Bombay, 1951. A political rally ends in tragedy when India’s first female police detective, Persis Wadia, kills a lone gunman as he attempts to assassinate the divisive new defence minister, a man calling for war with India’s new post-Independence neighbours.
With the Malabar House team tasked to hunt down the assassin’s co-conspirators – aided by agents from Britain’s MI6 security service – Persis is quickly relegated to the sidelines. But then she is given a second case, the burned body of an unidentified white man found on a Bombay beach. As she pursues both investigations – with and without official sanction – she soon finds herself headed to the country’s capital, New Delhi, a city where ancient and modern India openly clash.
Meanwhile, Persis’s colleague, Scotland Yard criminalist Archie Blackfinch, lies in a hospital fighting for his life as all around him the country tears itself apart in the prelude to war…
I'm delighted to be sharing my review of City of Destruction, the fifth book in Vaseem Khan's Malabar House series which is out today. Happy publication day, Vaseem!
Each new Malabar House book is such a treat to look forward to; this is invariably crime fiction at its most immersive, intriguing and entertaining, and in Peris Wadia, Vaseem Khan has a complex, compelling character who is as important and engaging as the mystery – or mysteries – she has to solve. I would recommend reading the books in order if possible to fully appreciate the superb ongoing development of India's first female police detective but readers who start here can still expect to enjoy a deftly plotted, multifaceted story.
Vaseem Khan's portrayal of post-Partition India is exceptional; the socio-political dynamics of a country struggling to determine its place in a rapidly changing world is seamlessly woven into the storyline, giving readers an eye-opening insight into often little known aspects of India's history. The memories of the bloody horrors of Partition still linger and in City of Destruction, the fragile relationship between India and Pakistan dominates the discourse, particularly as the bellicose new defence minister, Rafi Azad is spoiling for war. Persis prevents an assassin from killing Azad but after being questioned by MI6, who are working closely with India's own intelligence services, she is quickly sidelined from the investigation into identifying the young man's co-conspirators. Persis, however, is not a woman who will roll over and accept orders, regardless of where they come from – especially as she has such a personal interest in the case.
In his dying moments, the gunman handed her an amulet before uttering his final words, "City of destruction" and she is determined to discover what he meant. The clever juxtaposition between Persis's personal turmoil and that of the country is fascinating; having been persuaded to stay in the police force, Peris is still trying to figure out her own place in the world and although greater understanding and less animosity means an all-out war between her and the other officers at Malabar House is more unlikely than it was previously, her single-mindedness results in her bumping heads with them several times during the course of the novel. Persis might be a trailblazer but Vaseem Khan ensures she is never portrayed as an idealised representative and her flaws, most notably her reckless recalcitrance means she is shown to be simultaneously both courageous and selfish. Meanwhile, she also has a further, more emotional reason to feel a responsibility towards the investigation as the incident left Archie Blackfinch in a critical condition and fighting for his life in hospital. Her layers of guilt and startling revelations about his personal life finds her forced to reflect upon her feelings towards him and her vulnerability in her private moments is captured magnificently.
She is initially guilty of neglecting her investigation into the murder of an unnamed white man whose burned body was discovered on a beach but eventually her innate empathy towards others and her desire to achieve justice for her victims sees her uncover further tragic information about the victim. As well as being a candid exploration of India's past and present, City of Destruction also examines the perpetual exploitation of people across the world and there are some moving scenes throughout the book. However, while the subject matter is often intensely poignant or unsettlingly thought-provoking, there is humour interlaced throughout too and Vaseem Khan's descriptive wit is often delightfully Wodehousian in nature.
Persis must confront corruption, conspiracies, crime and chemistry, and as her investigation takes her on a dramatic visit to Delhi before returning to Bombay, the transportive sense of place which is such a trademark of this series is as vibrant as ever. City of Destruction is one of those beautifully written, intelligent and gripping books which makes me grateful to be a reader; it's an outstanding read and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
City of Destruction is published by Hodder & Stoughton, purchasing links can be found here.
About the Author
Vaseem Khan is the author of the upcoming Quantum of Menace, the first in a series featuring Q from the James Bond franchise. He is also the author of two award-winning crime series set in India, the Baby Ganesh Agency series set in modern Mumbai, and the Malabar House historical crime novels set in 1950s Bombay. His first book, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, was selected by the Sunday Times as one of the 40 best crime novels published 2015-2020, and is translated into 17 languages. The second in the series won the Shamus Award in the US. In 2018, he was awarded the Eastern Eye Arts, Culture and Theatre Award for Literature. In 2021, Midnight at Malabar House won the Crime Writers Association Historical Dagger, the world’s premier award for historical crime fiction. When he isn’t writing, he works at the Department of Security and Crime Science at University College London where he helps manage the Dawes Centre for Future Crime. Vaseem was born in England, but spent a decade working in India. Vaseem co-hosts the popular crime fiction podcast, The Red Hot Chilli Writers. In 2023, Vaseem was elected the first non-white Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association (the CWA), the oldest and largest association of crime writers in the UK.
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