Malabar House Series – serie

India, 1951. After wilfully ignoring orders from her superiors, Persis Wadia, India's first female police detective, has been exiled from Bombay to the wild and mountainous state of Nagaland. As India's first post-Independence election looms, and tensions rise across the country, Persis finds herself banished to the Victoria Hotel, a crumbling colonial-era relic, her career in ruins.But when a prominent local politician is murdered in his locked room at the Victoria Hotel, his head missing - a case appears quite literally on her doorstep. As the political situation threatens to explode into all-out havoc, Persis has only days to stop a killer operating at the very edge of darkness...The sixth rip-roaring thriller in the award-winning Malabar House novels and a perfect entry point to the series.

*** WINNER OF THE CWA SAPERE BOOKS HISTORICAL DAGGER 2021 ***'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'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 Bombay, New Year's Eve, 1949As India celebrates the arrival of a momentous new decade, Inspector Persis Wadia stands vigil in the basement of Malabar House, home to the city's most unwanted unit of police officers. Six months after joining the force she remains India's first female police detective, mistrusted, sidelined and now consigned to the midnight shift.And so, when the phone rings to report the murder of prominent English diplomat Sir James Herriot, the country's most sensational case falls into her lap.As 1950 dawns and India prepares to become the world's largest republic, Persis, accompanied by Scotland Yard criminalist Archie Blackfinch, finds herself investigating a case that is becoming more political by the second. Navigating a country and society in turmoil, Persis, smart, stubborn and untested in the crucible of male hostility that surrounds her, must find a way to solve the murder - whatever the cost.

*** SHORTLISTED FOR HISTORICAL NOVEL OF THE YEAR at the FINGERPRINT AWARDS ***In the fourth rip-roaring thriller in the award-winning Malabar House series, Persis and Archie travel to the old colonial capital of Calcutta, where they collide head-on with the prejudices and bloody politics of an era engulfed in flame.'Beautifully written and a fascinating insight into the turbulence of post independence India' PETER MAY'A sumptuous, brutal, heart-stopping thriller. Vaseem Khan writes with charm and wit, and an eye for detail that transports the reader entirely. I couldn't love this series more' CHRIS WHITAKERCan a white man receive justice in post-colonial India? Bombay, 1950 James Whitby, sentenced to death for the murder of prominent lawyer and former Quit India activist Fareed Mazumdar, is less than two weeks from a date with the gallows. In a last-ditch attempt to save his son, Whitby's father, arch-colonialist, Charles Whitby, forces a new investigation into the killing.The investigation leads Inspector Persis Wadia of the Bombay Police to the old colonial capital of Calcutta, where, with the help of Scotland Yard criminalist Archie Blackfinch, she uncovers a possible link to a second case, the brutal murder of an African-American G.I. during the Calcutta Killings of 1946.How are the cases connected? If Whitby didn't murder Mazumdar, then who did? And why? 'Post-partition India is subtle, intriguing and dynamic; the hero, Persis, is brave, intelligent and charming; the plot is complex and rewarding. I loved Death of a Lesser God' GREG MOSSE'Blends a grippingly modern plot with gritty and unvarnished history. A vibrant thriller about belonging - and who gets to decide who belongs. A superb book and his best yet' WILLIAM SHAWBreathless and brilliant, Death of a Lesser God propels Persis Wadia into dangerous and deadly new territory. Highly recommended!' D.V. BISHOP'Crime fiction is a brilliant way of tackling social issues and, in Death of a Lesser God, Vaseem Khan delivers a masterclass in how it's done. Full of tension and political conflict, Khan brilliantly weaves in history and a deft portrait of post-Raj life in Bombay and Calcutta. The result is an immensely rich book' ALIS HAWKINS'Tense, gripping and impressively plotted; Death of a Lesser God is historical fiction at its finest' WILLIAM RYAN

'Vaseem Khan writes with charm and wit, and an eye for detail that transports the reader entirely. I couldn't love this series more' CHRIS WHITAKER'Historical fiction at its finest' MAIL ON SUNDAYFrom the award-winning author of MIDNIGHT AT MALABAR HOUSE and THE LOST MAN OF BOMBAY comes a brilliant new mystery featuring the inimitable Persis Wadia.Bombay, 1951. A political rally ends in tragedy when India's first female police detective, Persis Wadia, kills a lone gunman as he attempts to assassinate the divisive new defence minister, a man calling for war with India's new post-Independence neighbours.With the Malabar House team tasked to hunt down the assassin's co-conspirators - aided by agents from Britain's MI6 security service - Persis is quickly relegated to the sidelines. But then she is given a second case, the burned body of an unidentified white man found on a Bombay beach. As she pursues both investigations - with and without official sanction - she soon finds herself headed to the country's capital, New Delhi, a city where ancient and modern India openly clash. Meanwhile, Persis's colleague, Scotland Yard criminalist Archie Blackfinch, lies in a hospital fighting for his life as all around him the country tears itself apart in the prelude to war...

A priceless manuscript. A missing scholar. A trail of riddles.Bombay, 1950For over a century, one of the world's great treasures, a six-hundred-year-old copy of Dante's The Divine Comedy, has been safely housed at Bombay's Asiatic Society. But when it vanishes, together with the man charged with its care, British scholar and war hero, John Healy, the case lands on Inspector Persis Wadia's desk.Uncovering a series of complex riddles written in verse, Persis - together with English forensic scientist Archie Blackfinch - is soon on the trail. But then they discover the first body.As the death toll mounts it becomes evident that someone else is also pursuing this priceless artefact and will stop at nothing to possess it . . .Harking back to an era of darkness, this second thriller in the Malabar House series pits Persis, once again, against her peers, a changing India, and an evil of limitless intent.Gripping, immersive, and full of Vaseem Khan's trademark wit, this is historical fiction at its finest.

'Vaseem Khan writes with charm and wit, and an eye for detail that transports the reader entirely. I couldn't love this series more' CHRIS WHITAKER'Historical fiction at its finest' MAIL ON SUNDAYFrom the award-winning author of MIDNIGHT AT MALABAR HOUSE and THE LOST MAN OF BOMBAY comes a brilliant new mystery featuring the inimitable Persis Wadia.Bombay, 1951. A political rally ends in tragedy when India's first female police detective, Persis Wadia, kills a lone gunman as he attempts to assassinate the divisive new defence minister, a man calling for war with India's new post-Independence neighbours.With the Malabar House team tasked to hunt down the assassin's co-conspirators - aided by agents from Britain's MI6 security service - Persis is quickly relegated to the sidelines. But then she is given a second case, the burned body of an unidentified white man found on a Bombay beach. As she pursues both investigations - with and without official sanction - she soon finds herself headed to the country's capital, New Delhi, a city where ancient and modern India openly clash. Meanwhile, Persis's colleague, Scotland Yard criminalist Archie Blackfinch, lies in a hospital fighting for his life as all around him the country tears itself apart in the prelude to war...

'Vaseem Khan writes with charm and wit, and an eye for detail that transports the reader entirely. I couldn't love this series more' CHRIS WHITAKER'Historical fiction at its finest' MAIL ON SUNDAYFrom the award-winning author of MIDNIGHT AT MALABAR HOUSE and THE LOST MAN OF BOMBAY comes a brilliant new mystery featuring the inimitable Persis Wadia.Bombay, 1951. A political rally ends in tragedy when India's first female police detective, Persis Wadia, kills a lone gunman as he attempts to assassinate the divisive new defence minister, a man calling for war with India's new post-Independence neighbours.With the Malabar House team tasked to hunt down the assassin's co-conspirators - aided by agents from Britain's MI6 security service - Persis is quickly relegated to the sidelines. But then she is given a second case, the burned body of an unidentified white man found on a Bombay beach. As she pursues both investigations - with and without official sanction - she soon finds herself headed to the country's capital, New Delhi, a city where ancient and modern India openly clash. Meanwhile, Persis's colleague, Scotland Yard criminalist Archie Blackfinch, lies in a hospital fighting for his life as all around him the country tears itself apart in the prelude to war...

India, 1951. After wilfully ignoring orders, Persis Wadia, India's first female police detective, is exiled from Bombay to the wild and mountainous Naga Hills District. As India's first post-Independence election looms, and tensions rise across the country, Persis finds herself banished to the Hotel Victoria, a crumbling colonial-era relic, her career in tatters.But when a prominent politician is murdered in his locked room at the Victoria, his head missing, she is thrust back into the fray. Is the murderer one of the foreigners staying at the hotel or an insurgent from the surrounding jungle? As the political situation threatens to explode, Persis has only days to stop a killer operating at the very edge of darkness...The sixth rip-roaring thriller in the award-winning Malabar House series and a perfect entry point for new readers.'Persis Wadia, denizen of India's own Slough House - Malabar House in Bombay - has been further sidelined. She is far from Bombay in the remote Naga Hills, an area of rebels and lawlessness which may just swallow her whole. Persis is a brilliant creation ... With a satisfying backdrop of little-known aspects of newly independent India's history and the ever-present tension with the remaining British colonists, this is a richly satisfying book at many levels' ALIS HAWKINS

India, 1951. After wilfully ignoring orders from her superiors, Persis Wadia, India's first female police detective, has been exiled from Bombay to the wild and mountainous state of Nagaland. As India's first post-Independence election looms, and tensions rise across the country, Persis finds herself banished to the Victoria Hotel, a crumbling colonial-era relic, her career in ruins.But when a prominent local politician is murdered in his locked room at the Victoria Hotel, his head missing - a case appears quite literally on her doorstep. As the political situation threatens to explode into all-out havoc, Persis has only days to stop a killer operating at the very edge of darkness...The sixth rip-roaring thriller in the award-winning Malabar House novels and a perfect entry point to the series.

*LONGLISTED FOR THE THEAKSTON CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR**SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA GOLD DAGGER** SELECTED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 BY THE FINANCIAL TIMES, DAILY EXPRESS AND THE GUARDIAN*'Hugely entertaining ... history and mystery mixed with brutal slapstick, thwarted romance and sly humour... If only all period procedurals were as good as this' THE TIMES'The latest of Khan's excellent thrillers set in post-war Bombay is a vivid portrait of a society remaking itself in the new era of independence' MAIL ON SUNDAY'A delightful book, well-researched, complex and hugely entertaining' ANN CLEEVES'A twisting plot and an intriguing cast of characters, together with vivid glimpses of the vibrant, complex world of post-Independence Bombay - and a narrative that thunders along with the pace and drama of an elephant on the rampage' ANDREW TAYLORBombay, 1950When the body of a white man is found frozen in the Himalayan foothills near Dehra Dun, he is christened the Ice Man by the national media. Who is he? How long has he been there? Why was he killed? As Inspector Persis Wadia and Metropolitan Police criminalist Archie Blackfinch investigate the case in Bombay, they uncover a trail left behind by the enigmatic Ice Man - a trail leading directly into the dark heart of conspiracy. Meanwhile, two new murders grip the city. Is there a serial killer on the loose, targeting Europeans? Rich in atmosphere, the thrilling third chapter in the CWA Historical Dagger-winning Malabar House series pits Persis against a mystery from beyond the grave, unfolding against the backdrop of a turbulent post-colonial India, a nation struggling to redefine itself in the shadow of the Raj.'Khan writes with a charming formality and brings his characters and their dilemmas to life in this intelligent and intriguing series' LITERARY REVIEW'A rip-roaring adventure with a formidable woman at its heart' AMBROSE PARRY'A stunning, richly imagined and downright thrilling mystery. Vaseem Khan has that rare ability to transport you wholly to a bygone time, and he does so with such skill and charm. I loved it' CHRIS WHITAKER'One of my top reads this year. A peerless portrait of early independent India through the eyes of new crime fiction star, India's first police detective, Persis Wadia' BARBARA NADEL"The brilliant Persis Wadia is one of the most electrifying figures in crime fiction today. Vaseem Khan keeps getting better and better' WILLIAM SHAW'Outstanding' IMRAN MAHMOOD'This is historical crime fiction at its sharpest' SUNDAY TIMES'Vaseem Khan gets better with each book. A triumph! An intriguing mystery, a wonderfully realized historical setting and characters that make you fall in love with them' STEVE CAVANAGH'Think Mick Herron in Bombay' THE TIMES, Audiobook of the Week