Peril at the Exposition: A Mystery

by Nev March

Overview

Captain Jim Agnihotri and his new bride, Diana Framji, return in Nev March's Peril at the Exposition, the follow up to March's award-winning, Edgar finalist debut, Murder in Old Bombay.

1893: Newlyweds Captain Jim Agnihotri and Diana Framji are settling into their new home in Boston, Massachusetts, having fled the strict social rules of British Bombay. It's a different life than what they left behind, but theirs is no ordinary marriage: Jim, now a detective at the Dupree Agency, is teaching Diana the art of deduction he’s learned from his idol, Sherlock Holmes.

Everyone is talking about the preparations for the World's Fair in Chicago: the grandeur, the speculation, the trickery. Captain Jim will experience it first-hand: he's being sent to Chicago to investigate the murder of a man named Thomas Grewe. As Jim probes the underbelly of Chicago’s docks, warehouses, and taverns, he discovers deep social unrest and some deadly ambitions.

When Jim goes missing, young Diana must venture to Chicago's treacherous streets to learn what happened. But who can she trust, when a single misstep could mean disaster?

Award-winning author Nev March mesmerized readers with her Edgar finalist debut, Murder in Old Bombay. Now, in Peril at the Exposition, she wields her craft against the glittering landscape of the Gilded Age with spectacular results.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250855039
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/12/2022
Series:	Captain Jim and Lady Diana Mysteries , #2
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	1,084,940
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

NEV MARCH is the winner of the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award for her award-winning, Edgar finalist debut, Murder in Old Bombay. Leaving a long career in business analysis in 2015, she returned to her passion, writing fiction. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America and the Crime Writers of Color. A Parsee Zoroastrian herself, Nev lives with her husband and sons in New Jersey.

Editorial Reviews

05/16/2022

Edgar finalist March’s solid sequel to 2020’s Murder in Old Bombay takes Anglo-Indian Jim Agnihotri, a former British army captain, and his bride, Diana, whom he met while probing the supposed suicides of her sister and sister-in-law, from India to America in 1893. Before they can settle into their new life in Boston, Jim’s employers at the Dupree Detective Agency send him to Chicago, the site of the under-construction World’s Fair, to investigate the murder of a security guard. When weeks pass with no word from Jim, Diana gets increasingly anxious. She has more to worry about when a stranger shares a message in German intended for Jim referencing explosives. Diana then learns that Jim’s bosses are also uncertain of his whereabouts and that the colleague he was supposed to aid in Chicago has been killed. The redoubtable Diana bullies the Duprees into hiring her as an operative to follow her husband’s trail. The predictable plot marks this as a more conventional mystery than its predecessor, which was bolstered by its focus on Anglo-Indian politics. Fans of Rhys Bowen’s Molly Murphy series will find plenty to like. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Peril at the Exposition

“March’s writing not only evokes the world of international intrigue, political unrest, and the threat of anarchist terrorism, it also explores the life and beliefs of a unique hero, a Parsi Zoroastrian woman from Bombay.” — Ellery Queen Magazine

“Another enthralling tale of conspiracy, mystery, anguish, faith, and murder. . . looks like the Captain Jim and Lady Diana Agnihotri Mystery Series is here to stay.” —Khaas Baat

“Terrific.” —Sullivan County Democrat

“Definitely recommended, particularly for its insights into conditions in America at the turn of the century.” —Historical Novel Society

“A flashy vintage romp with a spirited heroine and nonstop surprises.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Fans of Rhys Bowen’s Molly Murphy series will find plenty to like.” —Publishers Weekly

“The mystery is strong, and it's supported by plenty of intriguing historical detail.” —Booklist

From the Publisher

02/01/2022

In The Paper Caper, Carlisle's latest "Bibliophile Mystery," murder transpires at the first annual Mark Twain Festival, held by Brooklyn Wainwright at her bookstore and underwritten by media magnate Joseph Cabot. In Castillo's The Hidden One, Amish elders turn to Painters Mill chief of police Kate Burkholder when the remains of a long-vanished bishop are discovered, bearing evidence of foul play (150,000-copy first printing). Private informer Flavia Albia's next Desperate Undertaking is finding a serial killer (or killers) committing brutal murder and staging the corpses around Davis's first-century CE Rome (30,000-copy first printing). In Hokuloa Road, cross genre-writing, Shirley Jackson Award-winning Hand makes Grady Kendall caretaker of a luxury property in Hawaii (as far as possible from his native Maine), then has him hunting for a young woman from his flight who has since vanished (30,000-copy first printing). In McCall Smith's The Sweet Remnants of Summer, Isabel Dalhousie is serving on an advisory committee for the Scottish National Portrait Gallery when she is caught up in the squabbles of a prominent family where Nationalist vs. Socialist ideologies prevail. In Peril at the Exposition, a follow-up to March's Edgar finalist debut, Murder in Old Bombay, newlyweds Capt. Jim Agnihotri and Diana Framji have left British-ruled Bombay (now Mumbai) for 1890s Boston when Jim is sent to investigate a murder in Chicago (50,000-copy first printing). In Munier's The Wedding Plot, Mercy's grandmother Patience is set to marry her longtime beloved at the five-star Lady's Slipper Inn when family enmities bubble to the surface, the inn's spa director vanishes, and a stranger turns up dead (30,000-copy first printing). In An Honest Living—a debut from Murphy, editor in chief of CrimeReads, Literary Hub's crime fiction vertical—an attorney picking up odd jobs after walking out on his stranglehold law firm agrees to help reclusive literati Anna Reddick find her possibly thieving bookseller husband, and all's well until the real Anna Reddick walks in. In Rosenfelt's Holy Chow, an older woman who adopts sweet senior chow mix Tessie from Andy Carpenter's Tara Foundation makes Andy promise that if she dies he will take care of Tessie provided that her son cannot—which he certainly can't when he is arrested days later on suspicion of his mother's murder (60,000-copy first printing).

Library Journal

2022-04-27
An intrepid damsel sidesteps distress to unravel a dangerous plot involving the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

Newlywed Lady Diana Framji O’Trey has just settled into a Boston flat with her husband, Capt. James Agnihotri, after a long journey from Bombay when he’s called away to Chicago, the site of the upcoming Columbian Exposition, on a secret assignment for the Dupree Detective Agency. After several weeks pass with no word from Jim, a cryptic visit from professor Rolf Grimke sends Diana’s fears into overdrive. The evasiveness of the agency about Jim’s assignment only heightens them, as does the news that Baldwin, the man who preceded Jim on this case, was murdered. Diana undertakes the rugged trek to Chicago to find him, with elderly porter Tobias Brown as a companion. Aboard the train, she enlists plucky Abigail Martin as sidekick and guide. The fair itself is like a gleaming city, full of hope for a bright future. Diana’s quick thinking enables her to rescue a man clinging to an elevated train. This exploit lands her name in the papers, leading to her brief reunion with Jim, who warns her not to get involved in his dangerous case, advice she agrees to but ignores. March packs her story with so many colorful supporting characters—a veritable United Nations assembly—and offers such a lively period setting that readers may ignore the many twists and turns in the plot. No matter; it’s the picturesque journey of the sleuthing team through an anarchist cell, the mystery surrounding a mine explosion, and a reunion with Jim to assemble the pieces of the puzzle that distinguishes March’s novel.

A flashy vintage romp with a spirited heroine and nonstop surprises.

Kirkus Reviews

Safiyya Ingar and Vikas Adam capture the 1893 World’s Fair in this sequel to MURDER IN OLD BOMBAY. The story now focuses on Lady Diana’s detecting, rather than that of her husband, Captain James Agnihotri. Listeners meet the newlyweds in Boston before Agnihotri is sent to Chicago to investigate suspicious activities. Adam captures Agnihotri’s determination to get to the bottom of things. Ingar reflects Diana’s sensitivity and fears for her husband’s safety as she travels to the fair with her manservant, Tobias. Ingar’s best creation is Diana’s maid, who poses as a man and discovers valuable clues. Glimpses of Chicago—including its wealthy investors and impoverished workers—offer a disturbing undertone. The narrators’ high-spirited performances compensate for some weakness in the writing. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2022 - AudioFile

Safiyya Ingar and Vikas Adam capture the 1893 World’s Fair in this sequel to MURDER IN OLD BOMBAY. The story now focuses on Lady Diana’s detecting, rather than that of her husband, Captain James Agnihotri. Listeners meet the newlyweds in Boston before Agnihotri is sent to Chicago to investigate suspicious activities. Adam captures Agnihotri’s determination to get to the bottom of things. Ingar reflects Diana’s sensitivity and fears for her husband’s safety as she travels to the fair with her manservant, Tobias. Ingar’s best creation is Diana’s maid, who poses as a man and discovers valuable clues. Glimpses of Chicago—including its wealthy investors and impoverished workers—offer a disturbing undertone. The narrators’ high-spirited performances compensate for some weakness in the writing. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2022 - AudioFile