From the Bookshelf of Retro Reads…

Death in Kashmir

M.M. Kaye

Start date: April 5, 2025

Finish date: May 4, 2025

Discussion: M.M. Kaye - Fiction

Discussion leader: Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂

Why we're reading this: I've just acquired a copy of this title & decided to lead a group read!…more
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M.M. Kaye - Fiction

* Trade Wind Background Information
By Hana , Hana is In Absentia · 31 posts · 59 views

last updated Dec 22, 2014 02:37PM

Death in Kashmir Group Read spoilers thread Apr 25
By Carol She's S… , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah! · 19 posts · 17 views

last updated Apr 15, 2025 01:17PM

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What Members Thought

Mar 29, 2017 Tweety rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, owned, mountains, india, best-mysteries, m-m-kaye

Spooky!!! So glad I read this in daylight. I finished it one day, the joys of having the flu. I have to say, of all the wonderful suspense authors, M.M. Kaye is my favorite, surpassing Mary Stewart, even. (don't get mad at me, Mary Stewart fans!)

Up at a ski resort in Kashmir, things are going down hill. On a still, moonlight night Sarah sees someone sawing through a window latch and goes to warn her fellow skier. What she learns from this one night of watchfulness in Kashmir will follow her to ...more

26 likes · Like · see review

Apr 09, 2025 Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: espionage-action-suspense-thriller, mystery-murder-crime-20th-century, vintage-retro-romance

4.5★

I was told this was the best of Kaye's 'Death In' books.

This is the fourth one I have read & is very definitely my favourite so far.

It is 1947 & Sarah Parrish is enjoying a skiing holiday in the beautiful Gulmarg in Kashmir. The story starts after the discovery of Mrs Matthews body, which has been written off as a tragic skiing accident. But when Sarah befriends Janet Rushton, she finds all isn't as it seems...

Although Sarah originally plans to go to Ceylon for a holiday she returns to Kashm ...more

21 likes · Like · see review

Dec 17, 2016 Dorcas rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mmkaye, mystery, favorite-reads

Another brilliant mystery by M M Kaye, one that kept me biting my fingernails from start to finish.

What could be more suspenseful than a dark and stormy skiing vacation in the hills of Kashmir, where skiers are meeting with mysterious "accidents" on the slopes...

And when the scene shifts to a lake at the base of the mountains and our heroine takes over the lease of a murder victim's houseboat, little does she know what deadly riddle is hidden in those rooms...

I loved this. I loved the "edge of y ...more

20 likes · Like · see review

Jan 17, 2016 Christine PNW rated it really liked it

Shelves: vintage-women

I read M.M. Kaye when I was in my teens, first picking up The Far Pavilions, and then stumbling on these mysteries later. I can't remember which of the mysteries I read - perhaps all of them, perhaps only a few, but it has been long enough that they are basically new to me. I had actually been wanting to pick these up, and when I saw that Minotaur Books had finally released a kindle edition on December 1, 2015, I was delighted.

I love the mystery genre, especially the golden age mysteries by Chr ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Apr 14, 2017 Carolien rated it really liked it

Shelves: english-mystery, 2017

This book originally put Kashmir on my bucket list. Kaye is an excellent writer and this book is a solid mystery with some real moments of terror. It also recalls a forgotten period in history namely the last days of the British Raj.

5 likes · Like · see review

May 13, 2019 Mela rated it liked it

Shelves: 1945-1990s, region-british, 1945-1990s-romance, series, mystery-adventure, region-south-asia

I loved M.M. Kaye three priceless, magnificent historical fictions (The Far Pavilions, Shadow of the Moon, Trade Wind). They are of those books I would take to a desert island.

I have seen Kaye's philosophical views in 'Death in Kashmir'. Her observant eye and wise review of the political world, how it changed etc.

Moreover, there was humour a bit and I liked (I find it interesting) the reasons for the main mystery plot. You can also see she knew the places she described.

It was definitely well wri ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 25, 2017 Critterbee❇ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library, mystery, f, thriller

Finished! I am really impressed. This is the first book by M.M. Kaye that I have read, and I am grateful that this was a choice for a group read of the Retro Reads group.

The mystery was interesting, and believeable, and the creepiness factor was turned up high! M.M. Kaye really writes suspense well! Without being gory or super violent.

I loved the description of Kashmir, the mustards and lilacs and saffrons, and the birds playing such a great part in the scenery.

(view spoiler) ...more

1 like · Like · see review