Murder most exotic: Cosy whodunnits + wanderlust
Editor’s Note: Your wish is our command. We wanted to shake up our Read section. So we turned to the coolest folks we know for suggested reading lists—i.e you. As expected, we received quirky, smart, and delightfully surprising suggestions. First up: a list of ‘cosy mysteries set in exotic locales’ curated by Anannya—our in-house bibliophile. This lovely list will take you far in distance and time.
Researched by: Annanya Parekh, News Editor.
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai. Starting off with one of the most comforting things in the world—food! Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare run a very unique restaurant in a quiet backstreet in Kyoto. They can recreate food dishes just from a person’s treasured memories with the dishes and help them remember their forgotten past and guide them towards a happier future. The father-duo call themselves ‘food detectives’ who present the readers with mouth-watering dishes. If you loved stories like the bestseller ‘Before the Coffee Gets Cold’ by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, you must pick up this book.
Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien. Shellfish allergies, a family restaurant and a gorgeous police detective—this one’s got all the elements for a wild ride of an Asian food murder mystery. A daughter of a conservative Chinese family in Cleveland is the main protagonist—who is getting to the bottom of the titular death by a dumpling—where her family’s Ho-Lee Noodle House is at the centre of a media and police investigation. This is part of the Noodle Mystery Series as book #1—we recommend the whole series for a savoury read.
The Satapur Moonstone by Sujata Massey. This 2019 book is a follow up of ‘The Widows of Malabar Hill’ which introduced us to the protagonist, Perveen Mistry—Bombay’s only female lawyer. The plot of this book takes us to 1922 Satapur where the Maharaja and his first heir die under believable yet suspicious circumstances such as cholera and hunting, respectively. The 10-year-old prince is crowned as the new Maharaja and the state is run by his uncle. Mistry is called in to investigate the real reason behind their deaths. Is this all a big royal mess? We shall find out.
Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V Reyes. You’ll enjoy the setting of this one—Miami. Miriam Quinones Smith has moved from New York to Miami, with the hopes of starting a new life with her husband and son. She’s a food anthropologist and is offered the job to be a chef on a Spanish cooking show, instantly making her a celebrity. Unfortunately, during a Women’s Club luncheon two of the guests die. Miriam is now tasked with figuring out who killed them, and clearing the name of her best friend Alma who is the primary suspect. This is a fun book that not only features a classic whodunit but is filled with different recipes of food, and invites the reader to understand the culture of Miami.
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun. Murder mystery genres are not complete without a reporter as the lead character. In this novel, it is Jim Qwilleran. He rents an apartment which involves cat-sitting a cat named Koko. One day, the apartment owner is found stabbed to dead and Qwilleran guided by his unlikely partner, Koko, has to find out the hows and whys of the story.
The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin. Set in Istanbul in the 19th century, this is an exotic and intriguing mystery that features the detective Yashim. A series of murders right before the introduction of modern policies has caused the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire to feel threatened. Yashim is a eunuch in the Sultar’s court and is tasked with figuring out why this is happening and who is behind them? You’ll enjoy the varied characters, the historical setting and the complexity of the mystery behind these murders.
Murder on the Eiffel Tower by Claude Izner. Back in the day, all the new inventions first entered the market through the World Explosions. In fact, the Eiffel Tower first opened at the 1889 World Exposition. The novel is premised on this very fact and opens with a woman stung by a bee—collapsing to her death on the iconic landmark. A bookseller by the name Victor Legris starts his investigation into the mysterious bee sting which takes him all over the city. This book is the first in the series of books featuring Victor.
A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint. A beautiful Malaysian model. A Sikh police inspector. And an inexplicable murder. This one’s as Asian mystery as it gets. What seems like an open-shut case keeps thwarting new angles and aspects at every investigative juncture. Flint’s series on the Singaporean Inspector Singh is a gripping project with bizarre murders and loads of zesty food writing. This title is a good one to start with.
