The Eighth Guest and other Muzaffar Jang mysteries by Madhulika Liddle

Words have a head, O shrewd man, and a tail. Do not insert thy words between the words of others. – Sa’adi B ͦ ͦ ᷜ: The Eighth Guest and other Muzaffar Jang Mysteries A ͧ ͭ ͪ ͦ ͬ: Madhulika Liddle G ͦ ͦ ͩ ͬ ͤ ⷶ ͩ ᷤ ͬ ⷶ ͭ ͥ ᷠ ᷚ: 3.9/5 M ꙷ ͬ ⷶ ͭ ͥ ᷠ ᷚ: 4.5/5 Set in the 1650s, in Shahjahan’s Dilli, this collection of short stories revolves around Muzaffar Jang, a Maverick Mughal nobleman, who often finds himself catapulted into a series of mysteries. ️The short stories in this book involve Muzaffar solving mysteries of a royal elephant going berserk and killing it’s mahout, a scholar being left a puzzling legacy by his father, a Qutb khana sprayed with blood yet no traces of a corpse anywhere, amongst others. Muzaffar Jang is a deeply intriguing character. Obviously being the detective he had to be bestowed with a quick wit and an amazing sense of sarcasm, but there’s more. The way he is shown not to have anything superior to any of his companions other than his wits made him stand out for me.

All the mysteries in the novel were crisp and interesting and at the same time not too much for an absolutely non-detective person like me. The stories make sense and keep you interested. Plus, there are Qutbkhanas in almost every haveli.❤️ I loved Madhulika’s writing style. The way she incorporated words like ‘salaamed’ into the story without the reader questioning if the word even exists is amazing. Though later on I found out that the word salaamed really does exist! Her way of describing the Mughal era homes of Dilli, or better, havelis, is commendable. Andddddd she’s attached a map of a haveli!❤️

Last but not the least, I loved the cover of the book, with it’s maroon backdrop covered with a few symbols of Dilli and not Delhi. Which was mainly the reason why I bought this book in the first place. Yes, I’m amongst the sinners who judge books by their cover!