Books

Enjoy a good murder mystery

THE Perveen Mistry Novel series by Sujata Massey, is set in Bombay, the capital of India, in the 1920s. It’s an easy, fun read, with a competent and determined female protagonist.

Perveen Mistry is Bombay’s first female lawyer. Born into the Parsi faith, she is the daughter of a prominent solicitor, Jamshedji who expects that one of his children will follow him into the legal profession. However when Perveen’s brother decides he will enter the family’s other business venture – construction, it is up to Perveen to attempt to battle the country’s restrictive traditions and try to find her place in the system.

Murder at Malabar Hill, the first novel, sees Perveen investigate a suspicious amendment to the will of a wealthy Muslim who has left behind three widows. They live in strict seclusion, unable to leave their quarters nor speak to any men apart from their husband or children, which means Perveen is well placed to be able to assist the women. After a failed love marriage, Jamshedji convinces Perveen to attend Oxford university to read law. The difficult marriage and her subsequent shame are explained in flashbacks, and while Perveen is grateful for the opportunity to practice law, it is obvious that she must constantly be on guard to prevent the police, her clients, or others in the legal profession from making her life harder than it already is. It is against this backdrop that Perveen realises she must fight for the rights of all women.

In the third novel in the series, The Bombay Prince, the city is preparing to welcome Prince Edward VIII on a four month long royal tour. Tensions are running high between the Royalists and the India Independence Movement. Perveen had planned to watch the royal procession with her friend Alice Hobson-Jones, who teaches at a college, when an 18 year old female Parsi Student is found dead in the college grounds, after seemingly falling from a second floor gallery. Perveen’s instinct tells her something isn’t right, and in a turbulent city she finds her life in danger because of her investigations.

The novels are woven throughout with details of the rich history of the colonial city, and the strict rules around family law and inheritance based on a woman’s religion. The author draws on historical details about pioneering women in India and gives us a glimpse into a complex multicultural community in the process of change. To grab your copy head to Berkelouw Books, Eumundi or order a copy from Little Shop of Soul, Cooroy.

BERKELOUW BOOKS EUMUNDI ARE GENEROUSLY GIVING AWAY A COPY OF

MURDER AT MALABAR HILL BY SUJATA MASSEY Send us an email with your name and your postal address to hello@yourlocallifestyle.com.au and you will enter. Good Luck!

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