The #Bookvent Calendar 2022 – Day Fourteen

#Bookvent – Celebrating my top reads of 2022

My day fourteen #bookvent choice is the third book in a series by an author whose work I am enjoying more with every new book. One of my rare forays into historical fiction, this book also transported me across continents, to post partition India and a protagonist who is somewhat of an oddity in her field, hence her assignment to the series’ eponymous, and notorious, police station. Combining historical fact with a touch of historical fiction, and some absolutely fabulous characters, my fourteenth pick is …

The Lost Man of Bombay by Vaseem Khan

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.

I really like Persis Wadia. India’s first female Police Inspector, she’s a women who takes no messing from those around her, and who, with every case, demontrates that she deserves her place amongst the Detectives, perhaps more so than many of the men around her. She is strong but still vulnerable in her own way, and it’s not unheard of for her to find herself in the off scrape or too, although she has the intelligence to get herself out of most situations. She’s rarely alone in her investigations, and the series other big draw is forensic expert Archie Blackfinch, often on hand to help Persis where smarts are not enough. There is a wonderful chemistry between the pair, never more evident than in this particular book, but I can fully understand Persis’ hesitance in allowing anything serious to develop, As for the case that she finds herself mixed up in, it’s a story packed with mystery and a whole lot of threat and danger. A man’s body, found frozen in the Himalayas, with no identification and no logical reason for him to have been on the mountain. I love how Vaseem Khan spins this tale, slowly revealing clues to the readers, even as the case becomes more perplexing and infuriating to Persis. This is a very clever piece of crime fiction, a kind of golden age mystery but set amongst all the heart and uncertainty of a country which is moving through its own period of transition. The author really creates that authentic sense of time and place, bringing the country to life, and also capturing a tension which bubbles along from the very start of the book.

Another absolutely brilliant read, one that combines fact and fiction seamlessly and whose characters become more appealing and interesting to me with every story. I can’t wait to read more from the series. Most heartily recommended.

You can read my full review right here.

Happy #bookvent reading all

Jen