Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

A Murder on Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey

7 reviews

caebrown's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Colonisation

erebus53's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was a book that was recommended to me as I was interested in reading something set in the 1920s. My quick review reads:
Indian girl study's law, marries badly, flash forward to after she is qualified, she is legal council for 3 widows and then murder! whodunit?

This is a historical fiction mystery and so it has a few inserts of some fairly antiquated practices. Falling foul of tradition, Perveen is captured by her husband's family and forcibly detained during her monthly "unclean time". This could be hard to read for some people, as it also deals with women who suffered and died in similar situations before such practices of traditional Zoroastrian culture were challenged and fazed out in the face of modern medical science. The rest of the story has a backdrop of the attitudes toward marriage, arranged marriages and the rules and attitudes toward marriage and its annulment in India in the early 20th century.

Perveen is a subversively anachronistic character. She meddles and fights for the rights of women, and when she finds three widows in religious seclusion from men, have signed away their inheritance to a charity, Miss Mistry smells a rat. Presuming that someone is manipulating the women, Perveen Mistry undertakes to use her privileged position as a woman trained in law, to meet with these women who will not speak to a man outside of their family, and inform them of their Legal Rights.

Soon after the women start questioning things, their caretaker is bloodily murdered, and the meddling Perveen is not prepared to back away and let the police violate these women's religious seclusion.

Oddly, this story was quite fun, if dire in places. It was informative and seems well researched. It gives a nuanced view of how the 1920s in India differed from UK and USA in the 1920s. One of Perveen's friends is expelled from her school for being overly intimate with another girl.. oops. Seems a bit of an aside, but I guess it's better than not dealing with the topic at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

heather667's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Grief

Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Suicide, and Lesbophobia

skudiklier's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

I enjoyed this! I was very caught up in both timelines, and at every stage I wanted to know what would happen. The mystery wasn't too easy to figure out (for me at least), and i read the second half of the book in one day because I just needed to finish it. I'd definitely read more if this became a series! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infertility, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Racism, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Colonisation

bel017's review against another edition

challenging

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes

 Liked the MC, liked the world, got a bit confused with the contract law parts, but it was interesting to read about another time and place. The author really brought everything to life. Recommended. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Sexism, and Blood

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Medical content

forlorn_traveller's review

adventurous emotional informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Violence, and Blood

cat_rave's review against another edition

informative mysterious slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Medical content, and Kidnapping