Perveen Mistry Mysteries Series
Written by Sujata Massey
Narrated by Sneha Mathan and Soneela Nankani
4/5
()
About this series
Perveen is attending a lavish fundraiser for a new women’s hospital specializing in maternal health issues when she witnesses an accident. The grandson of an influential Gujarati businessman catches fire—but a servant, his young ayah, Sunanda, rushes to save
him, selflessly putting herself in harm’s way. Later, Perveen learns that Sunanda, who’s still ailing from her burns, has been arrested on trumped-up charges made by a man who doesn’t seem to exist.
Perveen cannot stand by while Sunanda languishes in jail with no hope of justice.
She takes Sunanda as a client, even inviting her to live at the Mistry home in Bombay’s Dadar Parsi colony. But the joint family household is already full of tension. Perveen’s father worries about their law firm taking so much personal responsibility for a client, and her
brother and sister-in-law are struggling to cope with their new baby. Perveen herself is going through personal turmoil as she navigates a taboo relationship with a handsome former civil service officer.
When the hospital’s chief donor suddenly dies, both Sunanda and a female doctor become suspects. Will Perveen be able to prove their innocence without endangering her own family?
Titles in the series (4)
- The Widows of Malabar Hill
1
Introducing an extraordinary female lawyer-sleuth in a new historical series set in 1920s Bombay! Bombay, 1921: Perveen Mistry, the daughter of a respected Zoroastrian family, has just joined her father's law firm, becoming one of the first female lawyers in India. Armed with a law degree from Oxford, Perveen also has a tragic personal history that makes her especially devoted to championing and protecting women's legal rights. Mistry Law has been appointed to execute the will of Mr. Omar Farid, a wealthy Muslim mill owner who has left three widows behind. But as Perveen is going through the paperwork, she notices something strange: all three of the wives have signed over their full inheritance to a charity. What will they live on if they forfeit what their husband left them? Perveen is suspicious, especially since one of the widows has signed her form with an X-meaning she probably couldn't even read the document. The Farid widows live in full purdah-in strict seclusion, never leaving the women's quarters or speaking to any men. Are they being taken advantage of by an unscrupulous guardian? Perveen tries to investigate, and realizes her instincts about the will were correct when tensions escalate to murder. Now it is her responsibility to figure out what really happened on Malabar Hill, and to ensure that no innocent women or children are in further danger. Inspired in part by a real woman who made history by becoming India's first female lawyer, The Widows of Malabar Hill is a richly wrought story of multicultural 1920s Bombay as well as the debut of a sharp and promising new sleuth, Perveen Mistry.
- The Satapur Moonstone
2
India, 1922: It is rainy season in the lush, remote Satara mountains southeast of Bombay, where the kingdom of Satapur is tucked away. A curse seems to have fallen upon Satapur's royal family, whose maharaja died of a sudden illness shortly before his teenage son was struck down in a tragic accident. The kingdom is now ruled by an agent of the British Raj on behalf of Satapur's two maharanis, the dowager queen and the maharaja's widow. The royal ladies are in dispute over the education of the young crown prince, and a lawyer's council is required-but the maharanis live in purdah and do not speak to men. Just one person can help them: Perveen Mistry, India's only female lawyer. Perveen is determined to bring peace to the royal house and make a sound recommendation for the young prince's future, but knows she is breaking a rule by traveling alone as a woman into the remote countryside. And she arrives to find that the Satapur palace is full of cold-blooded power plays and ancient vendettas. Too late, she realizes she has walked into a trap. But whose? And how can she protect the royal children from the palace's deadly curse?
- The Bombay Prince
3
November, 1921. Edward VIII, Prince of Wales and future ruler of India, is arriving in Bombay to begin a fourmonth tour. The Indian subcontinent is chafing under British rule, and Bombay solicitor Perveen Mistry isn’t surprised when local unrest over the royal arrival spirals into riots. But she’s horrified by the death of Freny Cuttingmaster, an eighteen-year-old female Parsi student, who falls from a second-floor gallery just as the prince’s grand procession is passing by her college. Freny had come for a legal consultation just days before her death, and what she confided makes Perveen suspicious that her death was not an accident. Feeling guilty for failing to have helped Freny in life, Perveen steps forward to assist Freny’s family in the fraught dealings of the coroner’s inquest. When Freny’s death is ruled a murder, Perveen knows she can’t rest until she sees justice done. But Bombay is erupting: as armed British secret service march the streets, rioters attack anyone with perceived British connections and desperate shopkeepers destroy their own wares so they will not be targets of racial violence. Can Perveen help a suffering family when her own is in danger?
- The Mistress of Bhatia House
4
India, 1922: Perveen Mistry is the only female lawyer in Bombay, a city where child mortality is high, birth control is unavailable and very few women have ever seen a doctor. Perveen is attending a lavish fundraiser for a new women’s hospital specializing in maternal health issues when she witnesses an accident. The grandson of an influential Gujarati businessman catches fire—but a servant, his young ayah, Sunanda, rushes to save him, selflessly putting herself in harm’s way. Later, Perveen learns that Sunanda, who’s still ailing from her burns, has been arrested on trumped-up charges made by a man who doesn’t seem to exist. Perveen cannot stand by while Sunanda languishes in jail with no hope of justice. She takes Sunanda as a client, even inviting her to live at the Mistry home in Bombay’s Dadar Parsi colony. But the joint family household is already full of tension. Perveen’s father worries about their law firm taking so much personal responsibility for a client, and her brother and sister-in-law are struggling to cope with their new baby. Perveen herself is going through personal turmoil as she navigates a taboo relationship with a handsome former civil service officer. When the hospital’s chief donor suddenly dies, both Sunanda and a female doctor become suspects. Will Perveen be able to prove their innocence without endangering her own family?
More audiobooks from Sujata Massey
The Usual Santas: A Collection of Soho Crime Christmas Capers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Perveen Mistry Mysteries
Related audiobooks
The Murder of Mr. Ma Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Widows of Malabar Hill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Satapur Moonstone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mistress of Bhatia House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Flower Master Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Miles Off Course Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Murder in the Manuscript Room Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Now You See Us: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sleeping Dictionary Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Decline in Prophets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Taste of Ginger: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Few Right Thinking Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Disappearance in Fiji Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dangerous Language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Salaryman's Wife Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5All the Tears in China Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Will to Kill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grave on Grand Avenue Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fourteenth of September: A Novel Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Murder on Bamboo Lane Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSuncatcher Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hotel Neversink Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Zen Attitude Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Illuminations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGive the Devil His Due Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Best Polish Restaurant in Buffalo Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Under a Red Moon Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Bombay Prince Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5City of Veils: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Mystery For You
Did I Kill You?: A Thriller Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unexpected Guest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Sherlock Holmes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When No One Is Watching: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silence of the Lambs: 25th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Listen for the Lie: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Woman in the Library, The Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The River We Remember: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heaven’s Crooked Finger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hit and Run Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marple: Twelve New Mysteries Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mother-Daughter Murder Night: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Lies in the Woods: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tell No One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hallowe'en Party: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Tender Land Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crooked House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death on the Nile: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One for the Money: A Stephanie Plum Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Grace Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Altered Carbon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finlay Donovan Is Killing It: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Perveen Mistry Mysteries
512 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I love Sujata Massey’s writing. Her books manage to teach me a lot about Colonial India while retaining the fun elements that I love in cozy mysteries. I can’t wait for the next one!