The Lost Man of Bombay

Malabar House, Book 3

By: Vaseem Khan

Narrated by: Maya Saroya

Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

The third incredible novel in the highly acclaimed Malabar House series featuring Persis Wadia, India's first female police detective.

A Times Audiobook of the Week

Bombay, 1950

When the body of a white man is found frozen in the Himalayan foothills near Dehra Dun, he is christened the Ice Man by the national media. Who is he? How long has he been there? Why was he killed?

As Inspector Persis Wadia and Metropolitan Police criminalist Archie Blackfinch investigate the case in Bombay, they uncover a trail left behind by the enigmatic Ice Man - a trail leading directly into the dark heart of conspiracy.

Meanwhile, two new murders grip the city. Is there a serial killer on the loose, targeting Europeans?

Rich in atmosphere, the thrilling third chapter in the CWA Historical Dagger-winning Malabar House series pits Persis against a mystery from beyond the grave, unfolding against the backdrop of a turbulent post-colonial India, a nation struggling to redefine itself in the shadow of the Raj.

©2022 Vaseem Khan Ltd (P)2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Another great installment of Malabar House!

Greatly enjoyed this one. Best yet in the series! Though I enjoy each of them but each book builds very well upon the story layer by layer.

Khan’s best series

This series is very enjoyable. More serious and believable than the Baby Ganesh serious, which are enjoyable but rather ridiculous in several particulars. Sometimes the main character in this series is as thick as a brick but overall the books give wonderful glimpses into the time and place. The zeitgeist of post-independence, post-partition India permeates the books. The reader is very good, only a handful of words mispronounced (always irritating for me). At times she does sound congested and that can also be distracting but her voice is very pleasing and she does a good job differentiating the characters. Thanks for a great experience. Looking forward to the next one!

Another great installment

This is the third book in the series and is just as engaging as the first two. With well drawn characters and an intriguing mystery, this book will keep you hooked to the very last page. Kudos also to the narrator for the Audible version. I’m hoping the series continues.

Good start, interesting characters

By now I am hooked by the main character and want to know how her life develops. The mystery was really good from the start but I feel that the author exhausted some of the plot twist in the previous book and it was somewhat repetitive and predictable.

Excellent

I loved this book. What a refreshing change to hear the other side of India's history and what the British did. Bravo!

very interesting series

I did enjoy this book however it does drag a bit but the end is exciting, a lot of repetitive narration as each character catches up with the story.

Good mystery, great reader

I continue to enjoy this series, and I love Maya Saroya’s reading. Persis is an intriguing character although it’s a little frustrating that she doesn’t grow a bit more with each book. She is so unable to express her feelings, so emotionally handicapped by her mother’s early death and her need to prove herself in the police service, that she’s a difficult character to like. But the other characters are also good, well drawn and developed, the mysteries are complex and the writing is good.

Not the best of the series

Love his other books
But this one feels much weaker . And the performance is huge boring .

Engrossing mystery but what does Archie see in her

This book kept my attention even though I find Persis very irritating and am not particularly interested in her. What I liked was the way the many threads come together; although I had to put aside disbelief a few times, I find it hard to believe Archie can be in love with this woman who treats him rudely all the time. I can see his character wanting to work with her as a colleague for both her intelligence and pit bull methods, but as a love interest? Not unless he enjoys being toyed with. Persis' inner conflict is explained and justified, but it's still a case of one character treating another badly. It was the murder plot and the characters involved with it that kept my interest here.

Every mystery has a point leading to the resolution where the protagonist is in danger. Persis needed a more convincing justification for what happened, but the action made up for that weakness.

I recommend the book because it's both entertaining and insightful. We see the effects of British colonialism, not as a wholehearted condemnation but with a fair judgment. Reading the book, you can also trace some of today's India back to the time of the novel. Again, changes both good and bad. The action went to places I'll certainly never see.

Interesting cases but a problematic detective

Vaseem Khan has a penchant for good storytelling- no doubt about that. The murders themselves hold the reader’s attention, as they cheer Persis on in her journey to make progress in finding clues. But Persis is extremely disappointing as a character. It’s almost amusing to see that she undergoes no growth, sticking to her problematic ways of failing to communicate with those whom she loves the most, and instead, subjecting them to mistreatment and immature anger. After a while (collectively looking across the three books in the series), it’s boring and enervating. Nonetheless, I look forward to Vaseem’s next book in the series…