Treachery and anarchy!

1893. Zoroastrian Lady Diana Framji and her Hindu husband Captain James Agnihotri have left behind the strictures of English society of Bombay and started a new life in Boston. Using the last part of Jim’s name they have styled themselves the O’Trey’s. Jim is working for an investigation bureau, the Dupree Detective Agency. He has been sent to Chicago. A seasoned detective is missing. Now Jim has been away for six weeks with no communication except recently part of a letter in German. Diana persuades Alfred Dupree, the founder of the agency to fund her journey to Chicago as an operative to look for Jim. (That interaction shows us some of Diana’s steely resolve.) It seems Jim might be in deep cover and the Dupree’s have lost contact with him. Whatever the reason Diana fears for him. Along the way Diana acquires a maid, the very fascinating Abigail Martin and learns of the hazards for people of color.
Chicago’s abuzz with the World Fair opening, and an anarchist group is advocating for workers’ rights and work for the unemployed.
Diana finds herself circling around the very top of Chicago Society, when not witness to the depths of that city’s poverty stricken. Threats of explosives being unleashed on an unsuspecting population has her searching for leads. Her quick and determined mind has her linking pieces of the puzzle. All of which becomes painstakingly clearer as she finally tracks down her beloved husband. What a team they make. I do so enjoy them. I think they are now in firmly placed in my top historical mystery personalities.
I was a tad disappointed that the couple had left Bombay but they are finding a new togetherness in a place where they can be. And the skills they each have, their ability to mingle in a variety of social levels makes them even more potent as a team.
For Jim, “This new country—it’s true and precious. Not perfect, sure, but here one has a chance to make something, to live free of snide glances and sneers.”
We are introduced to an interesting cast of support characters which I hope we’ll continue to see.
It seems the couple are busy making a new place for themselves and I’m happy for them. A fascinating follow up from where we first met Lady Diana and Captain Jim, in Old Bombay.

A St. Martin's Press ARC via NetGalley. Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

I had read the first book by Nev March and had been eagerly waiting for the new one. So I was quite excited when I got the opportunity to read the next one thanks to Minotaur books.

This book is set entirely in Chicago contrary to my expectations of another in British ruled India. Captain Jim And his wife, the very resourceful and spunky Diana have moved to the US and Captain Jim is now Detective Jim. He is an ardent fan of Sherlock Holmes and loves teaching his wife the methods that the literary character employed to get to the bottom of problems.

The book is set in 1893, a momentous year as we see various illustrious historical characters throughout the course of the mystery. They are both embroiled in figuring out a terrorist plot at the Chicago World Exhibition. There is a lot of talk of new scientific discoveries and ideas being showcased at this exposition. There is opposition to some of the new ideas by people deeply invested in the older way of doing things. There are so many twists and turns that it was a little difficult to keep pace. But the author has got the atmosphere of Chicago taking a leap ionto the new world beautifully.

There are places where I was forced to take Diana’s capabilities, specially being a colored woman in 1893, with disbelief. That coupled with the sheer number of famous achievers from the time along with Swami Vivekananda, is what made me give this a four star rating instead of five. That said, I will still be waiting for the next Nev March reveal of this duo working together passionately to solve another crime.

Second book but it definitely can be read as a standalone.
If you like this book then also read the previous story which describes the circumstance in which Jim and Diana became acquainted and their lives in India.
Book two is not only a mystery but a great description of the lives in the Boston area, traveling in 1893 by train to Chicago, the politics and the wealthy who generally have no issues taking advantage of the working poor. Only 30 years have passed so we still have survivors who had been fighting for the Southern States, lost their slaves and plantations and have nothing left but hatred for the north.
The story is told alternative through Jim’s and Diana’s feelings, their doubts and misunderstandings. Diana is doing a marvelous job in trying to understand the people of her new country and adjusting to her changed circumstances. For many people leaving their home country and adjusting to a new country isn’t easy and Nev March has this nicely interwoven in his story. Hoping I see more follow up of Jim and Diana.

I had a very hard time staying invested in this story. The MC was thinking and describing things, foods and situations from her homeland that had absolutely nothing to do with the story. It was really hard to wade through because I knew it wasn’t relevant to the storyline. Also, there were so many things that I found distracting because of the story setting and timeline. I couldn’t suspend what I knew couldn’t have actually happened in Chicago at the turn of the century. This plot had potential but, again, it was just too distracting. I’d say only 20/25% of the book dealt with getting the mystery resolved.

One of the most beautiful covers ever!

I will post this review on GoodReads on/around July 12, when the book is released. Thank you for the opportunity to continue this series.


Captain Jim and his new wife Diana have barely settled into life in Boston when he unexpectedly leaves for Chicago, where he’s sent by The Dupree (detective) Agency to investigate a murder. When Diana doesn’t hear from him for weeks and his employer doesn’t seem to care that he’s missing, she decides to travel to Chicago and do some investigating of her own.

This is book #2 in this series, and I hoped I’d like it more than the first book, which was only an ok read. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. I didn’t care for the change in location, from India to Boston, although the backdrop of the Chicago World Exposition made it a bit more appealing. Unlike the first book, this one is told mainly from Diana’s point of view, although we do get short sections of Jim’s POV occasionally.

The mystery here was good, although there were almost too many characters to consider as the driving force behind plans to disrupt the Exposition. Between rich bankers, nasty employers, union organizers, discontented workers, and the ‘ordinary’ criminal element, it was hard to figure out who were the brains behind the scheme. The action seemed to ratchet up once Jim’s POV was included in the story, and it built to a fantastic conclusion.

The biggest drawback for me was the character of Diana. It was more than a little hard to accept that a young woman (she’s just turned 22 years old), who is new to the US and its ways of life, is somehow able to find her way to Chicago, expecting to be able to find one person in the massive crowd of people descending on said city for the Exposition. She wasn’t aware that a black man would not have access to the same places she did, she didn’t understand a lot of the speech around her, and she trusted people far too easily. Late in the book, she admits to herself that she was coddled as a child in Bombay, and she seems to have developed some empathy for the mistreated, underpaid and overworked people of Chicago, but it’s unclear if she does anything to help them aside from a few monetary donations.

I am hopeful that by the next book in the series, Diana will have learned more about the country she now calls home and that she and Jim will work together on cases, and I look forward to reading it.

This is the second book in the Capitan Jim series. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I am sad to say that while it is not a bad book, it does not have the je nais se quai part that made the first book in the series so good.

The book starts off from the point of view of Captain Jim’s newlywed wife, Diana Framji. In fact most of the book is from her point of view, which I did not appreciate. I found it slow and hard to get into. Captain Jim also narrates some of the chapters..However, the last 25% of the book was page-turning. I just wish it hadn’t taken so long to get there.

The historical details are well developed and researched. Most of the action takes place in Chicago during the World’s Fair of 1893. Those descriptions were fascinating. It was a time of deep social unrest. Ms March also touches upon the problematic aspects of “displaying” other cultures.
Having said all of this, I still would recommend this series. I will definitely check out the next book. I ultimately gave this book three and a half stars., which I have rounded up for Goodreads. There is much potential here. I wish to thank NetGalley and Minotaur books for the Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book.

I enjoyed the previous book in the Captain Jim Agnihotri series. It portrayed a vibrant picture of Bombay, the life, luxury and turmoil in India under the British Raj. It vividly described divisions in class, culture, caste, race, religion, and the status of women in society.

We meet the two main characters featured in both books. Jim Agnihotri, an ex-soldier of mixed British/Indian heritage, and Diana from a wealthy Parsee family of the Zoroastrian religion. Parsees are discouraged from marrying outside their faith and culture, which impeded the growing romance between Jim and Diana.

This book contains superb descriptive writing and many twists, mysteries and dangerous situations. There was a sense of dread throughout, but I regret I could not be completely engaged in the plot. I found the story to be convoluted, with so many characters and suspects and unnecessary subplots and tangents, making the story overlong and diminishing any suspense I should have felt. Some suspension of disbelief was needed.

This book finds Jim and Diana happily married and settled in Boston. Jim is a fan of Sherlock Holmes and is pleased to have joined the Dupree Detective Agency. He is assigned to travel to Chicago on a murder investigation. Diana is unhappy being separated from her new husband for what she believed would be for two weeks. She is alarmed when five weeks pass with no word from Jim. A man arrives at her door with a letter in German with hints of explosives at the hands of terrorists.

It is 1893, and the Chicago World Exhibition is coming soon with its vast display of goods and inventions from around the world. Its main emphasis is on electricity and the changes it will make to homes and industry. Vast throngs of crowds are expected to attend. If the explosives were to be set off at the World Fair, the result would be death and destruction on a massive scale. Diana fears that her absent husband's life may be endangered and sets out for Chicago to implore him to come home. Through her force of personality and some threats, she manages to get the Duprees to consent to her search.

This naive young woman, an immigrant in a new country, arrives in Chicago accompanied by a large Black man, Tobias. She is unprepared for the rampant racism that excludes him from many places where she wishes to search for Jim. Chicago is beset with unemployment, grinding poverty, anarchists, strikes, trade union disputes, a shady mine deal, and social unrest. Diana rounds up a diverse group of helpers to navigate her way through the seedier side of Chicago, the slums, gambling dens, and an entrance to the Golden Age society that includes influential, aristocratic members with their lavish parties and dances.

Finding Jim will not be easy as he is a master of disguise. The story is mainly told from Diana's point of view, with a few short chapters from Jim added. When they meet at short intervals, they are thrilled to be together, but each is concerned about the risk the other is taking. It is unclear whether Diana is helping Jim or putting his life further in danger. She bravely follows clues and carries a pistol and a weaponized umbrella. She is supported by Tobias, Wadja, a ragged street urchin, and the cross-dressing Abigale, who was initially hired as a lady's maid. I wished Abigale's and Tobias's characters and viewpoints had been more fully developed. They seemed only to exist to carry out Diana's naive and too trusting biding, placing them in jeopardy.

The story became slow-paced and confusing to me with the ever-growing addition of more characters. Suspects included factory owners, discontented workers mistreated and receiving starvation wages, millionaire business owners, the impoverished and unemployed, and anarchists. Where were the explosives, and who was part of the plot?

I wish to thank Netgalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC of this book. Although I failed to be completely engaged, I believe it will appeal to many readers who will enjoy this well-researched historical mystery. It richly evoked the time and place (the 1880s in Chicago).

I picked up the first book in the series because I love reading Victorian era inspired novels and it was an amazing book, except somewhere in the middle of the plot, I felt it was dragged.

I was expecting the second one to in the same setting but I’m not disappointed with the new setting since I got to read about some unemployed scenarios of the gilded age. I’ve only read about the uber rich of this era.

Captain Jim Agnihotri and Lady Diana stay in Boston and Jim is working as a detective at Dupree Detective. He goes missing, Diana meets someone at her home and she’s off to Chicago to search Jim. The story felt a bit convoluted at times. As in her first book, the author has done immense research that’s clearly obvious in her writing. Set against the backdrop of Columbian Exposition at Chicago, this is another mystery by an amazing writer.

I thank NetGalley and Minotaur books for ecopy in exchange for a review.

What an adventure! Set during the Chicago's World Fair, Jim and Diana's adventures continue.

They are married now and relocated to the US. But pretty quickly, Jim is sent off on an assignment from his new job as an investigator. Diana waits and waits and takes care of things at their new home, but she doesn't hear word back from Jim for weeks and becomes worried. So off she goes, to find out what has happened to Jim and what he's investigating.

I loved being back with these two. I loved the story being mainly from Diana's POV as she tried to find Jim and break down the things he'd taught her about deduction and investigation. As Diana stumbles around and uses her wits and being a woman to her advantage, you are sucked in to a compelling plot that involves worker wage and condition disputes, old civil war resentments and treatment of foreigners and new money. I loved the adventures and the new cast of characters. I also loved the setting of the Chicago world's fair. The all white, gleaming fair that introduced electric lights! It was a great setting and really brought the whole story alive. I was completely wrapped up in what was going on and the page-turning adventure, I never even tried to guess who the bad guys were and what was going to happen. This was a great book 2, I hope we get another installment.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

"Captain Jim Agnihotri and his new bride, Diana Framji, return in Nev March's Peril at the Exposition, the follow up to March's award-winning, Edgar finalist debut, Murder in Old Bombay.

1893: Newlyweds Captain Jim Agnihotri and Diana Framji are settling into their new home in Boston, Massachusetts, having fled the strict social rules of British Bombay. It's a different life than what they left behind, but theirs is no ordinary marriage: Jim, now a detective at the Dupree Agency, is teaching Diana the art of deduction he’s learned from his idol, Sherlock Holmes.

Everyone is talking about the preparations for the World's Fair in Chicago: the grandeur, the speculation, the trickery. Captain Jim will experience it first-hand: he's being sent to Chicago to investigate the murder of a man named Thomas Grewe. As Jim probes the underbelly of Chicago’s docks, warehouses, and taverns, he discovers deep social unrest and some deadly ambitions.

When Jim goes missing, young Diana must venture to Chicago's treacherous streets to learn what happened. But who can she trust, when a single misstep could mean disaster?

Award-winning author Nev March mesmerized readers with her Edgar finalist debut, Murder in Old Bombay. Now, in Peril at the Exposition, she wields her craft against the glittering landscape of the Gilded Age with spectacular results."

I am ALL about the Chicago World's Fair!

I had read the previous book so I was excited to read this next one. This one starts out really slow and most of the book is that way until the last five chapters. I found myself becoming a little bored with it only because it was taking so long to unfold. I liked both main characters, Diana is strong and resilient. Jim is a man of many disguises. He reminds me of Sherlock Holmes.I am looking forward to the next one. I have to wonder if Abigail will be in it too, I want to know more about this character.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

Captain Jim Agnihotri and Diana Framji have married and moved to Boston. There they hope to escape the prejudice they experienced at home. Soon, Jim and Diana are putting their methods to the test to catch a killer at the World's Fair in Chicago. Fans of historical fiction and classic, traditional mysteries will enjoy it.

"The displacement of a little sand can change occasionally the course of a deep river." (Manuel Gonzalez Prada)

Peril at the Exposition proves just that. Nev March flips the setting of her latest novel in the Captain Jim Agnihotri Series from the exotic location of India to the crowded streets of Chicago during the World's Fair Columbia Exposition in 1893. We certainly have a deep course of change in location as well as a deep course of change in the roles of our main characters. Acceptable, but challenging......

Captain James Agnihotri and Diana Framji were recently married in India under raised eyebrows and unsettled feelings. Both of their backgrounds and their lineage seemed to evoke other courses for these two. (Murder in Old Bombay) But love and commitment tend to win out.

Jim is working undercover for the Dupree Agency out of Boston. Jim thinks that his bride is safely tucked away in their tiny apartment. When a German immigrant comes to their door with a mysterious letter, Diana knows that she must contact Jim immediately. But that entails leaving Boston for Chicago and picking up Jim's trail.

Chicago's World Fair was a grandiose affair with miles of exhibits displaying progress in industry and the sciences. Diana, born with an intuitive sense and lined with deep intelligence, is a solid match for her detective husband. She finds herself incorporating quite the little bunch of helpmates on her own within the streets of Chicago. As Diana digs deeper, she comes upon the knowledge that something is afoot involving anarchists, labor unions disputes, and a steel mill strike. The city and its inhabitants are in full-out danger.......most of all her beloved Jim. And nothing will stop her from defending and protecting both.

While I enjoyed Peril at the Exposition, it didn't have the aura that Murder in Old Bombay had. With Jim at the center of that one, we were introduced to so many levels of intrigue. Diana suddenly had a whole gamut of new skills sets that we were totally unaware of in the original book. The characters were deeply adjusted to fit the new setting of Chicago and the Gilded Age theme of anarchists and the like. (3.5 Stars kicked to 4 Stars)

But Nev March won me over with her superb writing. She caught the intensity of Chicago's 1890's time period of such unrest and the push and pull of danger. Now that we've established that Diana bears the disposition of a Sherlock Holmes intern, we're more than ready to see where Nev March will land her next adventure with these two high octane bloodhounds. Prepare for just that.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Minotaur Books and to Nev March for the opportunity.

I read and like March's debut novel, Murder in Old Bombay so I requested the follow up. This book, Captain Jim Agnihotri #2, takes: "Newlyweds Captain Jim Agnihotri and Diana Framji [who] are settling into their new home in Boston, Massachusetts, having fled the strict social rules of British Bombay." But, they don't stay there for long. Jim, now a detective at the Dupree Agency, is sent to Chicago where preparations for the World's Fair are in order. He is to investigate the murder of Thomas Grewe. Diana heads to Chicago as Jim is missing... And so it begins.

Jim has Anglicized his name--he is now James Agney [and Diana is often referred to as Lady Diana].

Set in 1893.

The historical parts about the World's Fair [the Exposition!], the times [unemployment, poverty, racial bias], the seedy side of Chicago were interesting, but not enough to keep me going. At times I plodded through.

Often told in alternate voices--Jim and Diana.

What was interesting--the role of Abigail/Martin. There also are many secondary characters--to name a few: Tobias, the Duprees, the Bellinos, Collin and Osain Box, Oscar Donnelly, Swami Vivekananda, "Wadja," and even Nikolai Tesla! And on and on.

Didn't like nearly as much as #1. Sometimes I felt I could walk away, but wanted to see how the "mystery" panned out.

In the distinct minority of readers.

Picking up where Murder in Old Bombay left off, the newlyweds, Captain Jim Agnihotri and Diana Framji, are settling into their new life in Boston. Jim is working as a detective when he gets an assignment in Chicago where preparations are under way for the World's Fair. When Diana doesn't hear from Jim, she sets off for Chicago. The rest of the novel revolves around finding Jim, Chicago's seedier side, the vast chasm between the haves and the have nots. As one has come to expect from this author, the plots are captivating and intertwined so well as to keep the reader for wanting more. Well done!

Peril at the Exposition by Nev March

The second installment of March’s Jim Agnihotri series is very different from the first in two big ways: Our narrator is not Jim (except for a few scattered chapters) but his new wife Diana, and they are no longer in India but in the U.S. The newlyweds have just moved to Boston, where Jim is working for a detective agency when he’s sent on assignment to Chicago, where the World’s Fair is about to take place. After weeks with no word, Diana fears for Jim’s life and decides to go to Chicago herself to find him. She is soon deeply entrenched in a case of murder, dynamite and anarchists.

While I didn’t mind the story coming from a new character, I was disappointed in the American setting. What was most interesting to me about the first book, Murder in Old Bombay, was its Indian setting and learning a bit about Indian history and culture. While I don’t mind when a series takes their characters to a new location, I think doing so in the second book is too soon, and there also wasn’t any indication that the characters would be returning to India for future books.

I also had trouble following the story, didn’t always understand why the Diana took the steps that she took or how certain conclusions were reached. Some things just didn’t feel clearly explained.

As a cis-het white woman, I don’t want to speak too much about the Black character, Tobias, or the trans character, Abigail, but I don’t think either got quite the care and attention they deserved. We learned almost nothing of their backstories and they both seemed to be there just as representation without being fully formed characters.

I don’t think I’ll read future books in the series. Now, a story with Abigail as the main character? That I would read.

A likable sleuth and a vivid portrayal of an interesting period of American history
Peril at the Exposition opens just as readers of Murder in Old Bombay were promised. Newlyweds Jim Agnihotri and Diana Framji have moved from Bombay to Boston, where Jim is working as an investigator for the Dupree Agency. A lot more has changed than the setting, though. Jim goes off to investigate a murder in Chicago, where the World’s Fair of 1893 is just beginning, and he disappears. Diana, accompanied by her colored assistant Tobias, goes to Chicago to find him. As a result, Diana is the narrator and the main player in the first part of the book, although later Jim also contributes some chapters.
The characters are definitely the best part of the book. I could have enjoyed simply reading about Jim and Diana and their relationship even without the mystery. I really felt the depth of Diana’s worry about her missing husband and the way they expressed their feelings about each other as part of their narration. I also enjoyed the character of Abigail Martin…or is it Martin A. B. Gale. The colored employee Tobias was also interesting and sympathetic, and I would have liked to get to know him better as a person and not just someone who valiantly overcomes victimhood.
As was true in Murder in Old Bombay, the setting added a lot to my enjoyment of the book. The Chicago World’s Fair was a showcase for the advances of nineteenth-century science and technology, and we see the competition between Edison and Tesla, between alternating and direct current. Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, and Eugene Debs, the socialist and trade unionist, are also influences in the book, although they do not play active roles. The book also shows the flip side of the optimism felt by the higher strata of society, the miseries of the lower working classes that led to activism in the causes of both trade unionism and anarchy.
Where the book disappointed me was in the plot at the center of the investigation. There is often a fine line between a plot that has surprises and one that seems not too plausible, between an investigation that is complex and one that is confusing. Most examples would be spoilers, so I will just cite the situation at the beginning of the book where Diana gets information that leads her to go to Chicago to find Jim. Her informant has a Chicago Post Office address for contacting Jim. Why didn’t Diane at least try to contact him at the post office before leaving or at least notify him that she was coming? And she sends her urchin helper Wadja off to the Chicago Worlds Fair to try to spot Jim, giving him only the most general description of what Jim looks like and the knowledge that Jim is a master of disguises. Despite the huge crowds at the Fair, Wadja, of course, identifies Jim and even tells Diana that he only comes to the Fair on Tuesdays.
The nicely drawn characters and interesting setting are enough to provide a good deal of enjoyment in Peril at the Exposition as long as you can suspend your disbelief on the plot.
I received an advance Review copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.

"Peril at the Exposition" is the follow-up to Nev March's first novel, "Murder in Old Bombay,' featuring Captain Jim Agnihotri. Jim and his new bride, Diana, have moved from India to America. Jim has started work as a private investigator, and is sent to Chicago for the 1893 World's Fair. After weeks of not hearing from Jim, Diana takes matters into her own hands and follows him from Boston to Chicago, where she finds danger and deceit.

I loved the first book, which was from Jim's POV. This novel is told alternately by Jim and Diana, which allows the reader to have more of the facts and background. Jim has, perhaps understandably, become a bit harder since his move to the States and embarking on a new career. While I applaud Diana's bravery and her ability to care for the less fortunate around her, I found her part of the investigation to be clumsy. I had difficulty believing that Jim couldn't get a message to her for all that time, and didn't feel like the story really needed her intervention. Her naivety imperiled those around her, as well as herself and Jim.

Still, the read was mostly enjoyable, for the story and the name-dropping of the like of Tesla. It also provided a window on the Expo and late 19th-century Chicago.

3/5 stars

I received an advance copy from St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Loved this and the era! There is nothing so American as the expositions we used to have
This is set in 1893 during the Chicago worlds fair - Captain Jim is investigating a murder that digs into the dark side of Chicago - when he goes missing his wife takes over - really kept the pages turning

I was a big fan of the first book in the series, Murder in Old Bombay. I especially enjoyed the Indian setting. In this book, Captain Agnihotri and his wife, Diana, have moved to Boston. But most of the book takes place in Chicago, the site of the 1893 Columbian Exposition.
Captain Agnihorti is now working for the Dupree Detective Agency and he is sent to Chicago to investigate a murder. When he doesn’t return after five weeks, Diana heads west to find him. The book focuses more on her than him - both POVs are put forward, but mostly hers. She employs a variety of mismatched characters in her search.
This story often required a suspension of belief, especially involving Diana’s ability to get around in Chicago. March has done her research concerning the unrest of the unemployed and underpaid and the anarchists who hoped to use men’s discontent to advance their cause. She weaves actual events into the story. And while that was interesting, the book just didn’t engage me the way the first did. The story often felt convoluted with a plethora of characters. The ending wasn’t easy to envision.
The writing is wonderfully descriptive. “But Chicago smoldered, oppressive, angry with a sense of something broken. Men swarmed the streets, crowded on corners, desperate families crammed into tenements.”
I will be happy to read the next in the series, if there is one.
My thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.