Sujata Massey — The Star from Calcutta
The fifth Perveen Mistry novel follows Bombay's first female lawyer into 1920s Bollywood, where a film censor is murdered and a star vanishes.
Why we picked this
Massey's Perveen Mistry series uses historical mystery to surface real questions about gender, law, and colonial power in 1920s India. The Bollywood angle adds a layer most historical fiction doesn't touch.
Sujata Massey’s “The Star from Calcutta” is the fifth installment in her Perveen Mistry series, set in 1922 India. Perveen, Bombay’s first female lawyer, finds herself investigating a murdered film censor and a vanished leading lady inside the world of early Bollywood, uncovering a web of blackmail, deceit, and romantic affairs along the way. The series has been praised for the way it uses the mystery genre to illuminate the realities of women’s lives under colonial rule.
Massey was born in England to Indian and German parents, raised in Minnesota, and is based in Baltimore. She worked as a features reporter for the Baltimore Evening Sun before turning to fiction. The first Perveen Mistry novel won the Agatha, Macavity, and Mary Higgins Clark Awards. She’ll be in conversation with Vera Kurian, a Washington-based writer and scientist whose debut “Never Saw Me Coming” earned an Edgar nomination and New York Times recognition.
Free admission with first-come, first-served seating.