interesting amalgam of kipling's kim, sherlock holmes and a romance. I think the author is most successful when doing the road adventure sections that resemble kim. I found the romance sections a bit cloying. the overall mystery, involving a letter, blackmail, human trafficking and the Indian independence movement was done well ( )

This had the common debut issue of trying to do too much in one book (and it was too long) but I really liked the characters and setting and was invested in the outcome. ( )

I loved the setting and the intricacy of Indian society in the late 19th Century. March has researched this well. It does run a touch too long, especially early on. But it pays off in the end. ( )

4.5⭐

Number One is Walking: My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions marks the second collaboration (the first being A Wealth of Pigeons : A Cartoon Collection ) between the inimitable Steve Martin and renowned The New Yorker illustrator Harry Bliss.

In the first segment of the of the book Martin takes us through his career as a standup comic and his Hollywood career sharing anecdotes from his personal experiences, some behind the scenes stories about some of his movies and his interactions with his co-stars and other celebrities including Paul McCartney and the late Robin Williams. The stories are shared in cartoon format with Harry Bliss’s brilliant illustrations bringing Martin’s memories to life. Martin also shares some hilarious exchanges between himself and his collaborator, with both himself and Harry Bliss appearing as cartoon versions of themselves along with Harry Bliss's pet dog Penny who is absolutely adorable. The latter half of the book features The New Yorker style cartoons illustrated by Harry Bliss in varying themes that are thoroughly entertaining. While I am a huge fan of Harry Bliss and The New Yorker cartoons and truly enjoyed those featured in this book, I absolutely loved Steve Martin’s humorous take on his career and wished that the memoir segment would have been longer than it was.

Overall, this is an entertaining read and a perfect pick-me-up between more serious reads or for just when you need a laugh. I loved getting to know more about Steve Martin and his movies in such a unique format. I’m eager to see what this duo comes up with next! ( )

Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for letting me read and review this intriguing mystery. It was a bit different from what I've read lately and was a nice change. I enjoyed reading this historical mystery set in British India quite a bit.
I loved how I felt more immersed in this novel and story. I felt like I was very much there in the British India setting and it reminded me a bit of part of The Secret Garden with the setting. It was a mystery that kept me and my mind engaged trying to figure out and keep up with what was going on. You were kept guessing for a lot of the novel as to who killed the two Framj women and what the exact motive was behind their murders. The motive behind the murders opened up a lot more of the story as well and brought in more aspects and information about the time and place they were living in.
This story is about Captain Jim and how he comes across a very notable case in the newspapers that he's reading while recovering in the hospital after a battle. The case is about two women who fall to their death from a clock tower in broad daylight at the university and Captain Jim finds himself wanting to help the widower of one of the women, who believes his wife and sister didn't commit suicide. So, Captain Jim approaches the Framj family to help them investigate and discover what happened.
As Captain Jim becomes involved and gets to know the Framj family even more while investigating the case, many things happen that illustrate and show the divided loyalties among the people and ends up putting himself and the Framj family in danger while investigating and asking questions.
There are also topics addressed and discussed throughout such as PTSD from his being in a war, prejudice because he is part Indian/Parsee, and part White - not a full Parsee, which causes problems with the woman he loves and her family that have to be addressed. There are also characters and parts of the story dealing with slavery, human trafficking, child prostitution, and the like that happened with the war and in these kinds of times. Some parts are hard to read not because they are explicit, vulgar, or violent, but simply because it's hard to hear and read about these types of things that happened to human beings during wars and situations such as these.
It was heart-wrenching at parts reading in this book and made me wish more people were loving and accepting of others instead of prejudiced and selfish. I also was joyful during other parts where things worked out despite the hardships. It was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, but then, in that way, it was similar to real life and in the end, things ended up on more of a positive note.
This is worth checking out and reading especially if you like historical mysteries, but also because it makes you stop, think, and reflect on a lot. It causes some self-reflection and thinking through things to see what you can learn from this and how you and others might improve.
I would recommend keeping this on your list, make sure to take a look and read it! ( )