Perveen Mistry, the only female solicitor in Bombay, attends a fundraiser for a new women's hospital when the grandson of a prominent businessman catches fire. The young boy's nursemaid, Sunanda, selflessly rushes to save him, putting herself in danger. Later, Perveen learns that Sunanda, who's still suffering from her burns, has been arrested on trumped-up charges made by a man no one seems to be able to find.
Perveen takes Sunanda on as a client and invites her to stay in the servants' quarters in her own home-- a home already filled with tension from Perveen's father worrying about taking on so much responsibility for a client and her brother and sister-in-law struggling to cope with a new baby.
Things become even more complicated when the women's hospital's chief donor dies suddenly and Dr. Miriam Penkar and Sunanda become the chief suspects in his death. Did someone powerful frame Sunanda to cover up another crime? How can Perveen prove Sunanda's innocence without endangering her own family?
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For my money, Sujata Massey's Perveen Mistry historical series is one of the best ones out there. This talented writer never fails to take me deep into 1920s Bombay, India, and keep me there throughout her story. The Mistress of Bhatia House is no exception. This fourth book in the series delves deep into women's issues and, as a result, may bore some readers to tears. I must be mellowing in my twilight years because once this topic would have bored me, too, but definitely not this time.
Perveen's personal and professional lives continue to grow. Now she's wanting to be the world's best aunty to her brother's new baby, and her thoughts are bittersweet as she faces the fact that she will never have children of her own. She's also in a clandestine relationship with a former colonial civil service officer, but her personal life often takes a backseat to being Bombay's only female solicitor. Trying to navigate the minefield of the Good Old Boys Club filled with both white British colonials and wealthy Indian males is no easy task.
There's a lot going on in The Mistress of Bhatia House, and trying to deduce the identity of the killer is no simple task, but no matter how strong the mystery was, I found myself more deeply invested in the women's issues in the India of the 1920s-- A country where infant mortality is high, and thirteen-year-old girls die from giving birth to too many babies. A country where most women have never even seen a doctor and a country where most physical assaults against women are never reported. Massey also does a marvelous job of portraying how the various religious groups coexist and the interactions between the castes.
If you like mysteries with strong female characters steeped in a specific time and place, I highly recommend The Mistress of Bhatia House. My mind is still with Perveen in Bombay, and I'm looking forward to the next book.
The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey
eISBN: 9781641293303
Soho Press © 2023
eBook, 432 pages
Historical Mystery, #4 Perveen Mistry mystery
Rating: A+
Source: Net Galley
The minute I read Sujata Massey and Perveen Mistry I was sold. Now how quickly can my library get this book? It sounds fascinating, especially about women's issues and roles. Are those statistics about infant mortality and teenage maternal mortality still true? I would believe most people don't see a doctor because of the magnitude of the country and vast rural areas which would not have clinics or doctors. The poverty today is monumental. I got a view of that in Murder under the Red Moon, also set in 1920s India with an amateur woman detective.
ReplyDeleteI would hope that the infant and teenage maternal mortality rates have fallen since the 1920s, but I don't have any current statistics.
DeleteBack in the 1920s, the major reason most women had never gone to a doctor was because of religious and cultural beliefs-- 99.9% of doctors were men, and women could not or would not go to a male doctor.
True, so true in many countries. Lisa See's recent book tells of a woman doctor in 1500s China when male doctors could not touch a woman patient.
DeleteI really like Sujata Massey's writing, and Perveen is such a strong character, Cathy. It takes real skill to weave a historical background, so that people feel it's authentic, but at the same time, stay with the main plot of a story. I'm glad you thought Massey did that well here.
ReplyDeleteYes, she did do it very well.
DeleteI still need to read the first book in this series, but I do really like the sound of Perveen. And, of course, the setting intrigues me, too. :D
ReplyDeleteBoth character and setting are excellent!
DeleteI'm in the same boat Lark is in...need to read the first one quick because this sounds so good. Looks like the first is The Widows of Malabar Hill, so I just put that one on the library hold list. Looks like I'm the only one on the list...
ReplyDeleteSounds like you may be able to get your hands on it soon, Sam. I hope you like it.
DeleteCan't wait to read it too! Such a great series!
ReplyDeleteIt is!
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