This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. A week ago, I walked down to the consignment shop near my house and picked up a fashion mystery. The mystery came in the form of a long dress of purple-blue printed silk crepe lined in cotton. The stitching was minute and clearly done by hand. Examining … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. It had been a challenging week. The shooting of two Indian professionals in a Kansas bar was followed by the knifing of an Indian-American outside his home and the news that a number of South Asian business owners have had their shops torched. Whether or not the attackers … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. I’m a regular participant at the friendly Malice Domestic convention held annually in Bethesda to celebrate traditional mysteries. Last year, at the convention auction, I decided to give more than a signed book. Having found that readers of diverse books are usually enthusiastic foodies, I offered to … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. The best-known images of India are probably Bollywood glamour, sidewalk squalor, and British colonial life. We see this in photographs and film. Those lucky enough to visit the Subcontinent will undoubtedly encounter elements of these icons. Yet most South Asians regard roughly twenty-six hundred years of royal … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. This post is a tribute to a young democracy that has brought the world great writers–and a fantastical amount of readers. India’s population of 1.2 billion boasts a literacy rate of 86% in cities and 71% in rural areas. Inside India, twenty major languages are spoken and read, and a … Read more