Review: Murder at the Mushaira

Murder at the Mushaira by Raza Mir
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hooter: A period drama masquerading as a murder mystery

The biggest highlight of the book is the protagonist - the poet laureate Mirza Ghalib double hatting himself as a detective. A beautiful period drama in the world of mehfils and mushairas, a Delhi of a different era as Bahadur Shah Zafar now considered a titular head in hindsight but doubts being raised in present tense and how these foreign traders had brought in military might and seemed to be taking over the country. Playing around that macro narrative, the book captures the back stories of the main characters and how convoluted their relationships are. The author adds couplets at the start of every chapter that make for an interesting read though not necessarily related to the chapter ahead. So Kirorimal - the newly appointed Chandni Chowk kotwal has a murder at a mushaira where a poet is murdered , the British seemed very flustered about it and want him to solve it quick. He enlists the help of Mirza who goes about his wits and ego to unearth something much bigger than a murder over a petty issue but could resonate across a nation. This is where the entire premise of the murder mystery gets thrown out of the window for the grander scheme of things. But the grander scheme of things come too late in the game to etch memories for you. It becomes the buffet meal where you walk away with a fully tummy but none of the dishes leave a mark in your memory. But remembering my own walk to Mirza Ghalib's house in Delhi and the way the author has painted that era, I feel he does truly manage to transport you to that era but lurches you back to reality before any of your other senses can take in that era.

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