I’m thrilled to welcome Radha Vatsal to Miss Demeanors for a peek into her exciting new historical mystery, No. 10 Doyers Street.
Meet Radha
But before I introduce Radha’s book and the excerpt she’s sharing with us, let me tell you a bit about the author. Born and raised in Mumbai, India, Radha earned her Ph.D. in Film History from Duke University and has worked as a film curator, speechwriter, and freelance journalist. She is a 2024-25 Fellow at the CUNY Writers’ Institute. She lives in New York City.
Along with No. 10 Doyers Street, Radha has written the Kitty Weeks mystery novels, which are set in World War I-era New York. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and CrimeReads, among other outlets.
NYC From an Outsider’s Point of View
My own historical mysteries are all inspired by real events. So is No. 10 Doyers Street. That might have been why I picked up her book, but I stayed for its main character and setting.
In New York City circa 1907, Archana Morley knows what it’s like to be an outsider. As a woman journalist from India making her way through the cutthroat world of tabloid newspapers, she’s always on the lookout for untold stories.
In the aftermath of a bloody shooting in Chinatown, Archana finds her most challenging subject-the dreaded gangster Mock Duck. But she realizes that things are not as they seem when the mayor declares Chinatown must be demolished, and the authorities raid Mock’s home and tear apart his family. She embarks on a quest for the truth that leads her from gritty alleys to the back-room politics of City Hall and beyond.
In the following scene from No. 10 Doyers Street, Archana “Archie” Morley, a woman journalist from India who lives and works in New York in 1907, goes to Chinatown to find out more about a gun fight that had occurred there the previous week. The infamous gangster, Mock Duck, is widely considered to be responsible for the crime. When Archie arrives in Chinatown, she sees a young man with his daughter. She doesn’t realize it at the moment, but he is Mock Duck.
As the story develops Archie begins to see more of the human side of Mock—he’s a gangster, a devoted father, and a family man. And when his daughter is taken away by the authorities and the mayor decides to demolish Chinatown, Archie begins to wonder whether the two events are connected. She embarks on a quest for the truth to find out what’s really going on.
An Excerpt From No. 10 Doyers Street
I returned to Chinatown on a slow afternoon. All around me, the city was growing. Buildings shot up like weeds, chains for the Manhattan Bridge dangled expectantly above the East River, and farther north, the two sides of the bridge to Queens strained to connect in the middle. Elevated trains clattered overhead on the Bowery, and I recalled a story I had heard at the Observer: One of the reporters had been on the train when Mock Duck entered his carriage, which was empty save for him, and a drunk who was fast asleep lolled across three seats. Mock took one look at the inebriate, picked him up, and coolly tossed him out onto the platform as though he was a sack of potatoes. Then he brushed off his hands, opened a newspaper, and began to read.
“Never seen anything like it,” the reporter said. “The fellow couldn’t have hurt a fly, and still, Mock Duck couldn’t resist dumping him.”
As I neared Chatham Square, I wondered whether I was in over my head. Whether the leader of the Hip Sing Tong was best left to other, more hardened reporters. I reminded myself that I hadn’t done anything yet. I hadn’t spoken to anyone, I hadn’t written a word. I was only getting the lay of the land.
A uniformed roundsman patrolled the square between Doyers Street and the Bowery. Workers in black trousers and tunics hauled bundles while passengers hurried back and forth from the station. The roundsman beckoned a vendor with an imperious gesture of his hand, spoke a few sharp words, examined the unfamiliar vegetables in the man’s basket, and started to haggle over the price of leafy greens.
A childish voice chortled, and I looked over to see a little girl in bright pink pantaloons, hair festooned with pink ribbons, riding on her father’s shoulders. She was about five or six years old and was pulling on his ears to direct his gaze. He was slim, with chiseled cheekbones, and dressed, like most of the other men, in loose black trousers, black canvas slippers, and a black tunic with a high collar. He wore a black skullcap, and his hair was pulled into a bun.
A train rumbled out, and the father raised his arm, pointed at the carriages, and began counting them one by one in English. The little girl repeated the numbers after him, enunciating carefully. The pair were lost in their own world, and for a moment, memories of home came rushing back. Then I tore my attention away and moved on to Doyers.
***
Radha’s novel is an engrossing look at New York City as it staggered into the 20th century, and you can find No. 10 Doyers Street wherever books are sold.
The City seems to change constantly. Do you have your own memories of Chinatown, the lower East Side, or of a New York City that has already changed and slipped into history?
What wonderful writing! Definitely a book I’d like to read.
And I love amateur sleuths, like Archana, who are outsiders to the communities impacted by our fictional crimes. That outsider status is one of her/their superpowers.
Thanks, Susan and Mally! And you’re right, her outsider status is one of Archie’s superpowers.
This brief excerpt paints such a vivid picture! I feel as if I’m there-
That’s what I was trying to do–paint a picture of NYC in 1907.
And thanks, Lori!
I enjoyed Radha’s earlier series so I’m looking forward to reading this one.
Thanks, Catherine!
That phrase “on the cusp of modernity ” is spot on. Sounds like she nailed that energy.
Many thanks!
I devoured Radha’s novel and I recommend it as a look at early 20th century NYC history not often seen!
I grew up in and around NYC, and I also loved feeling as if I’d walked into an era in its history I knew little about.
Thank you, Mally. That means a lot coming from a native New Yorker. And thanks for featuring the book on Miss Demeanors!
Gracias, Nancy! Writing about Chinatown in that period was treat for me too.
That really does have a great feel for NYC. It always seems to be doing this kind of growing, and it’s cool to see it through such unique eyes. It reminds me of an interview I saw with Allen Ginsberg, which was done in the ’60s. And he said something to the effect that ’60s New York is no longer ‘his’ New York, that it already changed and grew and is now someone else’s. That’s how I feel about it! Oh, and the book sounds great.
What a great quote from Ginsberg!
This is one of my favorite eras so I’m anxious to read what promises to be a great book. Congratulations Radha!
I grew up on Long Island, and would train in for shows and shopping; and then worked for a while there. The biggest changes I saw were tied to crime. There were particular streets I was told not to walk through as a teen and young woman, yet those same neighborhoods seemed the most alive and accessible in terms of different cultures. Then came a time when I worked at a NYC movie studio as a medical consultant and things changed, with police on every corner, and a cleaned up subway system that revealed the beauty of the mosaic tiles.
It was then I could picture the bygone era when these were new, and the wonder of the people who lived in what is still a fascinating city
no matter the time period.
Thanks Marni! And yes, it is fascinating how much has changed and how much has remained the same. I did a talk with someone who grew up in Chinatown in the 1970s, and she told me that even back then stores and businesses had to chose sides and decide which gangs they would pay protection money to.