The Edge of Darkness by Vaseem KhanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Persis Wadia has been exiled from Bombay to the Naga Hills District where she is staying in a crumbling colonial-style hotel. Her lover, the Englishman Archie Blackmore lies in a coma in Bombay, being tended to by his wife. Things are all very quiet, despite the Naga people's rebellious activities in the surrounding jungle, until one of her fellow guests, a prominent local politician, is found murdered in his locked room - decapitated in his bath with his head nowhere to be found!
Given the circumstances Persis is sure that one of the guests or staff at the hotel must have committed the crime. Was it the politician's loyal aide? The American husband and wife missionaries? The American businessman? The Naga woman who owns the hotel? And how did they murder him when the door was locked?
While this took me a long time to get into, once it got going the action was think and fast. Once more, Persis seems to get injured an inordinate amount of times over the course of just a few days, the woman must have a skull of titanium!
I was congratulating myself on guessing the identity of the murderer (albeit not necessarily for the right reasons) but (without spoiling the plot) the ending felt a bit like everything including the kitchen sink.
I enjoyed this, but not as much as the previous book.
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
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