Book cover of A Murder at Malabar Hill

Book description

Winner and Top Pick of the 2019 American Library Association Reading List for Mystery
Winner of the 2019 Mary Higgins Clark Award
Winner of the 2019 Lefty Award for Best Historical Novel
Winner of the the 2018 Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel
Finalist for the 2019 Shamus Award
Finalist…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked A Murder at Malabar Hill as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

A Murder at Malabar Hill is a murder mystery that offers a fascinating insight into Indian culture in the 1920s.

The story takes place in Bombay, where the character of Perveen Mistry is the city's first female lawyer. The cultural and social challenges she faces as a woman in a male-dominated profession are woven into the story, as well as the complexities of India's caste system.

Through Perveen's interactions with her clients, we learn about the intricacies of Islamic and Hindu marriage laws, the importance of family honour, and the difficulties faced by women in traditional Indian society. I found…

Meet Perveen Mistry, the first female solicitor in 1921 Mumbai. In this book, she meets three widows who have inexplicably signed away their inheritance from their husband. As a lawyer, she’s curious. As a woman, she is the only person with legal training who is allowed to see them, since they practice purdah (where women stay secluded, only venturing out heavily veiled).

What follows is a murder mystery but through it, and through Perveen’s backstory, it is also an exploration of society’s expectations of women and the influence of the British in India. As an Indian, a woman, and a…

If you love A Murder at Malabar Hill...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Want books like A Murder at Malabar Hill?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like A Murder at Malabar Hill.

Browse books like A Murder at Malabar Hill

Book cover of The Woman in White
Book cover of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Book cover of Gaudy Night

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,340

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like A Murder at Malabar Hill, you might also like...

Book cover of Foxfire in the Snow

Foxfire in the Snow by J.S. Fields,

It's a time of change, between magic and alchemy.

Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…

Book cover of The Main Gate

The Main Gate by Yvonne Kjorlien,

Dr. Elise Marquette has spent years burying the past—until the past refuses to stay buried.

Hired to join Earth’s first interstellar contact team, she hopes the vastness of space will finally offer distance from the ghosts of war and the wounds left by a mother who never let her be…

5 book lists we think you will like!