Mistress of Bhatia House

I've been meaning to read one Sujata Massey's mysteries set in 1920s India, featuring Perveen Mistry, daughter of a Parsi lawyer, who has read law herself at Oxford.  Mistress of Bhatia House (#1,148) is the third entry in this series.  Perveen is struggling to find a place in British-dominated Bombay to practice law alongside her father, but neither society will cooperate, refusing to let her sit for the Bar in either England or India.  She does what she can as a solicitor, but she cannot be in a courtroom.

Perveen is present at a fundraising tea for a new Women & Children's Hospital at a prominent Indian family's home in order to bring her sister-in-law's donation in person.  While there, she witnesses a child's garment catch fire, and his ayah throw herself on the boy to smother the flames.  She is badly burned in this act of heroism, but the family is reluctant to allow Sunanda treatment or rest.  Perveen happens to be at the police station later when she sees Sunanda brought in chains from a police wagon.  She's been arrested, and the more questions Perveen asks, the murkier the situation becomes.  No one can find any trace of the man who brought the official complaint against her, and to Perveen's ears, the circumstances seem suspicious.  She winds up bailing out Sunanda and bringing her home to the chaotic Mistry household with its newborn baby and feuding parents.  

A suspicious death, an unspeakable crime, and a society at odds with itself all make for an intriguing blend of mystery and social injustices woven into a story unlike anything else I have read.  I will definitely be tracking down Sujata Massey's first book in this series The Widows of Malabar Hill (which won the Agatha Award) to delve further into the Bombay of a century ago.  If you are looking for an excellent new mystery series, put these books on your list!