Murder in Old Bombay

"Not the typical Sherlockian mystery I anticipated. The pace was a bit slow but the audiobook narrator kept me listening. Unexpectedly, it was a story about family."

"I am definitely adding this to my Re-Readables. A very similar writing style to Laurie R King and her Mary Russell series, which is another favorite. Set in India in the late 1800s, the world building is lovely, the mystery is as twisty and turny as any Sherlock Holmes fan could wish, and the characters are vivid and real. Loads of Found Family goodness as well, but be warned that it comes witha fair amount of angst too since India in the 1890s was a very volatile place with a lot of divides based on caste and cultural background. The romance and the mystery have pretty equal page time - if the Mary Russell books rate maybe a 2 on the romance scale, these books probably rate at least a 6, maybe a 7. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it is not a short novel, so a lot will depend on the readers tastes. The romance is mostly Feelings and introspection; anyone looking for secret make out sessions or spice will likely be disappointed."

"Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for letting me read and review this intriguing mystery. It was a bit different from what I've read lately and was a nice change. I enjoyed reading this historical mystery set in British India quite a bit.<br/>I loved how I felt more immersed in this novel and story. I felt like I was very much there in the British India setting and it reminded me a bit of part of The Secret Garden with the setting. It was a mystery that kept me and my mind engaged trying to figure out and keep up with what was going on. You were kept guessing for a lot of the novel as to who killed the two Framj women and what the exact motive was behind their murders. The motive behind the murders opened up a lot more of the story as well and brought in more aspects and information about the time and place they were living in.<br/>This story is about Captain Jim and how he comes across a very notable case in the newspapers that he's reading while recovering in the hospital after a battle. The case is about two women who fall to their death from a clock tower in broad daylight at the university and Captain Jim finds himself wanting to help the widower of one of the women, who believes his wife and sister didn't commit suicide. So, Captain Jim approaches the Framj family to help them investigate and discover what happened.<br/>As Captain Jim becomes involved and gets to know the Framj family even more while investigating the case, many things happen that illustrate and show the divided loyalties among the people and ends up putting himself and the Framj family in danger while investigating and asking questions.<br/>There are also topics addressed and discussed throughout such as PTSD from his being in a war, prejudice because he is part Indian/Parsee, and part White - not a full Parsee, which causes problems with the woman he loves and her family that have to be addressed. There are also characters and parts of the story dealing with slavery, human trafficking, child prostitution, and the like that happened with the war and in these kinds of times. Some parts are hard to read not because they are explicit, vulgar, or violent, but simply because it's hard to hear and read about these types of things that happened to human beings during wars and situations such as these.<br/>It was heart-wrenching at parts reading in this book and made me wish more people were loving and accepting of others instead of prejudiced and selfish. I also was joyful during other parts where things worked out despite the hardships. It was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, but then, in that way, it was similar to real life and in the end, things ended up on more of a positive note.<br/>This is worth checking out and reading especially if you like historical mysteries, but also because it makes you stop, think, and reflect on a lot. It causes some self-reflection and thinking through things to see what you can learn from this and how you and others might improve.<br/>I would recommend keeping this on your list, make sure to take a look and read it!"

"Did the two girls commit Suicide or was it Murder? "