Leela Soma – Murder At The Mela

‘Murder At The Mela’ by Leela Soma is a fantastic story, set in Glasgow, Scotland. Introducing us to DI Patel a newly promoted DI… In fact, the first Asian DI in Scotland.

He is called out to his first murder case in Kelvingrove Park where a young woman called Nadia has been discovered. The evening before, the Glasgow Mela which is hosted at the park, had ended. Raising a host of questions, had she been killed during the Mela? Was it an honour killing? A racist one? This death causes ripples of tension within the Asian community and is the main topic of conversation as you would expect.

Patel comes across as an officer who does his utmost to deal with the case to the best of his abilities and attempt to solve it to answer the questions surrounding Nadia’s death. I enjoyed getting to know this new DI and feel he is a pretty smart cookie. I felt for him when I learned of his relationship. He is dating a young Asian officer, Usma but their families aren’t the happiest as she is Muslim and Patel is Hindu. I have my fingers crossed for them going into the future (hoping there IS another book!).

I personally think that the amount of research that Leela Soma has done for this book is crystal clear. The police procedures showed this. I particularly love it when something has been done 110% and in this book that shines through.

Thanks to Damp Pebbles and Ringwood Publishing for my copy of the book and my place on the tour.