The Widows of Malabar Hill

385 pages

English language

Published Aug. 6, 2018 by Soho Crime.

ISBN:: 978-1-61695-778-0
OCLC Number:: 983148226
ASIN:: B07226BHDG
Audible ASIN:: B07891YH2R
Goodreads:: 35133064

(6 reviews)

"Introducing an extraordinary female lawyer-sleuth in a new historical series set in 1920s Bombay. Perveen Mistry, the daughter of a respected Zoroastrian family, has just joined her father's law firm, becoming one of the first female lawyers in India. Armed with a law degree from Oxford, Perveen also has a tragic personal history that makes her especially devoted to championing and protecting women's legal rights. Mistry Law has been appointed to execute the will of Mr. Omar Farid, a wealthy Muslim mill owner who has left three widows behind. But as Perveen is going through the paperwork, she notices something strange: all three of the wives have signed over their full inheritance to a charity. What will they live on if they forfeit what their husband left them? Perveen is suspicious, especially since one of the widows has signed her form with an X--meaning she probably couldn't even read the …

"Introducing an extraordinary female lawyer-sleuth in a new historical series set in 1920s Bombay. Perveen Mistry, the daughter of a respected Zoroastrian family, has just joined her father's law firm, becoming one of the first female lawyers in India. Armed with a law degree from Oxford, Perveen also has a tragic personal history that makes her especially devoted to championing and protecting women's legal rights. Mistry Law has been appointed to execute the will of Mr. Omar Farid, a wealthy Muslim mill owner who has left three widows behind. But as Perveen is going through the paperwork, she notices something strange: all three of the wives have signed over their full inheritance to a charity. What will they live on if they forfeit what their husband left them? Perveen is suspicious, especially since one of the widows has signed her form with an X--meaning she probably couldn't even read the document. The Farid widows live in full purdah--in strict seclusion, never leaving the women's quarters or speaking to any men. Are they being taken advantage of by an unscrupulous guardian? Perveen tries to investigate, and realizes her instincts about the will were correct when tensions escalate to murder. Now it is her responsibility to figure out what really happened on Malabar Hill, and to ensure that no innocent women or children are in further danger."--

1 edition

urbaer reviewed The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey

Review of 'The widows of Malabar Hill' on 'GoodReads'

3 stars

Well, three and a half let's say.

I like the setting and I like the main and supporting characters. The setting not only comes with tensions between castes, between the English and Indians but also with the complications of the police and legal systems in a society with various religious practices. And the author does a wonderful job of making this very clear and easy to understand.

Where it falls down for me is in the pacing and the mystery itself. I know I complain about this a fair bit, but at some point in a book if I have to ask myself "wasn't this supposed to be a murder mystery" and there's no corpse discovered, then there's a good chance I won't finish the book. I did have to ask myself that question, but because of the setting I hung on in there.

And part of the reasons for …

Well, three and a half let's say.

I like the setting and I like the main and supporting characters. The setting not only comes with tensions between castes, between the English and Indians but also with the complications of the police and legal systems in a society with various religious practices. And the author does a wonderful job of making this very clear and easy to understand.

Where it falls down for me is in the pacing and the mystery itself. I know I complain about this a fair bit, but at some point in a book if I have to ask myself "wasn't this supposed to be a murder mystery" and there's no corpse discovered, then there's a good chance I won't finish the book. I did have to ask myself that question, but because of the setting I hung on in there.

And part of the reasons for this was the constant flashbacks to Perveen's life before working for her father. Some of it is necessary, but it feels that it would have been nicer if we learnt more about her throughout the series. On the positive side, I guess there won't be too many flashbacks in the next book (I hope?).

In any case the mystery feels like it's solved mostly by an info dump that someone gives her near the very end of the book and so pfft... Anyway, hopefully the next book is better?