Moonglotexas“The Dying Day” is my introduction to Vaseem Khan and I am so grateful to make his acquaintance! What a fabulous mystery! It has everything one wants in a good whodunit and more!
The setting is India in 1950 and our leading lady, Persis, is the first female inspector. She is set a “peripheral” case which grows and become entangled with so much more. The complexity of post-colonial Bombay and its rich history is deftly handled.
Each character is multifaceted and beautifully written. The story is immersive and fast-paced, once begun it’s very tricky to put down! I loved it all!
If you enjoy a good historical novel, don’t miss this one! I’ll be enjoying many more from Vaseem I’m sure! And my first stop will be the first of this series, not necessary to appreciate this one but I’m sure I’m going to be captivated by it! It’s a five out of five on the enJOYment scale.
I received a complimentary copy of the book from Hodder & Stoughton through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
From the back cover:
A priceless manuscript. A missing scholar. A trail of riddles.
For 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.
