I quite enjoyed the book. I did feel the murder mystery could have been better, as I figured out who it was early on which did make the quest to find out the culprit feel like it was dragging a bit. I think the book read like a feminist historical fiction novel with elements of mystery, rather than an out and out murder mystery per se, not that I minded in any way. It was a powerful and heartwarming ode to resilience, female solidarity, and family. Be it Perveen's friends ip with Alice or the kinship between the wives or between Perveen and the wives, I loved reading about the positive relationships of support and encouragement between the female characters. The world-building was really fascinating and well-researched and I loved diving deeper into 1920s Bombay from the perspective of the protagonist. However, at the risk of sounding pedantic, I must point out that Victoria Memorial was only opened to the public in 1921 so the passing mention of visiting the landmark doesn't hold up when you consider the facts. 

Perveen was a protagonist I could root for and I found myself strongly empathising with her throughout the novel, and was enraged and heartbroken by all that she had to endure. She does evolve as a character as she experiences the world and by the end, she's definitely grown so much as a person which I loved. However, the custom of menstrual seclusion that she had to undergo feels cruel and unthinkable but unfortunately, it has been the stark reality of so many others over the ages and it breaks my heart to think that traditions like these which have been so detrimental to the well-being of the people they're meant to serve have flourished. 

Besides Perveen, my other favourite characters were definitely her parents. Her mother who was her confidante and showed up for her in little ways throughout the book. But I especially liked her father whose steadfast and unflinching support for his daughter was heartening to witness even t ough it did occassionally border on overprotectiveness, but I saw that as mostly being a product of the times and society. My favourite part was when he went to court to represent Perveen when their lawyer didn't show up, and he just fiercely showed up for her and calmly presented the facts and defended her right to the end, even at the risk of causing some embarrassment and discomfort to Perveen by disclosing intimate details of her life with her husband and in-laws to the judge and the jury. To me, that and him making all the arrangements for her to go to Oxford was testament of how much he loved her and it's truly heartwarming to read about such supportive fathers in fiction. 

Lastly, my other favourite thing about this book was all the mention of Parsi cuisine, be it the lemongrass tea, or lagan nu custard, or salli botti. As a foodie who quite likes Parsi food, I was enjoying the mentions of all the delicious dishes with every passing page. 

Voi, miten viihdyttävä mysteeri! Vaikka tässä tapahtuu kyllä murha ja kaikkea muutakin kauheaa, on tämä ehdottomasti cozy crimea. Pidin todella paljon siitä, että kirjassa oli feministinen ote, mutta myös parsiperinteitä kunnioitettiin todella. En malta odottaa, että lainaan kirjastosta seuraavan osan!

Olihan tässä tosin mysteeriksi aika paljon kaikkea ja toinen aikataso oli lähestulkoon vastenmielinen.

I loved this! I found the central mystery to be interesting, with a satisfying conclusion and nice twists. The historical aspects of life in 1920s Bombay and Calcutta were fascinating, and I adored Perveen’s character, especially. Looking forward to the other two in the series. 

A fast and gripping murder mystery investigated by Perveen Mistry, first female solicitor of Bombay in 1920s India (based on the real first two female lawyer/solicitor(s) of India - Cornelia Sorabji and Mithan Tata Lam). Rich in highlighting Parsi and Muslim cultures, and the history of Bombay, the story is fast-paced, with careful attention to detail. Although I wasn’t particularly astonished by the ending, I definitely enjoyed reading all 400 odd pages of the book. Also, there’s a few plot holes which is a tad annoying but overall, pretty readable.