LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
Intense, smart, and sharp while also being warm, witty, and thoughtful, this is a historical crime thriller that I can recommend with heart and soul. I read Vaseem Khan’s charming and whimsical debut The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra from the Baby Ganesh Agency series, which was one of our Books of the Year in 2015. This is my first foray into the Malabar House series and I fell without hesitation into book four. I always love a series where each novel can be judged on its own merits while also fitting into the collective whole. If you’ve not already met these novels I can declare that you can easily read this as a standalone, but recommend returning to the first novel in the series in order to fully enjoy what has come before. Inspector Persis Wadia is charged with re-investigating the murder of a lawyer while James Whitby, sentenced to death but claiming his innocence, awaits his fate. Vaseem Khan is able to move with the lightest and most eloquent of touches through some of the darkest times of post-colonial India. He doesn’t shy away from the complex confusion and pain, it sits centre stage in the the story. I felt the most vivid sense of place, each word, each description hits with accuracy and paints a vibrant picture. The characters are fully-formed delights with the ability to conjure smirks or empathy. The humour comes with thoughtful contemplation, used to heighten understanding and emotion. A coiling plot gradually tightens its grip increasing tension before the ending hits with hammer-hard precision. A LoveReading Star Book and Liz Pick of the Month, Death of a Lesser God is a fiercely powerful and fabulously entertaining novel. I loved it!
Liz Robinson
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Death of a Lesser God Synopsis
In the fourth rip-roaring thriller in the award-winning Malabar House series, Persis and Archie travel to the old colonial capital of Calcutta, where they collide head-on with the prejudices and bloody politics of an era engulfed in flame.
Can a white man receive justice in post-colonial India?
Bombay, 1950
James Whitby, sentenced to death for the murder of prominent lawyer and former Quit India activist Fareed Mazumdar, is less than two weeks from a date with the gallows. In a last-ditch attempt to save his son, Whitby's father, arch-colonialist, Charles Whitby, forces a new investigation into the killing.
The investigation leads Inspector Persis Wadia of the Bombay Police to the old colonial capital of Calcutta, where, with the help of Scotland Yard criminalist Archie Blackfinch, she uncovers a possible link to a second case, the brutal murder of an African-American G.I. during the Calcutta Killings of 1946.
How are the cases connected? If Whitby didn't murder Mazumdar, then who did? And why?
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Press Reviews
Vaseem Khan Press Reviews
Beautifully written and a fascinating insight into the turbulence of post independence India - Peter May
'A sumptuous, brutal, heart-stopping thriller. Vaseem Khan writes with charm and wit, and an eye for detail that transports the reader entirely. I couldn't love this series more' CHRIS WHITAKER
'Post-partition India is subtle, intriguing and dynamic; the hero, Persis, is brave, intelligent and charming; the plot is complex and rewarding. I loved Death of a Lesser God' GREG MOSSE
'Blends a grippingly modern plot with gritty and unvarnished history. A vibrant thriller about belonging - and who gets to decide who belongs. A superb book and his best yet' WILLIAM SHAW
Breathless and brilliant, Death of a Lesser God propels Persis Wadia into dangerous and deadly new territory. Highly recommended!' D.V. BISHOP
'Crime fiction is a brilliant way of tackling social issues and, in Death of a Lesser God, Vaseem Khan delivers a masterclass in how it's done. Full of tension and political conflict, Khan brilliantly weaves in history and a deft portrait of post-Raj life in Bombay and Calcutta. The result is an immensely rich book' ALIS HAWKINS
'Tense, gripping and impressively plotted; Death of a Lesser God is historical fiction at its finest' WILLIAM RYAN
Author
About Vaseem Khan
Vaseem Khan first saw an elephant lumbering down the middle of the road in 1997 when he arrived in India to work as a management consultant. It was the most unusual thing he had ever encountered and served as the inspiration behind his series of crime novels. He returned to the UK in 2006 and now works at University College London for the Department of Security and Crime Science where he is astonished on a daily basis by the way modern science is being employed to tackle crime. Elephants are third on his list of passions, first and second being great literature and cricket, not always in that order.
Author photo © Nirupama Khan
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