The Satapur Moonstone
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4.3 • 16 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Lawyer-sleuth Perveen Mistry returns in another fascinating Bombay mystery.
'Vivid and clever...love her to bits.' Kerry Greenwood, bestselling author of the Miss Phryne Fisher series
The delightfully clever Perveen Mistry, Bombay's first female lawyer, returns in an adventure of treacherous intrigues and suspicious deaths.
India, 1922: It is rainy season in the lush, remote Sahyadri Mountains southeast of Bombay, where the kingdom of Satapur is tucked away. A curse has fallen upon Satapur's royal family, whose maharaja and his teenage son are both dead. The kingdom is now ruled by an agent of the British Raj on behalf of Satapur's two maharanis, the dowager queen and the maharaja's widow.
The royal ladies are in dispute over the education of the young crown prince, and a lawyer's council is required - but the maharanis live in purdah and do not speak to men. Just one woman can help them: Perveen Mistry.
Perveen is determined to bring peace to the royal house, but when she arrives she finds that the Satapur palace is full of cold-blooded power plays and ancient vendettas. Too late, she realises she has walked into a trap. But whose? And how can she protect the royal children from the deadly curse on the palace?
' even better than the series' impressive debut . . . The winning, self-sufficient Perveen should be able to sustain a long series.' - Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
'Simply put, The Satapur Moonstone is a flawless gem. Historical mysteries don't get any better than this.' - New York Journal of Books
'Once again Massey does a superb job of combining a fascinating snapshot into 1920s British-ruled India with a top-notch mystery. She has created a strong, appealing heroine who is forging her own path in a rapidly changing world.' - Library Journal, Starred Review
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1922, Edgar finalist Massey's second whodunit featuring Bombay attorney Perveen Mistry is even better than the series' impressive debut, 2018's The Widows of Malabar Hill. Sir David Hobson-Jones, a top adviser to the governor of India, approaches Perveen, who has bucked gender prejudices to become one of India's only female lawyers, on behalf of the Kolhapur Agency, a British civil service entity in need of a legal investigator to handle a delicate situation in the small state of Satapur. The state's two maharanis are involved in a bitter debate over where the current maharajah, 10-year-old Jiva Reo, should be educated. Because the maharanis avoid contact with men, the authorities view Perveen as the ideal person to talk with them and issue an educational recommendation. Despite her misgivings at working for her country's occupiers, Perveen accepts the assignment, only to learn that the two previous rulers of Satapur died within the last two years, leading her to fear that Reo is also at risk. The winning, self-sufficient Perveen should be able to sustain a long series.
Customer Reviews
A trip to rural India
This is the second book in the series and sees Perveen intervene in the future of a prince. It’s fascinating reading about this era in India’s history and the blend of the old culture and colonialism. It’s also interesting learning about the societal expectations of women at this time.
Excellent and intriguing story about a mystery but also women’s lives in those times.
Excellent intriguing story and I loved the fact that the focus is on womens lives.