Book Recommendation: The Masala Chai Mystery Club by MJ Soni
The Masala Chai Mystery Club (Scheduled publication date: July 21, 2026, Crooked Lane Books) is the new novel by author MJ Soni. I enjoyed this book and recommend it for your reading pleasure. Click on the link to reach the website to learn more about the author and this book.
Suspects abound when a much-despised neighbor is killed, perfect for fans of Only Murders in the Building and Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club.
Retired librarian Neeti Shah was hoping for a restful life with her chai-loving friends, but when the body of a neighbor, a childhood friend of Neeti's, turns up dead and the killer’s MO is similar to that of Neeti's most recent book club read, things start to get out of control.
When Neeti hears a commotion at a neighbor’s house, she finds Rohit’s body sprawled across the bottom of the staircase with Agatha Christie’s The Dumb Witness nearby. Blackmailing his neighbors, threatening them with lawsuits, and calling them by nasty nicknames were only some of the hateful things that made him so disliked. But were they angry enough to kill?
Neeti is indebted to her old friend, and she's determined to find his killer. But she can't do it alone, so she enlists her mystery-loving friends, the Masala Chai Mystery Club, to get to the bottom of the murder.
But Neeti and her club members need to be careful. As more bodies turn up and more suspects start to appear, they’ll need to find the killer before they end up in hot water! Goodreads
I grew up in South Africa under that horrible system of legalized racism called apartheid.
The first piece of literary work I’m proud of is a high school essay about the footprints of a father and child disappearing on a beach. I was rewarded with an A+ from my English teacher who rarely gave such accolades.
This little flame of recognition burned bright for many decades while I worked as an eye surgeon and physician scientist developing drugs for the eye.
Decades later, after attending a writing class at my local community center (shoutout for community centers), the flame roared back to life, and the result was Defying Apartheid, a part-memoir/non-fiction book about young activists who fought against apartheid.
A lifelong fan of Agatha Christie, I now draw upon my love of the culture and cuisine of my diverse Indian, African, and American background, to write heartwarming murder mysteries set largely in coastal New England.
My short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Akashic Books, and the Best New England Crime Stories Anthology.
I’m a recipient of the Leon B. Burnstein/MWA-NY Scholarship, and a runner up to the Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award, a Pitch Wars mentee and mentor, and a member of Crime Writers of Color and Sisters in Crime.
Dendrobium Orchids, Longwood Gardens,
Kennett Square, Pennsylvania USA IMG 1249
Canon PowerShot G11 Camera
Photograph by Roy Kelley
Roy and Dolores Kelley Photographs
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