Soho Crime

Naomi Hirahara: Crown City

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Japantown #3

I’ve enjoyed all the books in this series, but in some ways I would say Naomi Hirahara is almost more of an historian than a mystery writer, evidenced by this latest installment of this extremely enjoyable series. There is in fact a mystery in Crown City, but the time period and setting are the real stars of the show. Another attraction is main character, Ryui Wada, an accomplished carpenter who emigrated to America from Yokohama in 1903 after the death of his father.  Although he has a job waiting for him, he’s just 18, speaks little English, and has a lot to learn, something that’s brought home when he discovers Pasadena, the “Crown City,” a place that astonishes, fascinates and horrifies. read more

Sujata Massey: The Star from Calcutta

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Perveen Mistry #5

One of the best written and smartest historical series being created these days are the books by Sujata Massey featuring female lawyer Perveen Mistry, who navigates the turbulent waters of India in the twenties. While never giving way to scolding polemic, the issues Perveen experiences become an organic part of the story, allowing Massey to highlight women’s issues in a way that resonates with the reader of today.

More of a straight up traditional mystery than some other instalments but no less enjoyable for it, The Star from Calcutta opens, with Perveen and her father – whose firm she works for – meeting with a movie producer named Subhas.  He’s worried that his most bankable star (and wife) is in breach of contract and asks them to see what they can do to resolve the issue, inviting Perveen to a party and screening at his home slash movie studio to see what she can uncover. read more

Cara Black: Huguette

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I was very eagerly awaiting this book, which marries Cara Black’s interest in Paris and WWII with a great new female central character.  Black has made her name with her Aimée Leduc series featuring a private detective in 1990s Paris.  Her new book takes us back to the war where we discover, along with titular character Huguette, Aimée’s grandfather Claude, founder of the Leduc Detective Agency.  When the book opens, though, Claude is a policeman, or flic, just trying to hold on to his job. read more

James R. Benn: A Bitter Wind

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Billy Boyle #20

This series is still enjoyable twenty books in, and while Benn’s fictional WWII may have now lasted longer than the real one, the latest book demonstrates that there are still many unexamined aspects to be explored, among them the dramatization what a complex and far reaching conflict it was, and how many different types of battlefields there were.  The story begins with the then nascent tactic of radio jamming, where radio waves were used to jam German signals, diverting or stopping attacks. read more

Nilima Rao: A Shipwreck in Fiji

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Sgt. Akal Singh #2

This series takes the reader on a journey to the complex society of Fiji in 1915.  At that time the island was naturally populated by Fijians, but there also by many Indians who had been imported as indentured labor, some of whom chose to stay on the island after working through their service.  Since the islands were a colony at the time, there’s the added ingredient of the British overlords, the mixture sometimes finding a hard time cohering.

Main character, Sergeant Akal Singh, is stationed in the capitol, Suva, but he’s come to Fiji from Hong Kong (originally from the Punjab) somewhat under a cloud.  He’s still on a short leash as far as his commanding officer is concerned and given what he views as a simple babysitting job.  He’s to escort two Australian ladies aiming to clean out the home of their brother and uncle, the newspaper editor in Suva on the island of Ovalau. He’s also to check out one Constable Kumar, an incredibly young, inexperienced, and slightly hysterical young man who claims to have seen Germans on the island, which, as world war was raging at the time, is something to be investigated. Accompanying Akal is his second in command, a native of Ovalau named Taviti. read more

Maha Khan Phillips: The Museum Detective

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Dr. Gul Delani is an art historian working at the Museum of History and Heritage in Karachi, Pakistan.  She has basically forced her way into the museum by more or less creating her own department and curating her own staff of eager grad students.  When she gets a middle of the night phone call, she thinks it’s information about her long missing niece, Mahnaz, who had vanished at 15, but instead, it’s an order to get dressed and get in a car for a long ride. When she arrives, she’s asked to take a look at what could possibly be the mummy of a legendary princess of Persepolis. read more

James R. Benn: The Phantom Patrol

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Billy Boyle #19

War is hell. In his gentle, narrative manner, James R. Benn has demonstrated through 19 and counting Billy Boyle novels this harsh verity. All of them, in their own way, are excellent, some of them more traditionally structured mysteries, like the locked room puzzler The Red Horse (2020) or the English village set Proud Sorrows (2023). But they all take place during WWII and feature at least one bravura battle or action scene.  Book 19 is set during the Battle of the Bulge, and even though hostilities would end several months later, Billy finds himself still in the thick of things. read more

Andromeda Romano-Lax: The Deepest Lake

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Standalone

This was an unexpected read.  Set in Guatemala on the shores of Lake Atitlán, the story follows the drowning death of young Jules.  The way into the story is through her mother, Rose’s, unfathomable grief at the loss of her daughter.  The lake is deeper than Lake Michigan (to put it in context) and Jules’ body has not been found.  Her father went first to search, and with his military training and willingness to work with local law enforcement he gets a certain number of facts, but Rose wants to somehow live into the place where her daughter was last seen and feel her way into a solution.  It’s almost a perfect split of the stereotypical male and female ways of approaching a problem. read more

Naomi Hirahara: Evergreen

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Japantown #2

The follow up to Hirahara’s spectacular Clark and Division finds the Ito family, released from detention camp and the follow up resettlement in Chicago, back in 1946 Los Angeles.  After the Japanese were sent to camps, their homes and businesses were taken over, and they’ve returned to try and build up their lives again.  Our heroine, Aki, works as a nurse’s aide and is waiting for her husband Art to return from the war.  She and her parents have found a small home to rent which the two couples will share. read more

Sujata Massey: The Mistress of Bhatia House

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Perveen Mistry #4

The much anticipated return of Sujata Massey’s Perveen Mistry is well worth the wait.  It opens with this wonderful sentence: “Sisters will fight. It’s true whether they are raised together or meet as sisters-in-law in a joint family household.”  It sets the tone and theme for the novel, which is about the power of female connection.  And murder, of course.

Perveen the only female lawyer in 1920’s Bombay, lives with her family after a disastrous marriage.  As the book opens, she’s attending a fund-raising party for a new women’s hospital at Bhatia House. Her sister-in-law and former best friend, Gulnaz, has just given birth to the family’s first granddaughter, and she cannot attend.  In her stead, Perveen is bringing Gulnaz’s donation. read more