Peril at the Exposition

Edgar finalist March’s solid sequel to 2020’s Murder in Old Bombay takes Anglo-Indian Jim Agnihotri, a former British army captain, and his bride, Diana, whom he met while probing the supposed suicides of her sister and sister-in-law, from India to America in 1893. Before they can settle into their new life in Boston, Jim’s employers at the Dupree Detective Agency send him to Chicago, the site of the under-construction World’s Fair, to investigate the murder of a security guard. When weeks pass with no word from Jim, Diana gets increasingly anxious. She has more to worry about when a stranger shares a message in German intended for Jim referencing explosives. Diana then learns that Jim’s bosses are also uncertain of his whereabouts and that the colleague he was supposed to aid in Chicago has been killed. The redoubtable Diana bullies the Duprees into hiring her as an operative to follow her husband’s trail. The predictable plot marks this as a more conventional mystery than its predecessor, which was bolstered by its focus on Anglo-Indian politics. Fans of Rhys Bowen’s Molly Murphy series will find plenty to like. (July)