Murder Under a Red Moon by Harini Nagendra: A review

This is the second book in the Bangalore Detectives Club series and the second book by Harini Nagendra that I have read. The books feature newly wed amateur sleuth Kaveri Murthy. The events of this book take place a few weeks after Kaveri has solved her first case and become well-known as a lady detective in 1920s Bangalore.

As the new bride of the local doctor, Kaveri is trying to work out her relationship with her mother-in-law and so when the mother-in-law's cousin, Shanti Sharma, wants to enlist her help in finding out who has been embezzling money from her husband's factory, Kaveri feels she cannot refuse. But when she goes to the factory at the appointed time to meet with Mr. Sharma, she finds him dead. Not only has he been murdered but he is holding a chain belonging to Kaveri in his hands.

Obviously, someone is trying to implicate Kaveri in his murder, but why? And who could it be? Has Shanti rid herself of an unwanted husband and set up Kaveri to take the fall? Or could it be her stepdaughter Chitra who was being forced against her will to get married? And then there is that very suspicious swami who Kaveri believes cannot be trusted. There seems to be no shortage of possible suspects.

Kaveri is Hindu but she has become good friends with the local policeman, a Muslim named Ismail. Nagendra manages to include colorful descriptions of the culture of the region and to explore the differences between Hinduism and Islam which later caused so much conflict. 

She is able to reveal the culture and the differences through her descriptions of the people whom Kaveri enlists in her "posse" which includes such diverse people as a prostitute and a policeman's wife. There are even a couple of street urchins who seem to have appointed themselves as her helpers. 

Kaveri has also assumed the role of teacher to help her women neighbors learn how to read and write. There are, in fact, several subplots playing out here which added interest and complications to the main story. 

In the Bangalore of the 1920s, anti-British sentiment is on the rise, the women's suffrage movement is growing in influence, and a religious leader's sway over his followers continues to expand. It makes for an unpredictable and dangerous atmosphere, but Kaveri is undeterred! Her curiosity and her determination will not let her give up on any mystery until she has solved it. I foresee an interesting future as a detective for her.

The Bangalore Detectives Club by Harini Nagendra

This is the first in a planned series of historical crime fiction books set in the 1920s in India. It is an India that is still under British rule, but protests against that rule are beginning to grow. This is very much the state of things during that period in the busy city of Bangalore in the state of Mysore. 

We see it all through the eyes of Kaveri, a young bride who has recently moved to Bangalore to be with her husband who is a doctor there. He is Dr. Ramu Murthy and he works at the Bowring Hospital run by Dr. Charles Roberts.

Kaveri is obsessed with mathematics and is apprehensive about how her interest will be perceived by her new husband, but fortunately, he is quite progressive and has an ego capable of withstanding his wife's other passions. Her mother-in-law is not nearly so progressive in her outlook and she demands that her daughter-in-law adhere to the strict societal expectations of women in that period, to forego education and center their lives around a man and the children that they have together.

As Kaveri becomes settled in her new life, she continues studying mathematics on her own and hopes to attend college and study formally. At the same time, she is establishing a circle of friends that cross all barriers of caste and class. This is a thing almost unheard of in an India that is strictly ruled socially by stringent adherence to caste.

Kaveri's insatiable curiosity and sense of community lead her to investigate the murder of a local pimp called Ponnuswamy. The murder occurred at a dinner that she attended at the local Century Club. She is certain that the wrong person is being accused of the murder and is determined to prove it. The police investigation is led by Detective Inspector Ismail who actually seems open to Kaveri's inquiries. Perhaps the two can work together to see that justice is served.

I very much liked the characters introduced in this book by Harini Nagendra. Kaveri, in particular, I found very relatable and someone that I might enjoy having as a friend. It's just that kind of feeling that one would want for the main character in a cozy mystery. Though this book definitely falls in the cozy mystery category, it also has quite a lot of information about that fraught period in Indian history. I suppose it might best be called "cozy historical fiction."