Midnight at Malabar House: Winner of the CWA Historical Dagger and Nominated for the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year (The Malabar House Series)

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We have a new cast of characters, revolving around Persis Wadia, India’s first female police detective. The Partition was so momentous that its aftershocks are still being felt today, and the author talks about this a bit at the end of the book. Persis Wadia is the first female police officer, and to be frank, she has a huge chip on her shoulder. The reader can feel the eagerness of the author in creating sub plots that impose the value system of today on the past.

Midnight at Malabar House (The Malabar House Series) By

However, the book is far from being simply a history lesson - in Persis Wadia, we are treated to a very human and realistic character grappling admirably with a situation way beyond her control. Great characters' potential and ambiance,very good build up,but the solve and the ending were a let down.

Jessica Fellowes’ series beginning with ‘The Mitford Murders’– a series of Golden Age-style murder mysteries in which the investigations are connected to the Mitford sisters in 1920s England. Set in 1950’s India, shortly after partition, the protagonist is Persis Wadia, India’s first female detective. She does however have a few allies, including Archimedes (Archie) Blackfinch, a British criminologist. This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use.

Midnight at Malabar House (Inspector Wadia series) Midnight at Malabar House (Inspector Wadia series)

Her naïveté means that it never occurs to her that the reason why those powerful government men are content to let her head the investigation is because they are convinced that she's incapable of solving it. His granddaughter Allie is reluctantly staying with him, and the pair are together when an old car veers on to the forecourt, the driver coated head to foot in dried mud and blood.Unable to trust her fellow officers, most of whom feel women have no place in policing, she forms an uneasy alliance with Archie Blackfinch, a “criminalist” from Scotland Yard, sent to India to help the newly independent police force. Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.