been cut in his study in a compromising position, and his trousers are missing. Turns out, he has been asked to look into atrocities associated with the Partition (i.e., the contention establishment of Pakistan, based on religious beliefs.) Midnight at Malabar House’ is set in India in 1950. For another excellent historical crime series, I can highly recommend the Captain Wyndham and Surrender-not Banerjee series by Abir Mukherjee set in the India of the 1920s. It’s definitely worth starting with ‘The Rising Man’ as the first book in this 4 book series – ‘Death in the East’ (Book 4) was published this year and my review (no spoilers) is here.
Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan | Hachette UK Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan | Hachette UK
If you like your crime novels without forensic detail, then the following books and series may be of interest. Cosy crime isn’t a genre I read often, but I can personally recommend these! This was a very enjoyable historical mystery/police procedural. Set in the first days of 1950 with the consequences of Partition still churning, Persis, the first woman police officer in her country is tasked with a complicated and politically sensitive murder investigation. Her being the first woman is a major theme here and she's inundated with obstacles along the way but of course, she persists. Her colleagues, all male, were an interesting bunch and had surprises to the very end. I liked Persis and also the insight into her personal relationships with her family. She was determined and cared to find the truth, not just any answer served up to her for expedience. I adored the family bookstore her father maintained and her deep love for him. Even her Aunt Nussie was a good character with her overbearing ways.
The tactic of "let's give the case to the least experienced detective who's sure to screw it up but then again, maybe not" is straight out of the book of classic procedural devices for Indian crime novels. It popped up a few days ago in the last book I read (The Waiter by Ajay Chowdhury) and it was so obvious as to be almost insulting. Archaeological Treasures of Uzbekistan: From Alexander the Great to the Kushan Empire” at James Simon Gallery, Berlin The mystery itself has many similarities to typical classic English stories and even includes the Christie gathering of suspects at the end reveal. Much more is going on however. Vaseem Khan uses the framework to tell a lot about the history of the time and the partition disaster. India in 1950 was still very much at odds with itself, trying to reconcile religious and political differences.
Midnight at Malabar House’ by Vaseem Khan – and other ideas! ‘Midnight at Malabar House’ by Vaseem Khan – and other ideas!
Blatant twisting of Historical facts . The mole train line was discontinued in 1944 6yrs before the setting of this book. A/c was introduced in India by Voltas in 1954 and if she's part of a shunted and rejected team, they will be the last to get any luxury. The same goes with the jeep she gets to drive. She's part of the reject team and a woman on top she would never have gotten that jeep so easilyMax she wiuld.be given a cycle . Its 1949/50 graveyard shift to a woman?? and without a partner?? Hiw did she do the body search?Women in India, irrespective of religion/ caste, had the same treatment : downtrodden and repressed. Some may have gotten more freedom than others, but what Persis was given : even today's girls will not get it. Travelling overnight in a train to the Northwich a male companion whos not family? I wouldn't let my daughters go now unless I have a deep hatred towards them. They would be lynched within a few hrs. I know that trends in writing are not unusual but the coincidences between these two series are more striking than most. 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.The leading character is the deftly drawn Persis Wadia, the country's first female detective. She's a wonderful creation and this is a hugely enjoyable book." - Ann Cleeves I love Vaseem Khan's Baby Ganesh mystery series set in Mumbai, and I was eager to see what he could do with a historical mystery, especially one involving the first female police officer in India. Midnight at Malabar House introduces a character and a time period that I have to know more about.
The Lost Man of Bombay: The thrilling new mystery from the
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. 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. As with Khan’s established Ganesh series, however, the crime under investigation provides a basis for the author to explore wider issues, and there is plenty of material here of interest: the continuing resentment against the British Raj for withholding independence for so long; the mixture of religions and beliefs thrown into a new environment after Partition; and the development of a truly home-grown culture. Much grittier than the cosy crime novels above, these writers can be relied upon to deliver brilliant police procedurals with a strong female detective. These are contemporary novels:I'm not an overtly patriotic person nor very religious,but claiming to be a part of a culture that one isn't and then degrade it isn't in good taste. Mr Vaseem Khan kindly refrain from writing about a country you have zero knowledge about. 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 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. The writing can be a little tedious or perhaps precise is a better word. I find this style sets the mood for the time and place and the era's momentous events. A bit Agatha Christie. Finally, Persis is definitely not a Parsis at all. Parsis are the most decent,courteous humble, friendly and law abiding individuals. They have a distinct way of speaking - they speak Gujrati which isn't evident anywhere. The history and legend of how they were accepted and integrated into the Gujrati society is a lovely tale which again is missing. Parsis are a very closed society- in Bombay they live in gated colonies that are called Parsi Colonies. I couldn't picture Persis as a Parsi at all. She's not even close to being an Indian woman.
Midnight at Malabar House - Fantastic Fiction Midnight at Malabar House - Fantastic Fiction
Spotlight on Vaseem Khan". University College London. 11 August 2015. Archived from the original on 28 April 2016 . Retrieved 13 April 2016. Khan, Vaseem (14 January 2016). The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 9781473612280. Archived from the original on 13 September 2017. Profile". Vaseem Khan. May 2015. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016 . Retrieved 11 April 2016.The story opens in Bombay on New Year’s Eve, 1949. Persis has been a detective at Malabar House, supposedly where all the unwanted or washed-up police end up, for six months. Top of her class at the academy, she is the only female police in India. She has pulled the midnight shift, and receives a summons to Laburnum House, residence of Sir James Herriot, found dead during his New Year’s party. 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. 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. Persis is determined to be a success in this new India, not so much for her own ambition or to honor the activist mother she lost when she was seven, but to make justice happen. She is ornery and speaks her mind too much, so it's a question whether she will be able to keep her job in the know-a-guy culture left over from colonialism. This book is the first I have read by this author and is the beginning of a new series. The central character is Persis Wadia,the fictional first female police officer in the Indian Police Service. At the outset of the story, Persis is on duty on New Years Eve in 1949. She is a member of a police unit that is comprised of officers who have been consigned to the scrap heap because of previous missteps in their career. The newly appointed Persis’ misstep is her gender only. Her appointment to the IPS has been met with both prejudice and resistance.
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