Download The Satapur Moonstone Audible Audio Edition Sujata Massey Sneha Mathan Recorded Books Books
Download As PDF : The Satapur Moonstone Audible Audio Edition Sujata Massey Sneha Mathan Recorded Books Books
India, 1922 It is rainy season in the lush, remote Satara mountains southeast of Bombay, where the kingdom of Satapur is tucked away. A curse seems to have fallen upon Satapur's royal family, whose maharaja died of a sudden illness shortly before his teenage son was struck down in a tragic accident.Â
The kingdom is now ruled by an agent of the British Raj on behalf of Satapur's two maharanis, the dowager queen and the maharaja's widow. The royal ladies are in dispute over the education of the young crown prince, and a lawyer's council is required - but the maharanis live in purdah and do not speak to men.Â
Just one person can help them Perveen Mistry, India's only female lawyer. Perveen is determined to bring peace to the royal house and make a sound recommendation for the young prince's future, but knows she is breaking a rule by traveling alone as a woman into the remote countryside. And she arrives to find that the Satapur palace is full of cold-blooded power plays and ancient vendettas. Too late, she realizes she has walked into a trap. But whose? And how can she protect the royal children from the palace's deadly curse?
Download The Satapur Moonstone Audible Audio Edition Sujata Massey Sneha Mathan Recorded Books Books
"This is the second Sujata Massey mystery featuring Parsi woman lawyer Perveen Mistry. I loved the first book, The Widows of Malabar Hill – and The Satapur Moonstone keeps up the momentum of the series beautifully.
The setting is the fictional state of Satapur, which was subject to the authority of Britain’s Kolhapur Agency. The agency’s job was to oversee the lives of royals in many small princely states in Western India.
A dispute has arisen between the mother and the grandmother of the ten-year-maharaja on the subject of his education. One wants the boy to stay home and keep studying with the aging palace tutor. The other wants him sent to England for a thorough course of study.
Perveen is sent to assess the situation. No male arbiter can hope to be allowed into the zenana to talk to the disputing women. As she investigates, Perveen finds a disturbing history of mysterious and sudden deaths among male heirs to the throne and hears rumors of poisoning.
This is as much an adventure story as a mystery — and an excellent example of both. Perveen’s experiences of traveling through jungle are riveting, as are her struggles against palace intrigue. Perveen also has to deal with an attraction between herself and a British government official — a serious problem since she is separated from her husband with no hope of divorce. Read all about it in The Satapur Moonstone! I did and was thoroughly entertained."
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The Satapur Moonstone Audible Audio Edition Sujata Massey Sneha Mathan Recorded Books Books Reviews :
The Satapur Moonstone Audible Audio Edition Sujata Massey Sneha Mathan Recorded Books Books Reviews
- Satapur is a fictional princely state in northern India. Because it has it's own royal family, the state is not officially part of the British Raj, but the British do exert a certain power over the Indian state. In 1922, the time of Sujata Massey's second novel, "The Satapur Moonstone", two members of the family have died under suspicious circumstances. There are two maharanis in the royal palace, each vying for power, while the 10 year old maharaja is the subject of interest by the Raj rulers. Perveen Mistry, Esquire, is asked to travel to Satapur and assess the situation and provide guidance on decisions regarding the royal family.
Perveen is the daughter and partner of a noted Indian (Parsi) barrister in Bombay. The first book in the series, "The Widows of Malabar Hill", introduced Perveen Mistry and her Bombay of the early 1920's. She's one of the first female solicitors in the country and has attracted attention on both the political and social scenes. The first story was set in Bombay, this second is set in Satapur. Satapur, just on the edge of the 1900's has very methods of transportation within the kingdom. There are definitely caste issues between the Indian residents and, of course, between the Indians and the rather benign British overseers. Perveen lands in the middle of a mess and proceeds to make some sense of it, taking the readers along with her. She gives us interesting characters and plot. She also provides a family tree of the royal family, as well as a map of the fictional kingdom. There's also a few pages of terms and definitions for the reader.
I didn't enjoy "Satapur Moonstone" quite as much as I did "Widows of Malabar Hill", and I'm not sure why. The plot of the first book was definitely more original than the second, which seemed to follow the usual pattern of personal danger from everything from snakes, lions, and tigers to danger from other humans. A bit of a love interest entered Perveen's life, which will probably be continued in book three (and you just know there will be a third book.) This book, though, was very good and I can recommend it. IF you can read "Widows" before you read this one, please do. It's not required to understand "Moonstone", but it will help. - This is the second Sujata Massey mystery featuring Parsi woman lawyer Perveen Mistry. I loved the first book, The Widows of Malabar Hill – and The Satapur Moonstone keeps up the momentum of the series beautifully.
The setting is the fictional state of Satapur, which was subject to the authority of Britain’s Kolhapur Agency. The agency’s job was to oversee the lives of royals in many small princely states in Western India.
A dispute has arisen between the mother and the grandmother of the ten-year-maharaja on the subject of his education. One wants the boy to stay home and keep studying with the aging palace tutor. The other wants him sent to England for a thorough course of study.
Perveen is sent to assess the situation. No male arbiter can hope to be allowed into the zenana to talk to the disputing women. As she investigates, Perveen finds a disturbing history of mysterious and sudden deaths among male heirs to the throne and hears rumors of poisoning.
This is as much an adventure story as a mystery — and an excellent example of both. Perveen’s experiences of traveling through jungle are riveting, as are her struggles against palace intrigue. Perveen also has to deal with an attraction between herself and a British government official — a serious problem since she is separated from her husband with no hope of divorce. Read all about it in The Satapur Moonstone! I did and was thoroughly entertained. - This is an interesting mystery set in 1920’s India. Perveen Mistry is a rare thing in India, a female lawyer. She has been assigned to arbitrate a dispute in the upland province of Satapur over the education of the Prince of Satapur, the next Maharajah to rule the Province of Satapur. The mother of the 10 year old heir to the throne would like to see her son educated at a boarding school in England while the boy’s grandmother wants him to remain in the palace. Adding to the complications, the boy’s tutor is weak willed , mostly blind and 81. With no control over the boy to make him learn his lessons, the Prince has discovered how to cow servants into doing what he wants and not what is best for him. The 2 Maharanis are afraid for his safety as the boy’s father and his elder brother have both been killed in “Accidents†and someone is trying to poison anyone who stands in the way of succession.
The 2 Maharanis, each living in their own palace, are in purdah, and have not allowed any men to enter the palace complex. Perveen, is hired by the English government of India to investigate and dictate a solution.
This sounds fairly straightforward but “things are seldom what they seem.†And she discovered that there are a number of unanswered questions concerning the deaths of the Maharanis and the heir apparent. This plus trying to get the old fashioned and the modern Maharanis to agree takes all her skills as a negotiator and.....
This is a sound mystery with interesting characters but the solution is rather obvious at the end. The map in the front of the book really helped follow the traveling details but I could have used one of the 2 palaces also. I didn’t find that this was the page turner I wanted but it still keeps you guessing until the end.
It sheds considerable light on the place of women in 1920’s India with its many social and family constraints on daughters. There will obviously be a sequel which should be interesting.
