Persis Wadia in ‘Midnight at Malabar House’ is India’s first police detective and pioneering women is definitely a trope I love in my crime fiction! If you like your crime novels without forensic detail, then the following books and series may be of interest. Cosy crime isn’t a genre I read often, but I can personally recommend these!

Midnight at Malabar House (The Malabar House Series) by

It is a beautifully written exploration of Wadia's struggle to be accepted as a detective in a male-dominated culture, while navigating a country in turmoil. A thrilling murder mystery, it also wonderfully evokes a turbulent period of India's history * Daily Express *The leading character is the deftly drawn Persis Wadia, the country's first female detective. She's a wonderful creation and this is a hugely enjoyable book' ANN CLEEVES But there is no happily ever after for anyone after months of unbelievably savage bloodshed with thousands of innocent civilians slaughtered for religious sectarian reasons -- and sometimes for hidden wealth.

Vaseem Khan - Wikipedia Vaseem Khan - Wikipedia

This is historical crime fiction at its best - a compelling mix of social insight and complex plotting with a thoroughly engaging heroine. A highly promising new series' Mail on Sunday

Summary

Isabelle Grey’s series about DI Grace Fisher starting with ‘Good Girls Don’t Die’. These have the bonus (for me) of being set in Essex – my birthplace! Blatant twisting of Historical facts . The mole train line was discontinued in 1944 6yrs before the setting of this book. A/c was introduced in India by Voltas in 1954 and if she's part of a shunted and rejected team, they will be the last to get any luxury. The same goes with the jeep she gets to drive. She's part of the reject team and a woman on top she would never have gotten that jeep so easilyMax she wiuld.be given a cycle . Its 1949/50 graveyard shift to a woman?? and without a partner?? Hiw did she do the body search?Women in India, irrespective of religion/ caste, had the same treatment : downtrodden and repressed. Some may have gotten more freedom than others, but what Persis was given : even today's girls will not get it. Travelling overnight in a train to the Northwich a male companion whos not family? I wouldn't let my daughters go now unless I have a deep hatred towards them. They would be lynched within a few hrs. A beautifully complex plot and an Agatha Christie-ish denouement make for a thoroughly satisfying read, and a burning desire to see what’s next for Persis.

Midnight at Malabar House: Khan, Vaseem: 9781473685505 Midnight at Malabar House: Khan, Vaseem: 9781473685505

I am looking forward to watching Persis Wadia mature as a human and as a police officer, and I look forward to Vaseem Khan's next book in the series with a great deal of anticipation. For those of you who are familiar with Sujatta Massey's excellent Perveen Mistry historical series, give Midnight at Malabar House a try. I think you're going to like it. The stabbing of an English gentleman at a New Year's Eve party in the early hours of 1950 sounds like a Golden Age murder mystery, and Murder at Malabar House has all the suspects, twists and red herrings that we'd expect. But this is India, just after partition, and the leading character is the deftly drawn Persis Wadia, the country's first female detective. She's a wonderful creation and this is a hugely enjoyable book * Ann Cleeves * Profile". Vaseem Khan. May 2015. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016 . Retrieved 11 April 2016. I'm not an overtly patriotic person nor very religious,but claiming to be a part of a culture that one isn't and then degrade it isn't in good taste. Mr Vaseem Khan kindly refrain from writing about a country you have zero knowledge about.The second novel in the series is The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown. [12] The plot of the novel revolves around the theft of the world's most famous diamond – the Koh-i-Noor, originally mined in India before being appropriated by the British and handed to Queen Victoria during the Raj. In the novel the Crown Jewels are brought to India for a special exhibition. A daring robbery sees the Koh-i-Noor stolen and Chopra and Ganesha called in to try and recover the great diamond. She is on duty for New Year’s Eve at Malabar House, home to one of the city’s less-favoured crime units, when a report is received of the murder of a diplomat, Sir James Herriot. The death occurred in Herriot’s study while a ball he was hosting for the wealthy and well-connected was in progress downstairs. Spotlight on Vaseem Khan". University College London. 11 August 2015. Archived from the original on 28 April 2016 . Retrieved 13 April 2016.