Tag: historical crime fiction

The Lost Man Of Bombay by Vaseem Khan

The Lost Man of Bombay is the third in the Malabar House series set in Bombay 1950, featuring the intrepid Inspector Persis Wadia.

The discovery of the body of a white man found frozen in the foothills of near Dehra Dun plus two new murders of Europeans within days of each other grips the imagination of the city. As the first – and only – female police inspector, Persis Wadia has her work cut out for her. Not everyone is happy with the results of her research. Her investigation links the three deaths but she is missing vital clues, hindered by misogynist Inspector Oberoi, and aided by Met Police criminologist, Archie Blackfinch. As she fights the mutual attraction between her and Archie, she puts her own life on the line before resolving the mystery. 

With a deft hand, Khan recreates the world of India, post partition and British rule, in which the first female police inspector fights her own demons and prejudices. The balance of the personal and political is masterfully handled, perfectly interwoven in the intricate plot involving religious hypocrisy, family dilemmas, racial tensions and historical wrongs. If, like me, you enjoy solving clues and codes, you’ll love this series. The vibrancy of the city, the interplay of cultures and perfect characterisation make for a fascinating read.

The Lost Man of Bombay is published in hardback, paperback and ebook by Hodder & Stoughton. The previous two titles are Midnight at Malabar House – Winner of the CWA Historical Dagger 2021 – and The Dying Day.

Vaseem Khan was born in Newham but spent ten years working in India as a management consultant. As well as the Malabar House series, he is the author of the Baby Ganesh Agency series, of which the first book, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra was a Times bestseller, translated into 15 languages.

Chris Nickson

For many years Chris Nickson lived in the US, where he was a music journalist (among many other things). He now writes historical crime, mostly set in Leeds where he was born and raised, covering a range of era from the 1730s, all the way to the 1980s. Lately his focus has been on Simon Westow, an 1820s thief-taker, and Detective Superintendent Tom Harper, a working-class man who runs Millgarth police station in Leeds in the late 1800s/start of the 20th century.

Hi Chris how lovely to see you in my virtual cocktail lounge. What can I get you at the bar?

C: I’d love a cup of tea, please. No sugar, just the tiniest splash of milk.

Well that’s a first  but fortunately my teapot is at hand. So where did we first meet in real life?

C: We haven’t – at least not yet. Maybe sometime post-coronavirus, if such a time can exist.

Well I hope it does and I look forward to visiting Leeds some time. First impressions?

C: You’re a good writer, and a lovely genial soul.

That’s kind. Points in common?

C: Both crime writers, of a certain age, and our politics both seem to lie firmly on the left.

The last novel I read of yours was The Tin God, a Tom Harper Mystery, which I loved. Tell me about your latest book.

C: Last month The Mystery Press published The Anchoress of Chesterfield, which, as the title suggests, isn’t set in Leeds, but is the fourth in an occasional series set in medieval Chesterfield. I lived near there after I moved back to the UK and really like the place.

Set in the 1360s, it features John the Carpenter who has been happy to leave the investigation of death behind. For six years now he’s been content to work with wood. But times are growing desperate.

Then the coroner summons him to look at the mysterious death of an anchoress, a religious woman who lived in confined solitude. She’s been murdered. Her father is an important local landowner, a man of influence with the crown. He’s distraught, and the money he offers John to find the killer can solve his problems and leave his family comfortable for life. But the path to the truth leads John to places where he’s not welcome and in danger for his own life.

Sounds intriguing. What are you working on now?

C: There’s a new Simon Westow, To The Dark, coming at the end of December, and another Tom Harper set for the middle of next year. Publication has been delayed because of Covid. I’d completed another Tom Harper to follow that, now awaiting my revisions, and I’m 10k in yet another one, because the devil finds work for idle hands.

That’s some output! When you take a breath between books, what would be your dream panel (at any event) – subject, fellow panelists or a Q&A with someone you have met or would love to meet?

C: Raymond Chandler, Knut Hamsun, and another long chat about the blues with guitarist Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top. We once spent several hours discussing it on the phone.

Great choice. What are you most looking forward to when lockdown is finally lifted?

C: I’m not sure I trust this government to lift it safely, so I’ll hang back.

Is there anything lockdown has made you think about or want to do?

C: It’s certainly made me think a lot more about my own mortality, and the need to get the books written that I want to complete.

Thanks for joining me today, Chris. More tea?

You can find out more about Chris Nickson and his books here and follow him on Twitter @ChrisNickson2

Lesley Lodge

Today my guest is Lesley Lodge, prize-winning short story writer and author of Lights, Camera, Gallop which combines her love of film and horses. Her first crime book, Wayland’s Revenge, is a historical novel set during the Siege of Colchester.

Lesley, welcome to my virtual cocktail lounge. What can I get you at the bar?

L: Let me think… I’ll have a Dark and Stormy please. Cheers!

So where did we first meet in real life?

L: In real life we met in the 1990s in East Dulwich, South London – so in both the time and the place of your Hannah Weybridge novels. I hope I haven’t inspired you in any criminal way…

That would be telling. What were your first impressions?

L: I thought what a welcoming person! I watched you take command of a meeting and realised you were someone who could judge characters well. I was soon to catch on to your creative side too.

We’ve known each other a long time so we must have quite a lot in common?

L: We had kids of the same age and journalism. I’d been a journalist for a Middle Eastern business magazine and at that time was cracking out articles on, well, housing regeneration. Actually, there is a very real connection between poor housing, Peckham and gangs. You were freelancing for all kinds of magazines and publications. We both had ambitions to write THE great novel, if only the kids would settle quietly…

What are you most looking forward to when lockdown is finally lifted?

L: Well what I’ve missed most so far, in the writing world, is the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. Hopefully it will be revived in 2021.

I think you’ve been to Harrogate every year. I’ve never got there but we did both make it to CrimesFest which was fun. What would be your dream panel (at any event) – subject, fellow panelists or a Q&A with someone you have met or would love to meet?

L: I’d love to get Don Winslow, Stephen King and Val McDermid together on a panel. They’re all fabulously enthralling writers – and they’ve all been clear [if I may be just a tiny bit political here] about the leaders who’ve not led us well on Coronavirus on either side of the Atlantic.

Oh be as political as you like and have another drink as you tell us about your latest book.

L: So Wayland’s Revenge is set in 1648, a time of bitter civil wars in England. Wayland, the village blacksmith, returns from army service to find his wife, Rebecca, murdered and his son traumatised. Wayland’s overpowering desire for revenge is thwarted by the collapse of laws and a dearth of clues to her sadistic killer.  Wayland sets out on a perilous journey to find the killer, taking with him his son Jonathan and Alun, a canny Welsh baker. But just as they find their first suspect, they are trapped in the brutal Siege of Colchester, facing ever more dangerous challenges. Wayland, Alun and Jonathan must draw on all their strengths, devise new strategies and make agonising decisions, if they are to stay alive and find the real killer before he strikes again. It’s out in paperback, kindle and audiobook.

I don’t read many historicals but I must say I was totally gripped by Wayland’s Revenge. What are you working on now?

L: My longer-term project is to write a sequel for Wayland’s Revenge. I think this one will be set in the dark, dank Fens in the seventeenth century.  Wayland might just get caught up as slave labour for Cromwell’s project to drain the fen. But in the meantime, I’m working on a memoir about my misadventures in the 1970s. I have a 320 page first draft of that so far.

Well editing that will keep you busy during lockdown! Is there anything this time of pandemic has made you think about or want to do?

L: Run outside waving my arms manically… And head for a train to London.

And I’ll be there to meet you for a real drink. Lesley, thank you for joining me today and please get on with the sequel to Wayland’s Revenge.

You can find out more about Lesley Lodge and her work hereand follow her on Twitter @LesleyLodge