Book Synopsis:
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 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.
Are the cases connected? And if Whitby didn’t murder Mazumdar, then who did?
My Review:
Death Of A Lesser God is another brilliant, addictive and gripping addition to one of my favourite historical crime series.
Firstly I absolutely loved Persis and I really enjoyed following her throughout the story. She’s definitely a woman before her time which I loved, especially seeing how strong and determined she is when it comes to this case. It was interesting to see how she operated without the police force to back her up as I think it showed more clearly how her brain operated.
I loved all the fantastic historical details the author has included in this book which I think helped bring 1950 Calcutta to life. This is one of my favourite periods of history so I found it fascinating to learn more about the history of the country, especially how politics and religion affected things. I especially felt for Whitby and the difficult line he had to tread as, being a white Indian he wasn’t accepted by his own country or by others.
Overall, as you can probably tell, I absolutely loved this book and really look forward to reading more from this series in future. The story does start off a little slow as initially there isn’t much for Persis to work with but soon picks up and becomes very gripping indeed. I loved following Persis through all the highs and lows of the case, including a very memorable scrape with a tiger which I definitely wasn’t expecting. The author gradually increases the tension in the book until I found it very hard to put the book down, reading far too late at night as I had to discover how it all ended.
Huge thanks to Alainna from Hodder and Stoughton for my copy of this book and for inviting me onto the blog tour. If you’re a fan of historical fiction I highly recommend this series!
About The Author:
Vaseem Khan is the author of two award-winning crime series set in India, the Baby Ganesh Agency series set in modern Mumbai, and the Malabar House historical crime novels set in 1950s Bombay. His first book, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, was selected by the Sunday Times as one of the 40 best crime novels published 2015-2020, and is translated into 16 languages. The second in the series won the Shamus Award in the US. In 2018, he was awarded the Eastern Eye Arts, Culture and Theatre Award for Literature. Vaseem was born in England, but spent a decade working in India. In 2021, Midnight at Malabar House won the Crime Writers Association Historical Dagger, the world’s premier award for historical crime fiction. His latest book is The Lost Man of Bombay.
For more information about the world of his books please visit vaseemkhan.com where you can also keep abreast of Vaseem’s latest goings-on, competitions, events, and extracts from upcoming books via his newsletter.
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