Midnight at Malabar House

The Malabar House Series, Book 1

De: Vaseem Khan

Narrado por: Maya Saroya

Bombay, New Year's Eve, 1949

As India celebrates the arrival of a momentous new decade, Inspector Persis Wadia stands vigil in the basement of Malabar House, home to the city's most unwanted unit of police officers. Six months after joining the force she remains India's first female police detective, mistrusted, sidelined and now consigned to the midnight shift.

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.

As 1950 dawns and India prepares to become the world's largest republic, Persis, accompanied by Scotland Yard criminalist Archie Blackfinch, finds herself investigating a case that is becoming more political by the second. Navigating a country and society in turmoil, Persis, smart, stubborn and untested in the crucible of male hostility that surrounds her, must find a way to solve the murder - whatever the cost.

©2020 Vaseem Khan Limited (P)2020 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Interesting

Dislike the fact that you are required to leave a written 15 word review before being able to post. Won’t review any books in future!

Excelle

Excellent historical fictional novel. I can't wait to start the second book in this series

Loved the history woven into the story!

The writing is clunky. But the story of India, an ancient civilization on the verge of independence, is fascinating. I learned a lot about the partition in 1947. Loved that.

Thin story

The characters are very sparsely drawn the plot is just a plot. Also marred by the beginnings of words being cut off.

An excellent start to a new series

I absolutely love the Baby Ganesh series and when I finished it I immediately went to this new one. I would say it's an excellent start for a series, though I do feel like the ending was a bit out of left field, hinted at but it could have been more firmly interwoven into the story I think throughout. I really like the characters though and the historical context. Also of course as a woman I appreciate the main character and her being the first female police inspector in India and what that would mean.

A really good interesting tale. I loved the hero.

Good read. Good mystery. Great characters. I will read more by this author. Give it a try.

I love colonial India tales and mysteries but …

While the plot line was well planned, the story was just too long ( and over explained) to keep my interest. If this had been a book, I would have jumped to the end half way thru. My strongest criticism, thou, is for the central character. She is just too strident and one dimensional to be believed; she could do with some needle humor or even just a pinch more tenderness.
I think this author is still trying to find his footing. He went from the silliness of the cozy mysteries involving a baby elephant sidekick (how many plots twists can you use with this constraint) to an overly involved book with too many subplots and cardboard characters without the enjoyment of all those lovely little everyday life vignettes I so enjoyed in his elephant series.

Very solid and informative

Aside from quite solid plot with a good number of red herrings and a cute romantic line, it gives insides in Indian life in mid-20 century.

Malabar House

prefer the Chopra books. not sure I will order more of this series. Have listened to all the Chopra books. hope more in that series

Feminist Fiction from a Male Author

I’ve read and enjoyed Vaseem Kahn’s previous novels. This newest story about a female in the Indian Police Force seemed forced. It was difficult to follow the historical background which I usually enjoy learning more about from this author. There were too many characters with only a small storyline. I just didn’t connect with Mr. Kahn’s feminine protagonist. I finished the story but was grateful when it was over.