I'm loving seeing fresh new, diverse voices revitalize the mystery genre. "Blood Caste" is a fun start to a new historical mystery series set in the British Raj. Its main character is an Indian detective, Soob, written by an Indian author who has a flair for engaging drama and colorful cultural details.

The story switches between the POVs of Soob, an English policeman named Wilberforce and Soob's dear friend, a widowed physician named Shiraz. Soob has returned from England after apprehending the infamous Jack the Ripper, a man who turned out to be Wilberforce's partner on the police force. In disgrace, he is exiled to India, and his racism is on full display at first as he resents his new posting. He doggedly pursues an Indian suspect, Ali Baig, because he can't process that he couldn't see that his friend was really the Ripper.

The story focuses on Soob's point of view though, and shows the challenges of investigating crimes when native administrators want to pin the murder on an Englishman and the colonial system only has eyes for a native suspect, facts be damned. The book did an excellent job of showing how difficult it was to navigate the politics of the competing pressures while a serial killer was still at large. I also liked the Downton Abbey conceit of focusing on both the lives of the wealthy nobles and their servants.

I hated Wilberforce at first but I came to have a grudging respect for him. Shiraz, too, was a fun character, whipsmart and reckless, able to investigate in ways that Soob can't but Soob sometimes held her back.

I also found the caste dynamic fascinating. Soob, a Brahmin, has been excommunicated from his caste for moving to England. His wife had suffered from the humiliation and passed away. I found it interesting how, despite feeling bad that it may alienate his nephew, he wrestles with whether to stick to his principles that a man must be judged by his deeds and not his birth order. It had interesting parallels with the class hierarchy of the English system.

I also liked seeing the points of view of English vs Indian perceptions of colonial rule. They were so far apart that it provided an excellent critique of colonialism.

I will be paying attention to future books in this series. I also wondered if a slow burn romance was hinted at between Shiraz and Soob. He seemed overprotective to that end. I would be rooting for a romantic subplot to grow between them, I totally ship those two.

I found the mystery to be gripping and its twists and turns kept me guessing, and I loved the atmospheric, noiresque setting of the British Raj from the point of view of Indian voices.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is Book 1 of the Deccan series.
It finds us in Hyderabad in 1895 with Chief Inspector Soobramunia (Sooba) finding a dead woman's body in the river. It has been viciously mutilated and remind Sooba of the notorious Jack the Ripper murders with which he had been involved when he had been assigned to work with Scotland Yard in London.
Then rapidly following on are two bodies found in a park -one married to a an important and wealthy local man- whose two sons had hated her.
Once again the victim's injuries are similar to the the Whitechapel murders.
Overall I enjoyed the book but do find the continued obsession with Jack the Ripper a bit over done now. The author had no need to make the link and include toffs from England who were part of a Hellfire Club - resembling the Freemasons who had been implicated in the Ripper case, and also visiting dignities related to the Tsar of Russia, English aristocracy and the Royal family- all of whom were under suspicion for the Ripper killings.
I did like the main characters especially Doctor Shiraz who cut threw the male prejudice of the time, the country, the culture and the caste system of India.
However if other books can put to the side the Ripper connection there is much to enjoy especially the wonderful descriptions of animals, nature and the scenery beyond the streets of the city which were very evocative.
There are other similar series set in colonial India of the Raj. Time will tell if this one holds its own in a market that is as crowded as many a street in India.

Murder in Victorian India!

A deviously, thrilling mystery set against the backdrop of 1895 Hyderabad, India.
I’m particularly enamoured of mysteries set during the British Raj occupation of India. The British deviousness of the times, the Indian nobles seeking to hold onto their territories, all ripe for murder and intrigue, injustice and corruption. Of course it’s not all that simplistic.
Several women have been murdered after the style of Jack the Ripper leading to sensationalism and fear that Jack the Ripper had arrived in Nazim and was loose in the city.
One man, Acting Chief Inspector Soobramania, knew this was impossible. He’d been in London at the time working for a secret Whitehall Police unit. A Brahmin, Soob has returned to Hyderabad and now is in charge of the Nizam City Police.
His English counterpart, Inspector Bill Wilberforce in charge the Residency Police enclave had also been in London at the time working on the case. He disagreed with the findings, kept hidden. That becomes a contentious point between the two men that plays into the investigation.
Soob discovers the first body. It’s his doggedness that helps break the case, with Wilberforce displaying the same strength of purpose, even as he opposes Soob.
We also see into Soob’s soul. His anguish at having to part ways with his Brahmin faith when overseas, his anguish at being gone when his wife dies, his care for his best friend’s widow, and for a female Doctor practising at a local hospital. Then there’s Soob’s nephew, Natraja, who he’s guardian of, who too is an outcaste unless Soob expedites his sin according to Brahmin law and takes up his place once again amongst the faithful.
A strong cast of characters who are easy to b involved with. I particularly liked the young street urchin Ram Rahim, eking out an existence, and yet helping the action along with what he sees.
Murder in a charged atmosphere has every page reeking of what’s to come.
A fantastic new series!

A Canelo ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Set in British-ruled India, Blood Caste follows an unlikely investigative pair: Wilberforce, a British officer with a colonial mindset, and Soobramania, a British-trained Indian detective, as they work to solve a murder that seems to be a Jack the Ripper copycat

I haven’t read many books set during this time period, and I really appreciated the detailed setting. The novel dives into the complexities of caste, religion, and colonial rule with nuance. While it was difficult at times to read Wilberforce’s internal thoughts about the Indian people, that discomfort felt intentional and reflected the historical realities.

The mystery was compelling, though a little far-fetched in places. I did enjoy the developing partnership between Wilberforce and Soobramania. My favorite character was Shiraz. She was bold, independent, and smart, standing out in a setting where women were often sidelined. She felt like a true force, and I was always excited to see her on the page.

Overall, this is a unique and atmospheric historical mystery with strong cultural detail and a standout female character. Worth a read if you're looking for something outside the usual settings.

Thanks to Canelo and Netgalley for this e-ARC that I chose to read and review

Blood Caste (publication date July 24, 2025) by Shylashri Shankar is an absorbing mystery set in 1895, and imagines what could happen if Jack the Ripper hadn't been stopped in London but starts another killing spree in Hyderabad, India.

Most fascinating was the interplay of all of the different royals and officials--both Indian and British--present in different parts of the City, and the multiplicity of religions--Hindu, Muslim, Parsi, Christian--with the caste system being the water the residents are swimming in. Luckily the author included a list of characters and a map at the beginning!

Centering on two detectives--Acting Inspector Soobramania (Soob to his friends), an outcaste Brahmin who studied in England but has returned home after solving the mystery of Jack the Ripper for Scotland Yard; and Inspector Bill Wilberforce, chief inspector of the British Residency, who is not thrilled with being in Hyderabad after his former partner was found to be Jack the Ripper--the mystery begins with a body count of three women murdered on the same evening.

Wilberforce cannot stand Soob, and Soob barely tolerates Wilberforce, but they both want to solve these murders. Could it have been the wealthy Baigs? Or the Resident's visitors, which include an Earl and the Russian Tsar's brother? There are also other British who live nearby and something just isn't right. Assisted by Dr. Shiraz Daruwalla, the Parsi widow of Soob's best friend Cyrus, who can ask questions of the women in harems since men aren't allowed, she really wants to figure this out since her cousin Niloufer was one of the first women murdered.

With multiple twists and turns and a sizable body count, I enjoyed it, and thought the ending was well-done. I look forward to further installments in a series, and a possible romance between the widower Soob and widow Shiraz. I will consider it weight-neutral, generally because there is no mention of the main characters' shapes or sizes, but there is a single description of a guard as fat in a negative way.

3.5 stars rounded down. I love historical books and murder mysteries, and this ticks both boxes. Late 1800s India, with friction between an English detective and an Indian one, trying to look into murders of women that possibly echo those of Jack the Ripper… I liked all the characters, and it was a decent plot, so if you like historical crime, I think you’ll like this. I only rounded down after deliberation, due to the ending feeling a little implausible (no spoilers!). Happily I did guess the murderer, and when I met the lovely author at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival and she asked who I thought was the killer, I was right! She has a good poker face though, and didn’t react 😂

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

Title: Blood Caste

Author: Shylashri [](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4224238.Shylashri_Shankar)Shankar

My Rating: 4.5 🌟

Release Date: 24 July 2025

Blood Caste is a murder mystery set in 1890’s Hyderabad, India.

When something sounds like a duck and looks like a duck then it must be a duck right? So when someone starts killing and mutiliating women at night it must be ‘Jack the Ripper’. At least that’s what British Chief Inspector Wilberforce believes. But ‘Acting’ Chief Inspector Subramania (Soob)s interfering with the investigation- AGAIN!. But Soob knows it’s not the Ripper. How? Well because he was the one who shot him dead in London.

This book is a well researched and well executed Indian Historical Fiction. And I devoured it in one afternoon, cause once I started I could not stop. Being Indian myself, I had better understanding of the underlying political and religious tensions which made my experience wonderful. There is a wonderful appendix at the end that you need to read to get the context and the subtext.

I loved every second of it. Thanks to Netgalley and Canelo publishing for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Blood Caste is an engrossing historical mystery set in Hyderabad, India, in 1895. We follow Acting Chief Inspector Soobramania investigating a series of murders that are worryingly similar to those of Jack the Ripper.

One of the strengths of the novel was the exploration of how Hindu, Parsi, Muslim and British cultures interrelated in Hyderabad at that time. I learnt so much throughout the book about the administration of colonisation and the practices of different religions. Soob artfully used his deep understanding of his local district to further his investigations, even while being held back by complicated internal politics. I also found Soob’s own struggles with religion, identity, community and family really interesting.

We were thrown into the action - fairly often I found characters referred to past conversations, situations and relationships that happened before the timeline of the story with little context, which could be a bit confusing. This happened to the extent that I rechecked whether the book was definitely the first in the series!

I also found that at points I struggled to keep up with the intricacies of the hierarchies and systems of British-occupied India. However, there was a really useful historical note at the end of the book which sets this out clearly - so I suggest those unfamiliar with 1890s India give that a read first for some context.

I was kept guessing until the end of the book - the mystery was hugely twisty with lots of red herrings along the way.

Thank you to the author and @canelo_co for an advanced #gifted copy of the book for review. Blood Caste is out 24 July!

I will post on my instagram @charlottereadshistory on 22 July.

Blood Caste is unlike anything I’ve read this year—part gothic mystery, part philosophical meditation, and entirely haunting. Shylashri Shankar weaves a story that’s as much about identity and memory as it is about blood, power, and the legacies we carry whether we want to or not.

From the first chapter, I felt this quiet unease settle over me. The atmosphere is thick with secrets—old houses, ancestral shadows, and the kind of silence that holds generations of pain. It’s deeply rooted in history, yet feels unsettlingly timely. The caste dynamics are explored with such nuance and emotional force that I found myself sitting with passages, just letting the implications sink in.

This isn’t a fast-paced thriller. It’s a slow, deliberate descent—psychological, intimate, and razor-sharp. The protagonist’s journey through personal and inherited trauma is layered and aching, and the writing carries a quiet intensity that gets under your skin. Shankar doesn’t flinch away from uncomfortable truths, and the result is a book that’s as intellectually engaging as it is emotionally devastating.

If you’re looking for a literary horror novel that explores caste, belonging, and the monstrous weight of history, Blood Caste delivers something unforgettable. It’s haunting in every sense of the word—and it left me changed.

DNF the book. I love the premise of the book, and I picked it because I was super excited to read a book that happens outside of the US. I'm also a big sucker for historical and mysteries, so the abstract sounded like it would be right up my alley. Unfortunately, I had a completely different idea of what the book would be about, and that is totally on me. From the cover alone, I thought it would be a mystery/romance between the main characters, which got me even more excited. Once I realized my mistake, I tried to push through, but I think my assumptions were doing me a disservice when reading the book. I just couldn't get into the story after that.

Scotland Yard trained, Chief Inspector Soobramania, affectionately known as Soob, a non-practising Brahmin, returns to Hyderabad after working on the Ripper team in London. The Ripper is dead and Soob is moving on despite his grief over the death of his wife. When mutilated women’s bodies start showing up, one in the nearby Musi River and several in the Baig family park, one of whom is the Nizam’s young wife, Inspector Wilberforce of the Residency Police says the Ripper is back. Soob believes it’s just a copy-cat killer and works the horrific crimes on that assumption.
In this debut of what looks to be a very promising crime thriller series, Shankar has deftly managed the tense and fragile political situation of the British Raj. Who takes precedence over who, is complex. If an Indian is responsible for these deaths the British will see that as a way to place even more of a strangle hold on Indian life and culture. Well researched, ably written and filled with suspense, I didn’t guess the killer until near the end. Full marks for this one and I hope the calm, thoughtful and brilliant Soob will be back soon!

This was such a good read I am fascinated by Jack The Ripper so loved the premise of the book. It was atmospheric and a lot of research had obviously gone into the book which I really appreciated.
I loved the writing styles and I loved the characters, I would highly recommend

This novel transports us to Hyderabad in 1895. There is a serial killer on the loose, a copycat of Jack the Ripper.
This is a well-reseached, atmospheric and beautifully crafted story which highlights the tensions in pre-independence India. There is a useful list of characters at the beginning of the novel and a glossary of Indian words at the end.
Hopefully this novel will be the start of a series as I would like to read more by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I received a digital ARC from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is atmospheric and feels well researched. Soob is a great main character and I appreciate how he grapples with his caste and what it means for his relationship with his family. Wilberforce starts off as a very unlikeable character, although he mellows over the course of the book. I would have liked to see more of a reason for his character development, but he was definitely more tolerable by the end.

The mystery is pretty good, but it got a little convoluted and I felt like not all the loose ends were tied up. At the scene level, I found the writing frustrating. This has a lot of short scenes, many of which are structured around very short interactions - someone travels to a meeting, where exactly one piece of information is exchanged, and then they leave. It doesn't feel realistic or allow for much character development through dialogue.

Another thing that made me feel a bit unmoored was the frequency of references to previous cases and how they had led to particular relationships being established. More than once I put the book down to check whether there was a previous entry in the series I'd missed, because there were so many references to things that had recently happened that it felt like this was a sequel. I would rather have seen some of these relationships develop organically on the page.

Despite my criticisms, I would definitely read a sequel. As a fiction debut, this is promising, and I think that with some refinement this could be a really good series.

I always enjoy a good mystery. This book is quite good, not exceptional, but good. The whodunnit is solid, the characters are interesting, the premises of the saga are captivating.
I will definitely read the second book.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

"Is Jack the Ripper at large on the streets of Victorian India?

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.

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.

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.

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.

A richly textured and utterly compelling historical crime thriller from a dazzling debut voice."

Ripperologist here who can't wait to read this!

An outstanding historical novel from a new writer who deserves to be widely read. I thoroughly enjoyed this - the characters, the locations, the period (Victorian India), the plot are all very well presented. I look forward to the sequel and the further crimes faced by Soob and Wilberforce.

With thanks to NetGalley and Canelo Crime for an ARC.

What an intricate, richly-textured mystery, in a well-developed setting that is utterly transporting. Our story unfolds in Hyderabad, India, in 1895, with Acting Chief Inspector Soobramania (“Soob”) racing to solve a string of murders that appear to be in imitation of Jack-the Ripper.

Hyderabad gives us the convergence of Hindu, Muslim, Parsi, and British cultures and I was fascinated by the interplay. Over the course of the investigation, we are given numerous cultural insights thanks to the observations and deductions of our inspector. I particularly appreciated learning more Deccani culture, which was unfamiliar to me, as well as some of the ramifications of traditions revolving around matters of caste.

The writing style is effortless, the kind where pages and pages have turned and you’ve given no thought to sentence structure or voice. It’s simply immersive. At the same time, different characters are given distinct cadence and rhythm that makes it easy to stay oriented. I imagine it will translate nicely to audio.

I was initially intimidated by the extensive Cast of Characters delineated in the beginning, but it was a helpful resource and once I was in the story it proved not to be too complicated.

This was such a treat to read, and I'm thrilled to see "Book 1" in the title, hopefully indicating more installments to come. Thank you so much to Sylashri Shankar for crafting this marvelous story, and to Netgalley and CaneloCrime for the opportunity to review it in advance of publication.

This was a slightly different novel than I was used to reading but managed to pull through and finish it. It's basically a detective story that takes place in India and involves these detective solving a serial murderer. They believe that the killer is a copycat of Jack the Ripper. Overall this novel is pretty good and I would recommend it to anyone to satisfy their curiosity.
I received an arc copy from Netgalley and all opinions are of my own.

I thinl this was a good book. The writing style was fast pace and kept me engaged and I think the world and characters were dynamic and layered in a way that let me learn about new things with each twist and turns. It was a suspenseful and captivating story.