The Secret Keeper of Jaipur * Alka Joshi

Twelve years after The Henna Artist, former street child Malik - now a twenty-year-old private school graduate - leaves Shimla to apprentice at the Jaipur Royal Palace's Facilities Office, where a tragic opening-night collapse at a new cinema draws him into a web of wealthy secrets and palace cover-ups.

The Story. Written by New York Times bestselling author Alka Joshi, this continues the sweeping story of the Jaipur Trilogy in spring 1969. Now happily married to Dr. Jay Kumar and directing the Healing Garden in Shimla, Lakshmi arranges an internship in Jaipur for her protégé Malik, hoping to broaden his horizons while giving him distance from Nimmi, a widowed nomadic tribal woman he has grown close to. Returning to the Pink City of his childhood, Malik helps oversee construction on a state-of-the-art royal cinema. When the cinema's balcony collapses on opening night and blame is swiftly pinned on a convenient scapegoat, Malik teams up with Lakshmi to uncover the truth behind the corruption and protect the people they love.

Perfect For. Book clubs and historical fiction readers who enjoy lush, character-driven stories blending mystery, loyalty, and cultural richness alongside Alka Joshi's The Henna Artist, The Perfumist of Paris, and Six Days in Bombay, Sujata Massey's The Widows of Malabar Hill, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's The Palace of Illusions, or Amor Towles's A Gentleman in Moscow.

First published 2021; this edition 2022 by MIRA Books.

Historical & Literary Fiction / 1960s India Historical Fiction / Mystery & Palace Intrigue / Family Bonds & Coming-of-Age / Post-Colonial Cultural Fiction / Book Club Favorites

The Jaipur Trilogy:

Book 1: The Henna Artist

Book 2: The Secret Keeper of Jaipur

Book 3: The Perfumist of Paris