- this book made available by my local library
- published 2022 by Hodder & Stoughton UK
- ISBN 978-1-529-34110-2
- 366 pages
- #3 in The Malabar House series
Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)
Bombay, 1950
When the body of a white man is found frozen in the Himalayan foothills near Dehra Dun, he is christened the Ice Man by the national media. Who is he? How long has he been there? Why was he killed?
As Inspector Persis Wadia and Metropolitan Police criminalist Archie Blackfinch investigate the case in Bombay, they uncover a trail left behind by the enigmatic Ice Man - a trail leading directly into the dark heart of conspiracy.
Meanwhile, two new murders grip the city. Is there a serial killer on the loose, targeting Europeans?
Rich in atmosphere, the thrilling third chapter in the CWA Historical Dagger-winning Malabar House series pits Persis against a mystery from beyond the grave, unfolding against the backdrop of a turbulent post-colonial India, a nation struggling to redefine itself in the shadow of the Raj.
My Take
Although I have read #1 in another series by this author, I haven't obeyed my own "rule" and read #1 in this series (Malabar House). That means that there are relationships between characters that were revealed and developed in the earlier two novels which I have come to cold. Nevertheless the author did a fairly good job of filling in the gaps for me.
The plot is a fairly complex one. A dessicated body is found in a cave in the Himalayan hills by a climber. Shortly after that three people are murdered in Bombay and Inspector Persis Wadia discovers a connection between them and the Ice Man.
India is newly independent and relations between India and their former masters have to be handled carefully. Research into the past is fraught with problems and these are exacerbated by the personality of Persis, particularly because she is female in what is essentially a male world.
My rating: 4.4
I've also read
4.4, THE UNEXPECTED INHERITANCE OF INSPECTOR CHOPRA - #1 in the Inspector Chopra series
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