I think this is a great readalike recommendation for an Agatha Christie fan. It has that feel and is beautifully set in India. Great recommendation for book lovers.

I am back to my Malabar House series catch up with book 2 The Dying Day. I loved getting to know Persis Wadia in Midnight at the Malabar House and so I have been waiting for the time to get stuck into book 2 to see what investigation she will find herself in the middle of this time. When she is called to the Bombay Royal Asiatic Society to investigate the theft of a priceless copy of Dante's Divine Comedy and the disappearance of the head curator it looks like it should be a straightforward case, find the curator, find the manuscript. Added to this she is directed to oversee the investigation of a woman whose severed body was found on train tracks. Neither case is easy, and the pressure is on Persis to get to the bottom of it all.
Persis is still clearly fighting prejudice in her role as the first female police officer and her determination to prove she is as good as if not better than her male counterparts does sometimes lead her to make rash decisions or make her appear to be very standoffish. Some of that is down to events in her past that also come more to the front as someone she had hoped to never see again make a reappearance in her life. The chemistry between Persis and Archie Blackfinch is such that you can’t help but hope that they can overcome the obvious problems they would encounter and also that Persis could let her guard down once more and trust someone not to hurt her. I love the interactions between Persis and her aunt as they come at things from different perspectives and clash quite often but in doing so makes the characters seem so much more human and real.
I loved this book as it not only delves into the past history of India but also as we learn more about the life of John Healey, the missing curator, it links to the atrocities of WWII and what people did and suffered through in order to survive. Following the clues along side Persis I can honestly say I had no idea who was behind what as there were so many secrets and lies that I was left wondering if the crimes would ever be solved. For me that was the best part, the not knowing, the feeling that you just couldn’t put the book down as you wanted to know the ending. With a rich blend of characters, history and setting I am lucky in the fact that I don’t have to wait for ages before being able to read book 3 and it is already waiting for me.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I really enjoyed this one the plot kept me interested until the end which is not easy, and the characters were engaging and believable. I highly recommend this book.

Loved this and look forward to more entries in this series. In 1950 Bombay., Persis is the only female police officer possibly in all of India. The Inspector is called to a famous research library hen a rare copy of Dante disappears. The well-known academic working on the manuscript also disappears, leaving a trail of riddles for her to solve..

The Malabar House series are one of my favorite series! It is about a woman that was fascinating yet whom I hardly heard of. I also like the exotic setting of India! This was a very refreshing take on the settings of European and American novels that I have usually read! The mystery itself was very compelling with many twists and turns! I recommend this for fans of Sherry Thomas, Amy Stewart, and Jacqueline Winspear! Thus, this was a very refreshing read for those that want to read a historical mystery not set in England of America!

I received this book from Netgalley. The main character is wonderful - strong willed and complex. The mystery is interesting, and the historical setting is described vividly. Hope to see a lot more of this character and series.

This was absolutely excellent and so much better than the first book. The puzzles had me hooked completely! Brilliant read.

I loved Vaseem's last book in this series so I couldn't help but leap at this new one with both hands. Though not the straight murder mystery I was expecting, this was a fun treasure hunt of a book, with cryptic clues that wonderfully riffed off India's history. and its time under the boot of the British Empire. Persis Wadia is an excellent protagonist to lead us through the story and it came to a hugely satisfying finish.

Me and this book just didn't work together.

I had serious problem getting into this story. I really liked the whole idea - India, 1950s, the first female police detective solving unusual cases. This is something new and exciting. Unfortunately, it turned out pretty quickly that I had a hard time connecting with this story and the main character. I don't know if it's because I haven't read the first book in this series? Hard to say. Also, sometimes things seemed to be too complicated and required too much explanation.

In the end, the book was fine, but I was expecting something more.

Another great book from Vaseem Khan - I can’t get enough of them. The storylines are interesting but the characters are engaging and I almost don’t care about then stairs for wanting to find out more about them. Loved it. More please. And soon.

I loved this book which is the second in this series. It had a great pace, writing, setting and mystery. Khan is great, and I'd read from him anytime.

Thrillers about historical treasure hunting have always been a weakness of mine, so getting an ARC for one with a woman of color as the protagonist as well as being set in a non-Western country was a treat.

Persis is the only woman detective in India, and the pressure is getting to her. Not only is she shuffled off into a smaller office, she is blatantly told her career will never advance. And there’s the issue of her romantic feelings for Archie, the English forensics expert working with her.

It’s a bit of a slow start, and things didn’t really kick off until the Nazis showed up, but there was some really amazing scene setting. Post WWII Bombay breathed on the page. There was a lot of historically accurate information used, which really helped the world feel real.

The side characters were well fleshed out. I really liked seeing Persis’s relationships with her family, her friends, and her coworkers. We really got to see her in a variety of situations, all demanding something different from her and from the people around her.

The introduction of Nazis added some thrilling action to the treasure hunt, but the further addition of the Freemasons in the last 8% of the book was a little much for me. Combined with too much exposition at the end and an unsatisfying ending, meant I didn’t really like the ending. But the hook of Persis being willing to speak at a conference for professional women, and the strength of the rest of the book are encouraging enough for me to pick up a next book.

I had read some of the Inspector Chopra series of books by this author and really enjoyed them , after winning a Twitter competition for a proof copy, This is the second book in a different series featuring a female police officer Persis Wadia. Set in post-partition Bombay we get a real sense of the time period and political atmosphere in the background of the novel. I really enjoyed Persis as a character. Her relationship with her family was well written and they were warm and inviting. They felt real, as if I could just walk in and they’d be there. Her relationships with colleagues were equally interesting, especially since Persis isn’t always polite or good at small talk. I love her straight to the point attitude though and think it created a subtilely humorous exchange here and there.

It must have been very difficult to pitch her character properly, because she’s a police officer at a time and place that’s not the norm. She could have felt too modern for the time period, or too submissive as a woman to feel like a real police officer. I think the author gets it right, and without it overshadowing the plot of the mystery she’s investigating. There’s also the attention she receives from the media. As Bombay’s first female police officer she’s something of a trailblazer, but on top there’s her notoriety from the last case she investigated in Midnight at Malabar House. This puts her in the spotlight a little, which she’s very unimpressed with and her personality doesn’t always come across well at first meeting. Her awkwardness is very touching, especially when it comes to her personal life. She seems to have feelings for one colleague, an English forensic scientist called Archie. Of course, if her feelings were reciprocated there would be the problem of being a mixed race couple. It’s only early 1950’s and the country has just gone through the horrors of partition after the British rule ended. Her family think she should steer clear of controversy, especially being such a high profile police officer.

Her investigation is at the Royal British Asiatic Society where both a manuscript and employee have gone missing, John Healy is a man traumatised by his experiences as a prisoner of war during WW2. He appears to have left some sort of trail, clues and riddles as to where the manuscript is, but are they genuine and is John in his right mind? There are political implications too, piling the pressure on Persis to solve the treasure hunt. In the background there’s another case, investigating the murder of a white woman. George Fernandes has been given lead detective, but Persis is finding it hard to work with him, due to unresolved feelings of betrayal in their last case.

Thanks to Khan’s detailed description of the city I felt fully immersed in the sounds, sights and smells of India in the mid-20th Century. This is an India that’s just learning to stand on its own two feet after years of British rule then WW2. Khan evokes a colourful, vibrant, India where the mix of colours, religions and cultural rituals bring it to life. Persis is an anomaly, the only woman in a man’s world but she is intelligent, focused and up to the job. She does have flaws though, she’s feisty and prickly with others at times and not very good at being a team player. She is a loner, at work and at home. This is something she and George have in common as we find out towards at the end. Of course Persis is in a constant battle with male members of the team, belittling or appropriating her achievements but she handles this well. I think this is shaping up to be a very enjoyable series which has ‘Sunday night TV drama’ written all over it.

I loved Persis' first appearance in Midnight at Malabar House, it's so good to be with her again. As ever, we learn so much about India in the early days of independence, and the plot/puzzle involving The Divine Comedy was a whole new learning curve for me. Hugely enjoyable. Vaseem is an author you can trust to entertain and inform.

This is second in series featuring the post-independence Bombay detective Persis Wadia. The first one was a murder mystery and this one takes the treasure hunt track.
Worth a read. I enjoyed it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The second book in the Malabar House series has vivid historical detail, vibrant characters, and a tantalising mystery to solve. Set in 1950s Bombay, the legacy of WW2, British rule and the cultural and religious divisions make this a fascinating read.

Persis Wadis is the first female inspector of police. She achieved national infamy from her position and previous case. A believably complex woman driven by her need to succeed in the face of family doubts, institutional misogyny and self-doubt, she analytically approaches her cases but often puts herself in dangerous situations.

The story has an engaging balance of investigation and personal exploration of the detective's life. Her father's bookshop is a special place for Persis, and many clues to her cases are discovered within the pages of the books.

A multi-layered mystery with shadowy characters, political intrigue and echoes of WW2 illuminates India's role in WW2 as another source of tension between India and its colonial past. Intricate cyphers and puzzles are woven into the plot for the investigation team and reader to solve. An engaging mix of action, cerebral detective skills and introspection make this a page-turner.

Hints of romance, friendship and family drama make this an authentic and entertaining historical crime mystery with characters and historical details that resonate.

I received a copy of this book from Hodder and Stoughton via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The Dying Day by Vaseem Kahn is one of the most intricate and intriguing books I’ve read recently. It’s a puzzle in the guise of a novel. Why did a renowned scholar steal a priceless centuries old manuscript of Dante’s The Divine Comedy? To solve it, Persis, the first female investigator in 1950’s India, will have to solve a series of intricate smaller puzzles. The reader is afforded the opportunity to solve these puzzles as well, although some of them take advanced knowledge of Bombay and at least one is a book cypher requiring the correct book. Either way, it’s an engaging read and enjoyable to follow Persis through Bombay as she solves each puzzle in turn.

The manuscript is also of interest to several individuals including an Italian scholar who would like to return it to Dante’s home country of Italy, an American who wants to convince India to allow The Smithsonian to take possession of it, and an unknown man whose interest isn’t immediately evident. The case gets more complex as Persis becomes aware that the manuscript is also being hunted by a Nazi who is in Bombay and using false identification papers.

As Persis works to solve the puzzles and find the manuscript, the co-worker who tried to undermine her in the public eye during a previous case is tasked with solving the murder of a young woman. Persis is given the responsibility of supervising him which leads to clashes between the two as their supervisor tasks them both with learning how to work together. Anger, mistrust, and resentment all appear to hamper the process of these two successfully solving their cases.

Persis is one of the most complex lead characters I’ve encountered lately. She’s prickly, quick to anger, and torn between her desire to be a modern woman with a successful career in the police and the frustration of being overlooked or marginalized by both the men she works with and the public because she is a woman.

The book is excellently written, with a superb plot and a pace that will keep the reader engaged long past their anticipated reading time. It is the second book in the Malabar House series and also works well as a stand alone. If a reader begins the series with this book, it is likely they will want to go and pick up the first one to read while they anxiously await publication of the third one. At least, that is my plan.

My thanks to Hodder and Stoughton Publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy for this review. The opinions stated here are entirely my own.

Thank you Netgalley, Vaseem Khan and Hodder & Stoughton for the Advanced reader copy.

The Dying Day is the second novel in the Malabar House series. This book is set in 1950s India after the second world war and the independence of India. It follows Persis Wadia, India's first female police detective, in her investigation looking for the stolen Dante Manuscript. Various riddles lead her on a scavenger hunt through Bombay while the stakes are getting higher.

Representation: (view spoiler)
Content warnings: (view spoiler)

CAWPILE Rating: 7.57 => 4 Stars

Characters: 7.5
Atmosphere: 7
Writing: 8
Plot: 8.5
Intrigue : 7
Logic: 7
Enjoyment: 8

I never read the first one but this did not alter my enjoyment of this book. I actually might go back and read the first novel.

I really enjoyed this treasure hunt of a book, It felt like the DaVinci Code set in India. Really enjoyed all the historical integration of post-independent India and WWII.
Parsis was a really interesting character to follow, being amazing at her job but having to fight discrimination being a woman in a men's world. Vaseem Khan also integrated the relationships and the views on relationships between Indian and English people at that time were really well.
I definitely can say I learned a lot of history from this novel.
The side characters were however a bit flat, I also constantly forget who was who and had to read a few lines before I remembered how they connected into the story

The mystery was also interesting and gave a great treasure hunt through Bombay where the stakes were getting higher and higher throughout the novel. (view spoiler)
I do have to say one of the lesser points was that as the reader you could not solve the riddles with the main character. Parsis constantly had eureka moments and would go to that place and there was not enough info for the reader to come to this ourselves.

A well written gripping historical thriller that takes you on a journey through past history that is unique and powerful.

There is absolutely no doubt that Vaseem Khan’s The Dying Day will claim in a place in my Top Ten of the Year, being a superb follow up to Midnight At Malabar House, which also appeared in my final round up of 2020. Persis Wadia is a fantastic character, being an intelligent, astute and utterly focussed female police officer, grappling with the natural misogyny that arises from her position, but also for the layers of personal tribulation that Khan builds into her character. Coupled with this, Khan has constructed a mystery that is blindingly clever and intricate that will appeal to all bibliophiles, centred on the theft of a literary treasure. There are riddles and ciphers along the way, that not only test Persis and her colleagues, but will also baffle and misdirect the reader too, leading to a rich and rewarding reading experience. Khan also demonstrates his trademark precision in his rendering of the historical detail of the period, giving the reader a real sense of India emerging from the suffocation of British rule, and finding its feet in a new era, not wholly untroubled by violence and division. I completely loved The Dying Day from start to finish, and came out of the other side of it totally sated by not only the characterisation, but also the feeling of having read a truly satisfying and intriguing crime mystery. Wholeheartedly recommending this one to you all.