A Murder at Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey

Winner of many awards, including the 2019 Mary Higgins Clark Award and 2018 Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel, I was thrilled to read about Perveen Mistry, a young aspiring lawyer who is determined to find out the truth of the murder on Malabar Hill. Sent to execute the will of Mr Omar Farid, she explains to his three widows the meaning of their having signed over their inheritance to a charity. She is worried about the future of these women living in seclusion and the future of their children. Events escalate as she investigates just what is going on and she find herself in grave danger.

The book revolves around two stories and flicks back and forwards from 1916-1917 to 1921. Both stories are equally engrossing. In one section the reader learns of Perveen's marriage and life in a strict Muslim household in Calcutta, while in the other section, the reader follows the murder on the hill in Bombay and Perveen's delving into what is going on. In Calcutta, Perveen finds that the marriage that she thought would be idyllic is not so, some of the strict customs about women and their role in society are very difficult to bear. Meanwhile in Bombay, she is not allowed to present a case to a judge, but because she is a woman is able to talk to the three widows and work out what is going on.

In the acknowledgments at the end of the book the author states that the character of Perveen Mistry is based on the two earliest women lawyers in India, and the historical detail in the story makes it a standout. I learnt much about the social life of women in India, the customs that prevailed in the 1920's, while enjoying a well written engrossing mystery. Readers who liked the Precious Ramotswe books in the No. 1 ladies' detective agency series and those by Ovidia Yu, The Frangipani Tree Mystery and The Paper bark tree mystery, will be happy to find another series with a feisty woman investigator.

Themes: Women, India - Social life and customs, Wills, Murder, Lawyers.

Pat Pledger