Murder, mushairas and mutiny: historical crime fiction in English comes of age in India

A conversation with Raza Mir, author of the scintillating novel, 'Murder at the Mushaira'

May 2, 1857. Delhi is simmering with tension. In March of that year, a sepoy called Mangal Pandey had attacked British officers in the Barrackpore garrison; he had been arrested and executed. In April, sepoys in Meerut refused to use the Enfield cartridges, greased, it was rumoured, with the fat of cows and pigs and offensive to Hindus and Muslims, both…