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jhbandcats's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Tl;dr - Read The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey instead.
This is the third in the Malabar House series and I doubt I’ll read the fourth. I found the books so frustrating as detailed in my reviews of the first two books. At least I’ve gotten used to the occasional history lesson that never seemed to fit.
I can understand why any Indian would be furious - at the very least resentful - of the way the British Empire stomped all over their country, murdering and stealing in the name of Queen Victoria, et al. But I feel it would make a stronger point if it were described with more subtlety.
The good part:
~Only one cipher this time, and it made sense within the story.
The bad parts:
~Persis is so angry and miserable that she’s unfailingly rude and sometimes just mean. There’s no arc to her personality.
~I’ve been waiting to learn exactly HOW her father gets himself and his wheelchair up and down the stairs from the bookstore to the living quarters above. Still no clue.
~Persis behaves in ways that are beyond rash; they just don’t make sense. She keeps going to places after dark when it wouldn’t matter if she just waited till the next morning
~The identity of the bad guy came out of left field - completely illogical.
~The title of the second book made no sense; the title and cover design of this book made no sense. I know an author isn’t usually given much say in the cover, but they do write the titles, don’t they?
I was hopeful because the author is pals with Abir Mukherjee, author of the Wyndam & Banerjee mysteries which I love. I kept thinking these books were bound to get better because Mukherjee’s advice was bound to rub off on the author. No, I’ve given up hope. If you want an excellent series on a strong, pioneering Parsee woman, read Sujata Massey’s Perveen Mistry mysteries.
This is the third in the Malabar House series and I doubt I’ll read the fourth. I found the books so frustrating as detailed in my reviews of the first two books. At least I’ve gotten used to the occasional history lesson that never seemed to fit.
I can understand why any Indian would be furious - at the very least resentful - of the way the British Empire stomped all over their country, murdering and stealing in the name of Queen Victoria, et al. But I feel it would make a stronger point if it were described with more subtlety.
The good part:
~Only one cipher this time, and it made sense within the story.
The bad parts:
~Persis is so angry and miserable that she’s unfailingly rude and sometimes just mean. There’s no arc to her personality.
~I’ve been waiting to learn exactly HOW her father gets himself and his wheelchair up and down the stairs from the bookstore to the living quarters above. Still no clue.
~Persis behaves in ways that are beyond rash; they just don’t make sense. She keeps going to places after dark when it wouldn’t matter if she just waited till the next morning
~The identity of the bad guy came out of left field - completely illogical.
~The title of the second book made no sense; the title and cover design of this book made no sense. I know an author isn’t usually given much say in the cover, but they do write the titles, don’t they?
I was hopeful because the author is pals with Abir Mukherjee, author of the Wyndam & Banerjee mysteries which I love. I kept thinking these books were bound to get better because Mukherjee’s advice was bound to rub off on the author. No, I’ve given up hope. If you want an excellent series on a strong, pioneering Parsee woman, read Sujata Massey’s Perveen Mistry mysteries.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Classism, Colonisation, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, and Religious bigotry
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