Murder on Malabar Hill By Sujata Massey

Featuring: The Theme Of The Season "Magic, Mystery & Murders"

There is nothing stronger than a broken woman who has rebuilt herself. Irrespective of the era or the country, the society has always equipped itself with ways to clip a woman’s wings of freedom. Set in 1921, Bombay, British India, “Murder on Malabar Hill” is the story of Perveen Mistry. Massey’s character was inspired by India’s earliest women lawyers. Cornelia Sorabji of Poona, the first woman to sit the British Law exam in 1892 and Mithan Tata Lam of Bombay, who also read law at Oxford. Mithan was the first woman admitted to Bombay Bar in 1923. Perveen is a fictional take and Massey’s tribute to all these great women.

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The story progresses during the time when women were not accredited by the Bombay bar or anywhere in India to argue a case in court. So Perveen had to work as a solicitor in her father’s law firm. In Spite of having a degree of law from the Oxford University, she could not defend a case in front of a judge in India. In-fact she could not even mention her full name on her business card because it will give a hint to her gender and people might not even accept her services as a solicitor. For the society has never stopped doubting and belittling the ability of a woman. The plot begins with Perveen working on the will of the late Mr. Omar Farid, a rich mill owner, when she comes across an odd letter sent by the estate agent. The agent informs that the three widows of the deceased man are wishing to give up all their assets in the family charitable fund. But something in that letter triggers Perveen’s suspicion and she is intrigued to look into it. Further interrogation by her, unearths some ghastly revelations about how these three women, who were secluded from the world because they were practicing ‘purdah-nashins’, along with their four children were left at the mercy of a greedy, filthy household agent who kept on threatening them and inventing different ways to extort money under the ruse of his guardianship position.

The situation is so intense that it soon escalates to a murder. Even Perveen faces mortal peril, but nothing can deter her from apprehending the criminal. It is her bitter past that makes her especially devoted to championing and protecting women’s rights.

Through Perveen’s eyes, Massey has exposed the readers to the severe gender discrimination and the horrible nature of the patriarchal society that women from both the eastern as well as the western part of the world had to face in the 20th Century, in the name of religion and culture and how the law and order was and is still set with loop holes that always ends with giving the man an upper hand. The author skilfully shifts the plot’s timeline in between the chapters. The events of 1916 and 1917 shape who Perveen is in 1921 and you can’t help but feel proud of her. Her past that not only haunts her continuously but also strengthens her determination further, to stand up for others rights. This intriguing book with its tenacious lead will definitely convince you to go for the next book (The Satapur Moonstone) of the series.

In fact it’s a sad irony that I was reading this book during the week of India’s 73rd Independence celebration. The book’s timeline depicts that almost a century back the country was engaged in the freedom fighting movement against the exploitative British, and yet, sitting in 2020, I feel not much has changed since India still continues to be enslaved by corruption, only now it’s the Indian government that has replaced the white colonial masters.

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