A Silk Road Mystery
Written by Veena Muthuraman
Reviewed by Sinead Vaz and Jennifer Thomas
A historical novel presenting the status quo of society, woven into a fast-paced mystery.
| Publishing Date: July 19, 2025 ISBN Number: 978-93-6336-671-8 Page Count: 248 Publisher: Talking Cub, an imprint of Speaking Tiger Review Posted Online: June 2026 QBR Issue: Q2 2026 Categories: Historical Fiction | Mystery | Social Commentary |
 |
The story of Xuan, the main character and narrator, begins somewhere between 127 and 150 CE as he travels the Silk Road, a trade route that connected Rome to China. One map shows us the key places within the city. Taxila is modern-day Punjab, Pakistan. A second map locates Taxila as one of the few meeting points of various cultures, highlighted in the chronology and in Xuan’s note to the reader. It is interesting to note that the author chooses the Roman spelling of the city over the Sanskrit one; Taxila versus Takshashila.
Veena Muthuraman sets us up with information about the place, the time period, and a wide cast of characters before we meet our narrator. We are eased into the story with relevant context. The maps create intrigue. We wondered, however, why a cast of characters is presented at the beginning, a convention usually reserved for plays, as good storytelling would introduce them through the plot itself. The chronology establishes the historical context of Buddhism and a few kingdoms that pertain to the story and its characters. The cast of characters is diverse, including the main ensemble, which we will discuss further.
Our four main characters become involved in solving the central mystery when a chariot wheel-maker is accused of a crime. We learn that the palace vault was broken into and riches were stolen. Xuan, the protagonist and narrator, is introduced as he enters Taxila. The story starts off slowly, with Xuan directly addressing the reader several times. The “Note to the Reader” adds historical and cultural context in Xuan’s own voice. We get the sense that he is older, perhaps wiser, and that the story we are about to read was a turning point in his life. As Xuan and his master, a pilgrim named Fa-Li, make their way to Taxila, we are introduced to two other main characters.
Anahita and Ekla make a memorable entrance. Anahita, the daughter of Taxila’s general, and Ekla, the chariot wheel-maker’s son, are an unlikely duo who immediately steal the spotlight. When the crime is committed and Ekla’s father is accused, the stakes are raised. Shortly thereafter we meet Nelli, a daughter of the forest and a formidable character, the last of the main ensemble to be introduced. All of the main characters made a stronger initial impression on us than our narrator did.
The first few chapters feel short, and Xuan continues to address the reader throughout them. Whether due to a combination of factors or simply the demands of exposition, Xuan felt flat as a main character. In true Jane Eyre fashion, the author’s casual use of “dear reader” in the opening chapters pulled us out of the story. As the plot thickens and we get to know the characters and the city, these interruptions slow down. In the early sections, however, Xuan seems to function more as narrator than as protagonist. Alongside the main mystery of the missing riches, Muthuraman builds intrigue around Xuan and his master, Fa-Li. We are told they come from China, and why, but for much of the book Xuan only hints at something sinister lurking beneath the surface. The author chooses to reveal Xuan’s backstory toward the end though it appears to be his primary motivation throughout. When it finally emerges, it feels rushed, squeezed in between the pieces of the case coming together. Other characters repeatedly question Xuan’s reasons for involving himself. Yet his direct addresses to the reader never make us privy to any secrets or background information; we find out when Ekla and the others do.
Anahita discovers that a precious amulet, not mere riches ,was actually stolen, and that the official account was a cover story. Each member of the group has a personal stake in uncovering the truth, and as they dig into the case we come to understand both them and Taxila more fully; the different groups of people, the power they hold, and the power they lack.
Muthuraman addresses socio-political issues that rarely find their way into children’s literature. However, she never names the lived experiences she is representing. Xuan and Fa-Li appear to stand in for migrants or refugees, with Fa-Li’s status as a pilgrim affording him a privilege Xuan does not share. As the general’s daughter, Anahita represents the lives of dominant-caste society. Key information about the case reaches us only because of her access and privilege. We and the rest of the group learn of the real theft of the amulet solely because of her position in Taxila’s hierarchical society: her access to the palace grounds and to sensitive conversations. She is also able to exercise her social power in ways the others cannot, and faces far less scrutiny than they do.
Ekla is barred from certain buildings and areas of Taxila. Though he wants to become an archer, he cannot, owing to his family’s profession indicative of caste. Yet there appears to be an editorial decision to sidestep the complexities of caste and its operation in Indian society over many centuries. Though Muthuraman seems to be making a social commentary, caste-based discrimination, the stigma attached to different castes, and related issues are never explicitly named. As readers, we found ourselves wondering why. This was a recurring question as we worked through the story. Is the reader not trusted to understand the complexities and effects of caste? What we receive feels like a sanitised version of events, without deeper probing into the undercurrent of the issues.
Nelli lives in the forest. She and her mother work with plants and natural medicine. They are excluded from society because their practices directly challenge the authority of the school and the priests who run it, and yet people slip away at night to seek their help for ailments the priests cannot treat. Both Nelli and her mother could be read as figures for the experiences of indigenous people. Nelli’s mother is continuously ostracised for her use of medicinal plants. Isabel, a fourteen-year-old library member, pointed out that the priests use these same plants and yet persistently call Nelli’s mother a witch. As noted above, none of the issues these characters face is explicitly named or identified, which leaves us uncertain about the nature of the representation the story aims to offer.
Muthuraman makes a compelling case for how Taxila would have functioned under the dominant ideas and structures of its society,its soldiers and army, perpetuating the values of the ruling class. The unmasking of the true culprit brings forth additional nuances in how different forms of privilege and their absence interact within a dominant ideology. Isabel could not name the narratives being represented, but she raised questions about immigration, feminism, agency, and caste. It was only through our discussion that she was able to put names to them. She drew connections between minor details in the book, the perception of Ekla’s father, his profession, his community and caste dynamics she has witnessed in her own life: the practice of untouchability, segregation reinforced through language in schools, and the conditioned suspicion with which certain communities and localities are regarded.
The resolution of the case does not bring resolution to the socio-political issues it raises. Quite realistically, the lives of those directly involved change for the better, but there is no systemic change. Xuan, Anahita, Ekla, and Nelli each undergo small shifts in perspective through their time together, but Taxila largely remains the same.
Isabel’s response reinforces our view that this story with its layered plot and ensemble cast deliberately chooses not to interrogate or comment on the divisive social hierarchies and caste practices that persist in India today. We believe good literature has a responsibility not only to represent historical stories but to interrogate aspects of our history, so that young readers are left with some hope for a better world. Sadly, Muthuraman chooses silence, and in preserving the status quo of historical Taxila, she leaves nothing disturbed for readers in the contemporary world.
As the case closes and the characters move on, we are left with questions not about the flow or resolution of the story, which was easy to navigate structurally, but about its vague allusions to lived experiences, which readers may interpret in different ways. Is it necessary to name the experiences being represented? Would doing so make the author’s stance more substantial? Or does Muthuraman trust her readers to arrive at the same conclusions and if so, why?
This is the first in a new historical fiction series that Muthuraman is writing, set along the ancient Silk Road.
Further Recommendations
- The Great Anicut by Veena Muthuraman, Hachette India, 2021
- The Chowpatty Cooking Club by Lubaina Bandukwala, Penguin Random House India, 2022
- A Conspiracy in Calcutta by Leslie Biswas, Penguin Random House India, 2022
- The Misdaventures of a Diamond Thief by Lubain Bandukwala, Penguin Random House India, 2023
- Caravan to Tibet by Deepa Agarwal, Penguin Random House India, 2007