Highlights from Moira’s Book Club’s discussion of Sujata Massey’s ‘The Widows of Malabar Hill’

Update, 1:30 p.m. July 29:

Moira’s Seattle Times Book Club had a lovely online meeting today, discussing Sujata Massey’s mystery novel set in 1920s Bombay, “The Widows of Malabar Hill.” Scroll down to read the full discussion in the comments section; here are a few excerpts from it.

I liked the book very much . . . it took me places I’ve never been and I loved learning a little more about the culture, religions and customs of India.  The setup to the murder took awhile (about 100 pages!) but there was so much to learn about the widows and Perveen.  — JeanneBee

I love women detectives.  I was hooked on the “No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency” series for a long time because of the culture mixed with crime.  Same reason I like this book.  — mio1012

Almost a ‘by the book’ detective in the Agatha Christie vein.  Was so glad there wasn’t some deus ex machina person popping out of the woodwork to be the murderer.  Solid sleuthing! — user1068967

Kudos to Sujata Massey for introducing us to the culture and lives of some of India’s elite women in the post WWI era. The book didn’t fail to engage me in its mystery. However, while Massey apparently did a lot of research to create a realistic background for the story, the lack of significant detail was, at points, very frustrating.  user15851561273146

And, as this is a detective novel, many book club members recommended other favorite crime-fiction authors. Among them: Jacqueline Winspear, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Tana French, Sue Grafton, Ruth Rendell, Susan Elia MacNeal, Helene Tursten, Louise Penny, Robert Galbraith and Charles Todd.

From earlier:

The readers have spoken, and our next selection for Moira’s Seattle Times Book Club will be “The Widows of Malabar Hill” by Sujata Massey. The book, published in 2018, is the first in a mystery series featuring Perveen Mistry, the only female lawyer in 1920s Bombay (now called Mumbai).

Chosen by book club voters from five options, it was recommended for Summer Book Bingo (presented by Seattle Public Library and Seattle Arts & Lectures) for the “Books On Your Shelf” category. (If it wasn’t on your shelf already, maybe you can add it soon?)

We’ll meet online to discuss the book at noon on Wednesday, July 29, at seattletimes.com/books. If you’d like to join the book club email list, contact Amy Wong at awong@seattletimes.com; if you’d like to join our Facebook group (optional), see facebook.com/groups/stbooks/. Happy reading!