Blood Caste

<h2>Is Jack the Ripper at large on the streets of Victorian India?</h2><p>Hyderabad, India, 1895. When three bodies are discovered with mutilations bearing an eerie resemblance to the Ripper's Whitechapel victims, Chief Inspector Soobramania known as Soob is summoned to investigate.</p><p>Suspicion alights upon three powerful men: a Russian grand duke and an English earl visiting the city, and their friend, a Deccani noble, who is also the stepson of one of the victims.</p><p>Faced with the thorny imperial politics of accusing relatives of Queen Victoria, Soob must ally with his rival in the British Residency Police, Inspector Wilberforce, to hunt down the killer.</p><p>So begins a deadly game of cat and mouse played in the shadow of empire, where high birth protects foul deeds and where spilt blood counts for less than wealth.</p><p><b>A richly textured and utterly compelling historical crime thriller from a dazzling debut voice.</b></p><h2>Praise for <i>Blood Caste</i> </h2><p>'An immersive new entry in the recent flowering of India-set crime fiction, vividly bringing to life the city of Hyderabad at the turn of the nineteenth century. An exotic take on the Ripper legend' <b>Vaseem Khan</b>, author of <i>City of Destruction</i></p><p>'A crackling Victorian-era thriller... intricate and mesmerising' <b>Bonnie MacBird</b>, author of <i>Art in the Blood</i></p><p>'<i>Blood Caste</i> is at once a twisty mystery, a richly evocative slice of history and a searing deep-dive into the uneasy political, racial and religious cross-currents of Victorian India... Shylashri Shankar is a name to watch - hopefully there will be further adventures to come for Inspector Soobramania and his appealing team of allies!' <b>Kate Quinn</b>, author of <i>The Alice Network</i></p><p>'A vibrant and beguiling debut. I loved this tale of late nineteenth-century Hyderabad, with its brilliantly rendered settings and cast of colourful characters, headed by the engaging Chief Inspector Soobramania. Definitely one to watch' <b>S.G. MacLean</b>, author of <i>The Seeker</i></p><p>'Engrossing and evocative, extensively researched and tightly plotted, <i>Blood Caste</i> is an atmospheric exploration of a series of terrible murders in the princely state of Hyderabad, during the times of the British Raj... What a pleasure it is to lose yourself in the book, sink into the rich descriptions of Hyderabadi culture, and the mesmerizing beauty of the city itself' <b>Harini Nagendra</b>, author of The Bangalore Detectives Club series</p><p>'Gripping and atmospheric' Phil Lecomber, author of <i>Midnight Streets</i></p>