For a first novel this is quite good! I really enjoy novels/mysteries that are set in foreign locales and here we travel back to late 19th Century India as the author takes us quite and journey to lead us to find the killer of tw0 young girls who are members of an elite family in Bombay. He introduces us to a gentleman who is recovering from both battle wounds and what appears to be PTSD, one Jim Agnihotri who is part Indian and part English which puts him on the outside of both societies.

Two girls are killed after a jury determines the ladies fell off the top of a clock tower and it was ruled a suicide. The family is not content with this and eventually hires Jim, who is a firm believer in the Sherlock Holmes method of solving cases. Jim takes us throughout India, and along the ways has numerous side adventures, all of which will eventually be part of the plot. We learn a lot about Indian society, as well as a possible love interest for Jim. Lots going on in this book and the middle part of the book was a bit labored even if they eventually tie into the overall plot and solution to the murders. I liked this book a whole lot and thought that it really picked up steam the last 125 pages.