A review by rkw25
The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey

3.0

When I compared the two current popular Indian women detectives in the 1920s with "Murder under a Red Moon" I did not realize that Massey had this fourth book out. It feels to me like the author made a bit of a turn with this one -- 50 pages longer, the Mistry family no longer a near-perfect family, Perveen herself sharper and misstepping (though perhaps with cause related to her own and the family's circumstances), and an almost too complicated mystery. The primary case revolves around trumped-up charges against an ayah/nanny revealing women's lack of rights in the 1920s in India (not unlike some of the current situation in the US), along with tangled threads around British rule vs Indian autonomy, class and race problems, economics, and real estate. In addition to Perveen's family, Alice and Colin are back though all too briefly, and I hope Jewish Dr. Miriam Penkar shows up in future books. I also hope the author and her editors will aim for a tighter plot in the next one.