Mystery Madness discussion

Hello to anyone who has read this book or would like to read it for March Mystery Madness 2023. I had announced that I would lead this as a readalong, but I'm afraid that I will not be able to do that in the traditional sense. I am going to have to get my library book back quickly and therefore will be listening to it on audio in a shorter amount of time. I won't be dividing it into sections and spacing it out over the month. So if you have read this book or plan to read it, please come back here and share your thoughts. My local library book club is reading this for April, so I welcome your insights that I can share with the group.

Hi Elizabeth I've started listening to the audiobook too of Peril At the Exposition as I have a large tbr for March.

Hi, Elizabeth. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to explore and share our reactions to Nev March's second book in her Capt. Jim Agnihotri/Captain Jim and Lady Diana series, Peril at the Exposition. I finished reading the book in the beginning of November in 2022.

Like many of the reviewers on Goodreads of Peril at the Exposition, I was a bit disappointed that the series left Bombay and became embroiled in an American event, the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Taken aback by the couple's name change and Diana's self-recruitment into finding Jim and having to deal with a new country, the language, and both her and Jim's existential jeopardy during the entirety of the novel made for an uncomfortable read, but this put us in Diana's shoes, how unsettled she was in her investigations, necessary to find Jim and thwart what she began to see as a danger to many at the Exposition.

It also reflected Nev March's background as an Indian-born author now living in New Jersey who is herself a Parsee Zoroastrian as is Diana. She fully imbues Diana's experience placed in 1893 American immigration history and Jim's and Diana's reasons for leaving India due to a marriage of mixed status and changing their name. I hope that March explores Zoroastrianism as it pertains to Diana in books to come, and how it interfaces with Jim's Hinduism, and their world travels.

Therefore, I give this second book a five-star rating as I do not judge a book by my own expectations, but on how the book as a whole stood up to what the author meant for it to do. And Nev March did it well. Her mystery plot was honest in its execution as well as its well-researched historical context, and the writing was superb.

I look forward to the third book in the series, The Spanish Diplomat's Secret, due out on September 12, 2023. The description is now up on Goodreads and promises to be an isolated transatlantic sea-voyage mystery with a locked-room murder. It looks as if Jim will take a secondary role again as he is seasick, and Diana must again infuse herself in high society. The charming adoration that Jim holds for the methods of Sherlock Holmes will continue, therefore, this series has become, just that, a charming, historical mystery series to be enjoyed as such.

Murder in Old Bombay was/is an epic mystery that could well serve as a standalone or prequel to the series as March is now developing it. It is a unique gem that I would covet for my shelf always. A book I would read more than once, just on its own. And I will enjoy its charming and historical descendent on its own terms, always holding Murder in Old Bombay as its honorable, epic ancestor.

Donna wrote: "Hi, Elizabeth. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to explore and share our reactions to Nev March's second book in her Capt. Jim Agnihotri/Captain Jim and Lady Diana series, Peril at the Expo..."

Donna, thank you so much for your very insightful discussion of the book. You brought up topics that I had not really thought about. I did not enjoy this one as much as Murder in Old Bombay and I couldn't quite put my finger on the reason. But you mentioned several points that probably factored in.
You made a great analogy between the author and Diana. I had not ever heard of Zoroastrianism until I read Murder in Old Bombay, so these books have broadened my horizons, so to speak.

Elizabeth wrote: "Donna wrote: "Hi, Elizabeth. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to explore and share our reactions to Nev March's second book in her Capt. Jim Agnihotri/Captain Jim and Lady Diana series, Per..."

Hi, Elizabeth. I first heard of Zoroastrianism when taking a history of religion class at a local community college back in the 70s. From what I can remember, and reviewing from information online, Zoroastrianism is a very interesting monotheistic (a Supreme Being) and ecological (caretakers of the natural world) religion with origins in the Iranian Plateau before the Arab-Muslim invasion. It emphasizes kindness and charitable good works in the face of prior religions that espoused animal sacrifice. And a uniting of the spirit's lessons learned in life experiences that add to universal wisdom in co-creation with the Creator. I am no expert, but these are some simplified high notes I have gleaned in review.