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Midnight at Malabar House: Winner of the CWA Historical Dagger and Nominated for the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year (The Malabar House Series)

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The main thing that makes Persis such a fascinating character is her ironclad sense of morality, her belief in the new India, and her youth. She has the pig-headed righteousness of youth, convinced that she's always right, convinced that her way is the moral-- and only-- way. She doesn't have a frivolous molecule in her body, and she certainly didn't inherit a humor gene. Persis could be an obnoxious character, but she's not. Her naïveté means that it never occurs to her that the reason why those powerful government men are content to let her head the investigation is because they are convinced that she's incapable of solving it. She's a mere woman after all! As she flings herself at one obstacle after another, we see that some of those sharp edges of hers are going to be worn down with time.

Midnight at Malabar House (Inspector Wadia series) Midnight at Malabar House (Inspector Wadia series)

I can highly recommend ‘Evil Things’ by Katja Ivar– her heroine, Inspector Hella Mauzer, is the first woman to be accepted into Helsinki’s Homicide Unit in 1940s Finland. The review is here. And so, when the phone rings to report the murder of prominent English diplomat Sir James Herriot, the country’s most sensational case falls into her lap. I am looking forward to watching Persis Wadia mature as a human and as a police officer, and I look forward to Vaseem Khan's next book in the series with a great deal of anticipation. For those of you who are familiar with Sujatta Massey's excellent Perveen Mistry historical series, give Midnight at Malabar House a try. I think you're going to like it. This is historical crime fiction at its best - a compelling mix of social insight and complex plotting with a thoroughly engaging heroine. A highly promising new series * Mail on Sunday *

Review

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.

Midnight at Malabar House - Fantastic Fiction Midnight at Malabar House - Fantastic Fiction

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 ] Also due out on 20th August is the brilliant ‘Midnight at Malabar House’ by Vaseem Khan – the final book in my week of 20th August releases. I really hope this book marks the start of a new series by Vaseem Khan. It's a great story and one book featuring the indefatigable and charming Inspector Wadia is simply not enough! A most enjoyable, complex mid century crime thriller set in Mumbai and surrounding areas. Having lived there myself I found the telling of the history fascinating. Vaseem grew up in England but spent many years working in India.Wadia eventually establishes several lines of enquiry. Herriot was investigating atrocities during Partition, about which plenty of people have matters to conceal. His assumed wealth is found to be illusory, something his business partner might have resented. His missing trousers, when found, hint at some sexual or romantic liaison which might have been a cause for jealousy. Those who have enjoyed the Baby Ganesh Agency novels will be interested to hear of a new series by author Vaseem Khan, again set in Bombay, but at an earlier date. We have a new cast of characters, revolving around Persis Wadia, India’s first female police detective. 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. 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. Mr. Khan definitely doesn't know Mumbai/Bombay. The four streets he's mentioned still exist so no research needed.

Midnight at Malabar House: The Malabar House Series, Book 1

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. Isabelle Grey’s series about DI Grace Fisher starting with ‘Good Girls Don’t Die’. These have the bonus (for me) of being set in Essex – my birthplace! 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 CleevesWadia 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: Bookworm, Mum and English teacher. Resident of Cheshire in the rainy north of England but an Essex girl at heart and by birth. The plot is a direct retelling of a 90's Bollywood hit film Sarfarosh starring Amir Khan and Sonali Bendre. In the movie, the culprit is a Muslim, whereas here he's a Hindu. 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 | Vaseem Khan Midnight at Malabar House | Vaseem Khan

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!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. An intriguing mystery with a strong female protagonist who’s introvert, bookish and owns a grumpy cat (makes an ideal protagonist of course). The striking fact about her is that she’s no ordinary being, but the first woman IPS officer with some great shooting skills. Knowing much less about Indian history and this period in particular, you'll probably be apt to like this far more than I did. The case itself holds several good twists but it really becomes too convoluted and also rather easy to decipher at the same time. While there are way too many characters running completely on feelings, sacrifice, passion and not just plain greed to make it at all probable for their placements.

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