Well researched and well written with a relatable heroine; however, very slow moving. It was difficult to get beyond the first 100 pages. The author is obviously setting up events and characters for future books, but needs a bit more action at the beginning.

The second book in this series is just as good as the first. Now I must wait anquishly for the third.

This is the second in a mystery series, set on 1920’s India. Preveen Mistry is a lawyer from Bombay, sent to work out a compromise regarding a young Maharaja’s future schooling. Preveen quickly realizes there are more serious issues, including the death of the Maharaja’s older brother. I highly recommend this series, which offers a detailed look into pre-independence India, it’s culture and various religions and traditions. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I'm entranced with this series set in 1920's India and featuring an Oxford trained, Indian woman lawyer who is a Parsi Zoroastrian. Absolutely intriguing character and fascinating plots! The first one in the series, The Widows of Malabar Hill, gave readers the background of Perveen Mistry, her missteps in training as a lawyer, following in her father's steps, and her disasterous romance, all bundled into a very interesting mystery. Being one of the only women lawyers in India, Perveen finds herself uniquely positioned to attend to legal needs for the women in seclusion from the world, in full purdah, the subject of the first book, but carried through to the second.
This second story fully immerses Perveen into a dangerous and puzzling case of mysterious deaths of a royal family hundreds of miles away from the protection of her father and family. I can't say enough about the excellent writing, the suspenseful plotting, the superb characterization, and the stunning settings. The reader is transported into the sensual, dazzling, constricting environment and social turmoil of twentieth century colonial India. Highly recommended!