Tuesday, August 2, 2022

"Peril at the Exposition"

Nev March is the first Indian-born writer to win Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America's Award for Best First Crime Fiction.

After a long career in business analysis, in 2015 March returned to her passion, writing fiction and now teaches creative writing at Rutgers University, Osher Institute. A Parsee Zoroastrian herself, she lives in New Jersey with her husband and sons. Murder in Old Bombay is her debut novel.

March applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, Peril at the Exposition, and reported the following:
On page 69, my protagonist Diana is in the middle of a peculiar adventure on the Ferris Wheel at the 1893 World’s Fair. While this page does not capture the main thrust of the mystery, it does describe the Fair which is a character in itself, and Diana gets photographed in her petticoats!
The guard, the man comically covered in my skirt, and I, in petticoats and vest, were the last to disembark.

As we stepped out, people applauded. Astonished, I glanced behind me. The wheel had stopped. Glass cars swayed above, people peering out. My skirt was lifted off the poor man as he was led away, blushing crimson with apologies.

Where was Abigail? I glanced around at the raucous crowd.

What now? A tall young man with a short beard stood on a stool near me and made a speech. I heard him say, “A heroine…remarkable presence of mind…”

The young man presented my skirt as though handing me a queen’s cape. “What courage! To quell the madman! Remarkable!”

“No madman, sir. I believe he has acrophobia—a fear of heights,” I said, blushing. Jim and I had read of its recent discovery over Christmas.

“Your name, madam!” called a newspaperman. Others took up the clamor.

Just then, Abigail waved to catch my attention. “Lady Diana!”

The young man with a fine bushy mustache said, “May I present myself, Lady Diana? George Washington Ferris Jr. You’re English, yes?” He laughed.

“Goodness. No, I’m from India!” I replied, unsettled by the to-do. Several photographers’ flash pans went off a few feet away, making me flinch.
While it explains why the press later dub her an Indian Princess, I don’t believe this page gives us a good sense of the book—Diana’s looming worry over a missing detective husband, navigating complex gilded-age society and her fear of an impending disaster.

In Murder in Old Bombay, readers met Captain Jim Agnihotri who solved a knotty problem for young widower Adi Framji. Captain Jim also met his employer’s spunky sister Diana. As Peril at the Exposition opens, they are married and living in Boston. When young immigrant bride Diana obtains a worrisome clue about her missing husband’s whereabouts, she goes to Chicago to find him. There, Captain Jim has infiltrated a group of desperate workers and anarchists who seem to threaten the World’s Fair. Working the case from the opposite end propels Diana into ever more dangerous and questionable situations. Through this adventure, she travels the emotional journey of an immigrant to find what is good and precious in her strange new homeland.
Visit Nev March's website.

Q&A with Nev March.

The Page 69 Test: Murder in Old Bombay.

My Book, The Movie: Murder in Old Bombay.

--Marshal Zeringue