Murder in Old Bombay

Murder in Old Bombay, by Nev March, is set in 1890s Bombay, so slightly before The Widows of Malabar Hill. But the setting is still very similar, with British-educated Parsees living in Bombay and the rumblings of Home Rule, and a complex murder to solve.

Captain James Agnihotri is an Anglo-Indian, just out of the army on a medical discharge, and a Sherlock Holmes fan. He reads a newspaper story while recovering in the hospital, and learns of two young women who fell to their deaths under strange circumstances.  The two women were the daughter-in-law and adopted daughter of the wealthy Framji family, and by all accounts, happy, loved, young women.  Adi Framji, the widower, remains convinced that his wife had no reason to commit suicide and refuses to accept the verdict of suicide.

Something about this story intrigues Jim, and once out of the hospital, he gets himself hired by Adi and the Framjis to investigate these deaths. This can’t be an official investigation, since the case is formally closed, and too much prying will offend the investigators, lawyers and judge who oversaw the ruling.   There’s a lot going on politically, with some regions of India directly under British rule, some regions under Indian rulers with tacit British backing or formal approvals, and some independent or even rebel areas. The British army is still present even in peaceful areas, able to commandeer trains or other supplies when needed.  This whole situation means that there’s no easy calling the police and hauling the accused into court. Whose court? And who’ll get a fair trial in court? And what will happen to Jim and the Framjis, if this investigation begins to cast shadows on important figures?

Jim is half Indian and half British, and even without his complex Sherlock disguises, he’s able to move between both worlds. Well-dressed with a good haircut, he can name-drop at the upscale expat club or use his army pull to make demands. Once he adds his disguises and his fluency in local dialects, Jim’s investigation takes him all over, and the almost travelogue descriptions of neighborhoods and communities are such a pleasure to read.

I loved the Sherlock Holmes references throughout Murder in Old Bombay. Although Jim consciously emulates his literary idol in his disguises or logical methods, he doesn’t seem to see the connection between his band of young children and Holmes’ Baker Street Irregulars. It was the first sign (for me at least) that our Jim may not be the most self-aware narrator. As he becomes closer to Adi, Diana, and the rest of the Framji family, Jim’s own secrets and past begin to connect. 

Murder in Old Bombay is a layered mystery, involving complicated questions of loyalty and identity, with fun nods to Arthur Conan Doyle throughout.

For more Sherlock-inspired fiction, try Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Undead Client or A Study in Silks, for fun revisiting of the beloved Holmes stories. For historical mystery, Murder At The Mena House and The Woman on the Orient Express both blend a descriptive travelogue with a page-turning mystery.