Official Selection:
Last month we read a Victorian gothic homage, and this month I've selected a very Christie-inspired closed cast mystery set in India that was also a New York Times Editor's Choice last month. Harith Athreya, a private investigator, is invited to possibly-cursed Greybrooke Manor in the misty Nilgiri mountains at the request of the homeowner, wheelchair-bound Bhaskar Fernandez. Bhaskar, the patriarch of the expansive estate, is so worried about his own demise that he has executed two simultaneous wills with different distributions of wealth - one based on death by natural causes, and another based on accidental death or murder. So, no one is surprised when there's a murder on the manor grounds... or are they? Like a classic Christie, the characters in this one serve the plot, but the mystery was one that I enjoyed greatly. I personally can't wait to read the next installment featuring investigator Athreya, and I hope you like it as well! - McKenna
Bonus recommendation:
The first Hercule Poirot novel, and one of the genre's quintessential closed cast mysteries - clearly a huge influence on our February pick.
Bonus recommendation:
If you'd like to read another fab mystery set in India, we couldn't recommend this series more! These historical mysteries set in 1920's Bombay feature India's first female lawyer - Perveen Mistry, and have been nominated for, or won just about every mystery award out there.