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A review by inoirita
Murder in Old Bombay by Nev March
3.0
In a manner imitating that of Doyle’s Holmes and Ray’s Feluda, Captain Jim Agnihotri finds himself called to solve the mysterious deaths of two women belonging to the aristocratic Framji family based in Bombay. The pre Independence era of India gives a cosy setting to the mysterious murder mystery that travels from Lahore to Shimla and Bombay. The atmospheric features of the story are well balanced with the variety of characters in March’s novel that gives the India of the late 1800s a buoyant mood.
Captain Agnihotri maintained a complicated relationship with his past, healing from his experiences on the Northern Frontier was a difficult task for him. After twelve years of service in the military, he was looking for a quiet life of working in a newspaper company. Upon meeting the young and grieving Adi Framji, the widower of one of the women in the mysterious double deaths, Agnihotri takes it upon himself to find the culprits. He even finds himself a number two in the young and beautiful Diana, the younger sister of Adi who had just returned from England to mourn with her family. A forbidden love story blooms between the two and fuels Agnihotri’s quest for justice.
The central character’s search for identity is one of the most nuanced aspects of the novel; it showcases the sensitivity of the author while handling the stringent ambience of the society. The Parsee community was immensely tight knit and they did not believe in intermarriage, which kept the Captain in a tricky relation with his employers. His mixed heritage from a fair skinned Brahmin woman and an unknown Englishman provided him the opportunities to impose several disguises in himself but was a curse in matters of wrongful identity accusation and acceptance from the Framji’s as their own.
The plot is immersing and at times comical, which is a rare scene in most of the narratives of that particular timeline. In all reflection, Nev March’s debut, “Murder in Old Bombay” is a charming crime novel with prominent historical undertones and an entertaining prose, a perfect weekend cozy read with a warm cup of comfort!
Captain Agnihotri maintained a complicated relationship with his past, healing from his experiences on the Northern Frontier was a difficult task for him. After twelve years of service in the military, he was looking for a quiet life of working in a newspaper company. Upon meeting the young and grieving Adi Framji, the widower of one of the women in the mysterious double deaths, Agnihotri takes it upon himself to find the culprits. He even finds himself a number two in the young and beautiful Diana, the younger sister of Adi who had just returned from England to mourn with her family. A forbidden love story blooms between the two and fuels Agnihotri’s quest for justice.
The central character’s search for identity is one of the most nuanced aspects of the novel; it showcases the sensitivity of the author while handling the stringent ambience of the society. The Parsee community was immensely tight knit and they did not believe in intermarriage, which kept the Captain in a tricky relation with his employers. His mixed heritage from a fair skinned Brahmin woman and an unknown Englishman provided him the opportunities to impose several disguises in himself but was a curse in matters of wrongful identity accusation and acceptance from the Framji’s as their own.
The plot is immersing and at times comical, which is a rare scene in most of the narratives of that particular timeline. In all reflection, Nev March’s debut, “Murder in Old Bombay” is a charming crime novel with prominent historical undertones and an entertaining prose, a perfect weekend cozy read with a warm cup of comfort!