A murder mystery set in the by-lanes and alleys of Chandni Chowk in Delhi, Murder in Moonlit City succinctly captures the sights and sounds of the Walled City area. Right from the onset, the reader is plunged straight into the mystery with the murder of a pilgrim outside the Haveli Hotel, a niche boutique hotel.
Sister Agatha Murphy is an Irish nun who works with the Sisters of the Amazing Grace in India. With a name like Agatha, it is perhaps not a surprise that Paul Waters doffs his hat to the original spinster sleuth and the writer who created her. However, more ostensibly, Waters pays tribute to his late cousin, Sister Agatha McLoughlin, who, like Sister Agatha Murphy, spent a lot of time in India educating many young women. In the novel, Sister Agatha teams up with Avtar Mehta, whom she first meets, accidentally, in the back alleys of the Haveli Hotel, of which he is the owner. Murder in Moonlit Square depends heavily on the contrast and chemistry between its two main characters. While Sister Agatha is a forceful, pragmatic personality, whose ‘outsider’ tag becomes useful, especially in getting access to certain spaces, where her ‘foreigner’ tag and skin colour open doors that may be closed to ordinary Indians. Avtar is the essential counterpoint to Agatha. He is rooted in the history and complexity of Old Delhi, and his own personal experience with displacement allows him to empathize with the missing Pakistani pilgrim. Together this unlikely duo of detective and assistant get caught up in non-stop adventure, starting with a robbery they witness just outside the hotel, an erectile dead body inside it, the disappearance of a Pakistani pilgrim, and a major terror alert, with tensions along the Pakistan border. With such themes, one may expect the novel to be paced like a thriller with high octane chases, undercover spies, mafia, etc. But on the contrary, Waters decides to take a much calmer and cozy approach to the solving of the mystery.
Neither Agatha nor Avtar are experienced in the solving of crimes, but they are portrayed as two human beings who are trying to do the right thing. Sister Agatha is essentially a good, decent human being. She is compassionate and has a sharp, agile mind. Together with Mehta, they pursue their own investigations into the crises at the hotel—a partnership built over an impromptu cigarette break in Moonlit Square (Chandni Chowk). Mehta is a harangued, harassed, heckled hotel owner, frustrated at the events that have not only tarnished the reputation of his hotel, and brought it to the verge of closure, but also turned him into a suspect in the whole case! Hence, for him, trying to find the real culprits is a matter of survival, literally. Within the main narrative, the story therefore also deals with issues of love and loyalty—for each other and for the nation.
Waters’s familiarity with Delhi comes across very clearly in the novel. He perfectly captures the sights and sounds of Old Delhi and Chandni Chowk—a very different world from Lutyens’s Delhi, which is just a stone’s throw away. He describes the people, their clothes, and their mannerisms perfectly. In addition, he evocatively captures the visual and olfactory tapestry of Chandni Chowk—where labourers still carry goods on their heads, godowns are stuffed with wholesale goods, wires hang overhead and in between are houses with lattice work and shouts of cycle rickshaws. In addition, there are the smells from Paranthe wale gali and Khali Baori, presenting a vivid kaleidoscope of India—full of colour, chaos and of course, a hint of Bollywood!
The structure of the novel is also interesting. There are a large number of chapters, but each chapter is only a few pages. The action is spread over six days, from Monday through Saturday, with the bulk of the narrative taking place on Wednesday and Thursday. Each chapter is about the past and present Delhi, where the ancient, traditional and modern somehow intersect. The language and narrative style also contribute significantly to the novel’s impact. Waters brings character traits to the fore through dialogue as well as mannerisms—for instance, smoking a cigarette in the back alley of the hotel binds our protagonists together, and is a major recurring motif through the novel. The glossary at the end is a useful and welcome addition, especially for non-Indians, and those unfamiliar with north Indian/Delhi specific communication registers. Also, interestingly, the cover has the words ‘A Haveli Hotel mystery’ inscribed on it—so perhaps this novel has seen the launch of yet another detective duo, with a different power and social dynamic.
Of course, like any novel, this detective fiction does not just remain a simple whodunnit but also deals with larger societal concerns. For someone like Waters, looking at India through the lens of an outsider-insider (just like his protagonists)—he hints at many more ‘murders’—of dreams, of nationality, livelihoods and communal harmony and trust. There are some of the usual stereotypes of India as seen from the Western gaze; however, that is a small issue. Both Sister Agatha and Mehta understand the pain of separation and displacement. While India is the adopted home for Agatha, she continues to miss Ireland, while realizing that there is nothing left for her there. Similarly, Avtar too has been a victim of displacement; his family too migrated to India during the Partition.
The end is a surprising cliffhanger—but then again, it is not if one has followed the clues through the novel, red herrings included. The conclusion seems to tie in very neatly with the overall narrative of the story. Murder in Moonlit Square is a perfect snuggly bedtime read. Looking forward to more adventure installments of the A & A detective duo in the future!
Madhumita Chakraborty is Professor, Department of English, Zakir Husain Delhi College (Evening), University of Delhi, Delhi.