Editorial Content for A Very Pukka Murder: The First Maharajah Mystery
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
The Maharaja of Rajpore, Sikander Singh, retains his fabulous wealth and ancestral palace and grounds, along with his Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost in which he roars around the village to the terror of the locals. His duties at the apex of the British Imperialism era have been reduced to the strictly ceremonial activities of attending public events or entertaining visiting personages. This young man of many wasted talents (he is a superbly talented pianist) and impressive education is colossally bored with his life as a symbol of times past.
"This Indian/British history/mystery is a delight for fans of old-fashioned closed-door murders.... Enthusiasts of historical fiction teemed with mystery will delight in this first-time novelist..."
The year is 1909. The Maharaja may have been stripped of his legal powers, but never of his dignity or insatiable curiosity for unsolved riddles. When Major William Russell, the English resident of the icy northern Punjab principality of Rajpore, is found dead behind the locked doors of his chambers, local British authorities hasten to rule it a suicide. The Maharaja, who sees the body of the poisoned man, suspects foul play and promptly sets in motion his own investigation of what he believes is a case of murder. With the aid of his hulking Sikh manservant, Charan Singh, they gather evidence and begin interviewing the many suspects who may have had a motive to kill him. The man’s increasingly checkered past is revealed as they uncover the reasons why someone would like to see him dead, while the British authorities continue to be disinclined to pursue the matter.
A VERY PUKKA MURDER is a mystery of the old school. The word “pukka” is one of those convenient adjectives with meanings that range from “genuine” or “solid” to the more recent slang version “cool,” according to Merriam-Webster. Yes, I had to look it up. Author Arjun Raj Gaind manages to use every connotation of the word amusingly during the Maharaja’s distinctive methodology for mystery solving. The political culture clash between the statesman-like Maharaja, who must cavalierly brush off the crude language and insulting treatment by the British towards himself and his Indian native population, mixed with his often amusing and energetic pursuit of justice, leads to a rousing denouement. It creates a tandoori dish, well-seasoned and tasty, for those who enjoy Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie with a touch of Rudyard Kipling stirred in for good measure.
This Indian/British history/mystery is a delight for fans of old-fashioned closed-door murders. It is complete with the gathering of suspects by the detective in charge, in this case the irascible and determined Maharaja. Enthusiasts of historical fiction teemed with mystery will delight in this first-time novelist, who is developing his own backlist right up front with a jacket cover that teases “The First Maharaja Mystery.”
Teaser
When Major William Russell’s valet knocks on his bedroom door the morning after the 1909 New Year’s Ball and receives no response, he and the Major’s elderly secretary eventually task the English Commandant of Cavalry with breaking it down. The Resident is dead in his bed. The fabulously wealthy Maharaja, Sikander Singh, cannot resist an enigma. Wielding careful and deliberate logic to crack puzzles that leave less intelligent men confounded, he overcomes obstacles, false trails, and the growing hostility of the English Establishment. Will the Maharaja work through a surplus of suspects and motives before the British shut him down and cover up the truth about the Major’s death?
Promo
When Major William Russell’s valet knocks on his bedroom door the morning after the 1909 New Year’s Ball and receives no response, he and the Major’s elderly secretary eventually task the English Commandant of Cavalry with breaking it down. The Resident is dead in his bed. The fabulously wealthy Maharaja, Sikander Singh, cannot resist an enigma. Wielding careful and deliberate logic to crack puzzles that leave less intelligent men confounded, he overcomes obstacles, false trails, and the growing hostility of the English Establishment. Will the Maharaja work through a surplus of suspects and motives before the British shut him down and cover up the truth about the Major’s death?
About the Book
From the borders of icy Kashmir to the shark-infested shores of the Malabar Coast, Major William Russell, the English Resident of the small, princely state of Rajpore, is renowned as a straitlaced man of rigorous habit. When his valet knocks on his bedroom door the morning after the 1909 New Year’s Ball and receives no response, he and the Resident’s elderly secretary eventually task the English Commandant of Cavalry with breaking it down. The Resident is dead in his bed.
His Highness Farzand-i-Khas-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia Mansur-i-Zaman Maharaja Sikander Singh, Light of Heaven, Sword of Justice, Shield of the Faithful, sole ruler of Rajpore, is slow to rise after the night of revelry. But news of the murder galvanizes him. The fabulously wealthy Maharaja, who perforce has surrendered much of his authority to the British, is a man of indolent habit although he keeps himself thoroughly fit. A lover of luxury cars and beautiful women, his deepest passion is for mysteries. He cannot resist an enigma, relishing a riddle and the rush of resolving it. Like August Dupin and Sherlock Holmes, Sikander wields careful and deliberate logic to crack puzzles that leave less intelligent men confounded. Here is such an opportunity, and well timed --- for the Maharaja, resigned to another year of indolence, is almost fatally bored.
Abandoning the lavish comforts of his ornate palace, Sikander orders his massive manservant Charan Singh into his Silver Ghost and speeds to the insular English settlement. Despite the objections of the local Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police, he works the crime scene and deduces that Resident was poisoned by a massive dose of strychnine.
As a clock starts ticking --- the British authorities dispatch their own investigator from Simla --- Sikander overcomes obstacles, false trails and the growing hostility of the English Establishment, while learning that Major Russell was not as pukka, as proper, as he liked to pretend. Will the Maharaja work through a surplus of suspects and motives before the British shut him down and cover up the truth about the Major’s death?
Arjun Gaind’s clever, fascinating debut introduces an elegant new detective in the tradition of Lord Peter Wimsey, while painting a scathing portrait of the British Raj.
