Book Review: Death in Kashmir by M. M. Kaye

Death in Kashmir. M. M. Kaye. St. Martin's Press (1985) (First Published 1953). 320 pages. Genre: Mystery.

First Line: "Afterwards Sarah could never be quite sure whether it was the moonlight or that soft, furtive sound that had awakened her."

Summary (Goodreads): When young Sarah Parrish takes a skiing vacation to Gulmarg, a resort nestled in the mountains above the fabled Vale of Kashmir, she anticipates an entertaining but uneventful stay. But when she discovers that the deaths of two in her party are the result of foul play, she finds herself entrusted with a mission of unforeseen importance. And when she leaves the ski slopes for the Waterwitch, a private houseboat on the placid shores of the Dal Lake near Srinagar, she discovers to her horror that the killer will stop at nothing to prevent Sarah from piecing the puzzle together.

My thoughts:  The author begins the book with an Author's Note, which is something I really appreciate.  Next is a pronunciation guide and a map.  The combination of these three pieces put me right into the story.  In her note, the author tells the reader that she was living in Srinagar, the capital city of Kashmir, when she began writing this mystery.  Her intimacy with the area comes through in her writing. 

As you can tell from the first line, the story starts with some suspense.  A death has already occurred and now something has awakened Sarah.  She is on edge, but tries to tell herself she is being silly, after all the death was an accident, wasn't it?  She is not sure. A persistent sound gets her out of bed to investigate.  It is through this investigating that she meets Janet and quickly discovers Janet is not who she says she is.  From this beginning, the story never slows down.  It is not edge of your seat suspense the entire time.  There are dinners and dances and shopping in the market, but underneath it all is a buzzing uncertainty.  

The author was leaving clues throughout the story, and I remember having a slight suspicion of the culprit, but quickly dismissed it.  Due to circumstances, Sarah had to get involved in investigating.  Well, it wasn't entirely due to circumstances.  There was an instance where she went snooping around by herself in the middle of the night and discovered some things that she probably shouldn't have which put her in danger.  But mostly the mystery came to her.  

There were several scenes that took place at night with a moonlit sky.  The moon was definitely a theme throughout the story.  I'm not sure I would have picked up on this if the author hadn't mentioned in her note that she had originally titled the book There's a Moon Tonight.  After the first mention of the moonlight, I kept my senses on alert for another mention.  That added a fun extra layer to the story. Another fun layer was the humor and the little bit of romance. The story is peopled with interesting characters. 

The author's description of the countryside and the homes made me feel like I was there.  I can still picture the interior of the houseboat Sarah spent some time on.  

M. M. Kaye is a new author to me and I am glad to have discovered her.  I am also glad that I picked up several of her mysteries at a used book store this summer.  I am looking forward to reading another mystery by this author soon.

Quotes:

"'But then of course so many people are silly about a man who doesn't do any fighting in the war.  So stupid of them, because it's so much more sensible not to, don't you think? If we all just didn't, I mean, well where would people like Hitler have been?'  'In Buckingham Palace and the White House I imagine,' grunted her husband. 'Don't be silly, dear.  How could he have been in two places at once?'"

"The sky behind the feathery boughs of the pepper trees at the far end of the garden was turning from lemon yellow to a soft shade of green, and the air was sweet with the scent of roses and jasmine and fragrant with the smell of water on dry, sun-baked ground."

"She disappeared with the speed of a diving duck as the little gilt clock in the drawing-room struck the quarter."