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t4bi's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
nicovreeland's review
3.0
The setting is great, the mystery is pretty good, the style is just okay, and the main character is awful.
She’s boring and often downright mean. She constantly sucks up to her superiors and treats her protégée horribly. She’s the kind of person who refuses to follow her heart when there’s the slightest chance there might be a slightly negative consequence.
It makes it a real drag to follow her through the dry details and office politics that make up 95% of this book.
And it makes me much more likely to pick nits with an otherwise nicely constructed mystery. For example: one thing that holds up a criminal conspiracy for years and years is that they can’t manage to decode a Caesar cipher without the key. In reality, decoding a Caesar cipher without a key is a game you play with children to teach them about cryptography. There literally used to be a game called Cryptoquip next to the crossword in the paper that was this exact thing.
She’s boring and often downright mean. She constantly sucks up to her superiors and treats her protégée horribly. She’s the kind of person who refuses to follow her heart when there’s the slightest chance there might be a slightly negative consequence.
It makes it a real drag to follow her through the dry details and office politics that make up 95% of this book.
And it makes me much more likely to pick nits with an otherwise nicely constructed mystery. For example: one thing that holds up a criminal conspiracy for years and years is that they can’t manage to decode a Caesar cipher without the key. In reality, decoding a Caesar cipher without a key is a game you play with children to teach them about cryptography. There literally used to be a game called Cryptoquip next to the crossword in the paper that was this exact thing.
monnibo's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
nicjohnston's review against another edition
5.0
5*. I loved it! The Lost Man of Bombay (which I have also seen titled in advanced copies as The Lost Man of Debra Dun) is the 3rd in Vaseem Khan’s brilliant Malabar House series. We rejoin Persis, India’s first female police woman who took up her role as the clock struck on Indian independence and partition. This series is a pre-order must for me.
In a cave in the mountains, the body of an unidentified European man is found, quickly dubbed the Ice Man by the press. Meanwhile in Bombay a couple are murdered while sleeping in their bed, the woman being the daughter of a prominent politician. As the body count mounts, the seemingly unrelated cases land on the desk of Persis. Dogged by her sexist colleagues but determined to find the answers, Persis had to unlock a host of cyphers and a decade long mystery to draw the strings together.
The Lost Man of Bombay would work well as a stand alone. However, revisiting Persis, her family and her colleagues (notably Archie the awkward British forensic policeman) is an absolute joy. This is the second book in the series to include cyphers and to draw on inspiration from real events which leads to a brilliantly plotted story. The pacing, the protagonists and the sense of place are all superb. I would highly recommend this book and those which go before it.
With huge thanks to Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley for an advance copy.
In a cave in the mountains, the body of an unidentified European man is found, quickly dubbed the Ice Man by the press. Meanwhile in Bombay a couple are murdered while sleeping in their bed, the woman being the daughter of a prominent politician. As the body count mounts, the seemingly unrelated cases land on the desk of Persis. Dogged by her sexist colleagues but determined to find the answers, Persis had to unlock a host of cyphers and a decade long mystery to draw the strings together.
The Lost Man of Bombay would work well as a stand alone. However, revisiting Persis, her family and her colleagues (notably Archie the awkward British forensic policeman) is an absolute joy. This is the second book in the series to include cyphers and to draw on inspiration from real events which leads to a brilliantly plotted story. The pacing, the protagonists and the sense of place are all superb. I would highly recommend this book and those which go before it.
With huge thanks to Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley for an advance copy.
nicjohnston's review
5.0
5*. I loved it! The Lost Man of Bombay (which I have also seen titled in advanced copies as The Lost Man of Debra Dun) is the 3rd in Vaseem Khan’s brilliant Malabar House series. We rejoin Persis, India’s first female police woman who took up her role as the clock struck on Indian independence and partition. This series is a pre-order must for me.
In a cave in the mountains, the body of an unidentified European man is found, quickly dubbed the Ice Man by the press. Meanwhile in Bombay a couple are murdered while sleeping in their bed, the woman being the daughter of a prominent politician. As the body count mounts, the seemingly unrelated cases land on the desk of Persis. Dogged by her sexist colleagues but determined to find the answers, Persis had to unlock a host of cyphers and a decade long mystery to draw the strings together.
The Lost Man of Bombay would work well as a stand alone. However, revisiting Persis, her family and her colleagues (notably Archie the awkward British forensic policeman) is an absolute joy. This is the second book in the series to include cyphers and to draw on inspiration from real events which leads to a brilliantly plotted story. The pacing, the protagonists and the sense of place are all superb. I would highly recommend this book and those which go before it.
With huge thanks to Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley for an advance copy.
In a cave in the mountains, the body of an unidentified European man is found, quickly dubbed the Ice Man by the press. Meanwhile in Bombay a couple are murdered while sleeping in their bed, the woman being the daughter of a prominent politician. As the body count mounts, the seemingly unrelated cases land on the desk of Persis. Dogged by her sexist colleagues but determined to find the answers, Persis had to unlock a host of cyphers and a decade long mystery to draw the strings together.
The Lost Man of Bombay would work well as a stand alone. However, revisiting Persis, her family and her colleagues (notably Archie the awkward British forensic policeman) is an absolute joy. This is the second book in the series to include cyphers and to draw on inspiration from real events which leads to a brilliantly plotted story. The pacing, the protagonists and the sense of place are all superb. I would highly recommend this book and those which go before it.
With huge thanks to Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley for an advance copy.
amreetkaur98's review against another edition
4.0
A great classic thriller, set against the rich backdrop of India, post British Raj. Well written characters, with subtleties in character. The only things that detract from the book are the almost farcical portrayals of honest and committed Indian police, and how pro-Gandhi propaganda is carefully peppered throughout. Depictions of life post Partition is skewed, and largely fictional. Albeit, this is a work of fiction so I’ll let it pass! It’s a good read, if you can bear to ignore the underlying socio-political agenda.
bookish79's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
nikica_k's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
vampirefwoodstock's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
emilyack91's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25