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Fiction. Mystery. Historical Fiction. HTML:The highly anticipated follow-up to the critically acclaimed novel The Widows of Malabar Hill. India, 1922: It is rainy season in the lush, remote Sahyadri mountains, where the princely state of Satapur is tucked away. A curse seems to have fallen upon Satapur’s royal family, whose maharaja died of a sudden illness shortly before his teenage son was struck down in a tragic hunting accident. The state is now ruled by an agent of the British Raj on behalf of Satapur’s two maharanis, the dowager queen and her daughter-in-law. The royal ladies are in a dispute over the education of the young crown prince, and a lawyer’s counsel is required. However, the maharanis live in purdah and do not speak to men. Just one person can help them: Perveen Mistry, Bombay’s only female lawyer. Perveen is determined to bring peace to the royal house and make a sound recommendation for the young prince’s future, but she arrives to find that the Satapur palace is full of cold-blooded power plays and ancient vendettas. Too late, she realizes she has walked into a trap. But whose? And how can she protect the royal children from the palace’s deadly curse?… (more)
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But what Mistry expects to be a somewhat straightforward job ends up being anything but that. Poison, mysterious deaths and disappearances and the shadow of questions about what DID happen to the previous young maharaja, cause her uncertainty to mount. What's really at stake here?
This is the second book in this series, and it's a solid addition even though I found the setting (the remote Satapur) a bit too limiting for my taste. Mistry's India is a changing world, and in this case, she goes back in time and is trapped in a world of characters who seem to occupy some very specific roles in her novel. I almost expected a villain to twirl his moustaches. I had hoped for something even more interesting than the debut of the series, "The Widows of Malabar Hill", but this didn't grip me quite as much. What does remain compelling is that the book is written from the POV of a character who is part of India (Perveen is a "native") but who is never really part of any of the worlds that she brushes against. She's a woman in a man's world; a Jain in a world dominated by Hindus and Buddhists; university-educated in England after returning to India; married, but not really (it's complicated -- read book #1...) Traditional, but breaking the mold.
So, it's Perveen Mistry's character, rather than the mystery itself that kept me reading and that will keep me interested in this latest series by Sujata Massey (whose Rei Shimura novels are fabulous...)
I received an advance e-galley from the publisher via Edelweiss, but my views and opinions are my own.
Massey is
In many ways, Satapur mirrors the rest of India. India is beginning to fight for its independence. Satapur has an old palace as well as a new palace which merges with the old to form an uneasy whole. In this divided palace live two maharanis: the dowager who refuses to relinquish her power, and the new who wants her son to have the sort of education that will help him guide his state into a brighter future.
Perveen has her work cut out for her. Somehow she has to remain true to herself while moving amongst the often overweening British, various religious factions, and dozens of royal protocols. It's not easy. There are many loathsome undercurrents simmering away in the palace. There are eyes and ears everywhere. How can she decide whom to trust?
The Satapur Moonstone immerses readers in a different world. The story is claustrophobic, its mood ominous, and it has the most delicious sense of suspense. It's not necessary to read The Widows of Malabar Hill before undertaking The Satapur Moonstone, but why deny yourself the pleasure of experiencing two excellent novels? Needless to say, I am eagerly awaiting the third book!
This the second mystery starring Purveen Mistry, a female Indian lawyer practicing in Bombay in 1921. (If you have not read the first, you might want to check it out first, so you know the backstory.) Purveen has been asked to determine if the children of a
Several mysterious incidents come to light as Purveen and an agent for the British Empire join forces to untangle the intricacies of Satapur’s royal aristocracy. Several deaths and more than several possible culprits appear along the way. Massey’s care with the cultural differences observed by the various religions, political entities, and Indian versus British desires become part of the mystery. A bit of romance may even be hinted at if this entertaining series continues – and I hope it does.
Well written with strong characters and intricate plotting make this novel a great addition to the genre.
4 of 5 stars
This second installment in the Perveen Mistry series was my introduction to the wonderful character of plucky intelligent Perveen Mistry. It's 1922; she's Bombay's only female lawyer and working in her father's law
Author Sujata Massey has really done her homework. I was thoroughly transported to the lush Sahyadri mountains of 1922. The odor of rotting leaves, the tangy richness of Indian cuisine, the sumptuous feel of silk sari fabrics, visions of slippery muddy walks and the sounds of crickets and small animals scrounging around the underbrush all bring the scene to life. There is also strong historical research executed to deliver this rich story. The sexual tension between Colin, the English agent overseeing Indian/English relationships in the western Kolhapur Agency and Perveen is palpable yet tastefully chaste. (Great fodder for future installments.) I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of, "The Widows of Malabar Hill", the first book in this series and look forward, with much anticipation, to future installments in this delightful series.
Synopsis (from book's dust jacket):
India, 1922: It is rainy season in the lush, remote Sahyadri mountains, where the princely state of Satapur is tucked away. A curse seems to have fallen upon Satapur’s royal family, whose maharaja died of a sudden illness shortly before his teenage son was struck down in a tragic hunting accident. The state is now ruled by an agent of the British Raj on behalf of Satapur’s two maharanis, the dowager queen and her daughter-in-law.
The royal ladies are in a dispute over the education of the young crown prince, and a lawyer’s counsel is required. However, the maharanis live in purdah and do not speak to men. Just one person can help them: Perveen Mistry, Bombay’s only female lawyer. Perveen is determined to bring peace to the royal house and make a sound recommendation for the young prince’s future, but she arrives to find that the Satapur palace is full of cold-blooded power plays and ancient vendettas. Too late, she realizes she has walked into a trap. But whose? And how can she protect the royal children from the palace’s deadly curse?
Temporarily acting as an agent of the
Purveen has a knack for finding herself in the middle of intrigue, and in The Satapur Moonstone she quickly comes to agree that the life of the crown prince is at risk from someone in the palace. The mystery itself works well, and while it does build to an intense conclusion where Purveen finds her own life is at risk, I felt the pacing was off, with a very slow start.
Purveen is definitely out of her comfort zone - in the middle of the jungle, in the company of the local agent, Colin Sandringham, and among the acrimonious atmosphere of the palace - though she generally proves to be as dutiful and capable as ever, and I did think that perhaps at times she made some decisions that weren’t really in character. I found her unexpected connection with Colin to be quite intriguing and I’ll be interested to see if Massey builds on that in subsequent books.
As in A Murder at Malabar Hill, I found the social, political and cultural details of life in 1920’s India fascinating. The setting is a major strength of the novel, with the Satapur palace, made up of old and new and divided between the Maharini’s, reflecting the struggle of India between tradition and modernity, under British rule.
I enjoyed The Satapur Moonstone as much as I did Massey’s first book. Purveen is an appealing character, and the unique period and culture enrich the well-crafted storytelling. I hope the series continues
They will not have the same objection to Perveen Mistry because she is female and she is a lawyer. Perveen's father, head of their legal firm in Bombay, thinks the journey to Satapur will be dangerous, and he is not keen for her to take the task on. Perveen on the other hand sees the commission as a great opportunity to branch out on her own. She is to travel to the British circuit house to meet the local agent by palanquin, and then go on to the Satapur palace to meet with the maharanis.
I was impressed by the evident research undertaken by the author, and feeling of authenticity and depth of historical background to the story. The characters are well fleshed out, and it is apparent that Perveen is not going to find her task an easy one. Here is India 100 years ago, Gandhiji is a young man and is admired by Perveen, and independence is a long way off.
Well worth reading.
This second installment in the Perveen Mistry series has Perveen traveling to Satapur in the remote Sahyadri mountains to act as a mediator between a widowed mother and her mother-in-law on behalf of a young crown prince.
The
When she arrives, after an uncomfortable journey, she finds things are not nearly as straightforward as she’s been led to believe. As it turns out, there are more serious concerns than the education of the crown prince.
Palace intrigue places Perveen in an untenable situation and her focus shifts to finding a way to protect the royal children, who appear to be in grave danger…
This is a well thought out, carefully plotted mystery. I love Perveen! She’s smart, very brave, but also very human and likable. She’s very ahead of her time, but must work within the confines of Indian law in the 1920s.
She doesn’t always get it right, and makes some amateur sleuthing mistakes at times, but I thought that made her character more realistic.
The author also does a fantastic job with time, place, and with the recreation of the political atmosphere of the time, describing the landscape and scenery, food, and dress so vividly it was like I was there.
I love palace intrigue, so the mystery was right up my alley, too. The suspense builds slowly at times, but the plot kept my mind working constantly. I was still completely blindsided by a stunning revelation that ratcheted up the tension considerably!
Overall, I think this series is only going to get better. Perveen is an outstanding character to build on- with a fantastic premise and time-frame that has plenty of potential and possibilities. Very much looking forward to book three!!
In the second installment of the Perveen Mistry series, Perveen is tasked by the British government in India to look into the education of a young prince in the princely state of Satapur. When she arrives at the Satapur palace, where the women of the family live in purdah, she quickly
I did prefer the first book in the series to this one, I think because I loved the sense of place in that one. It was so fun, I thought, to learn about 1920s Bombay and to have the story so anchored to that city and to the houses on Malabar Hill. This one, presumably because it's set in a fictional rural state, didn't quite give me that same feeling--there's a pretty small character cast, and I didn't feel nearly as connected to the setting. With that being said, I do definitely plan to pick up the next book in this series at some point.
I liked the first book in the series quite a bit, but this one was less exciting. I did still like the glimpse into Indian culture, British colonialism, and the many layers of society. But the mystery itself was not very interesting and the main character grated on me this time. She was kind of stiff and seemed to make a lot of mistakes which I think were an attempt to make a relatable character, but I found her annoying. Not sure I'll carry on with the series.