content: I found the plot of "Ragtime in Simla" to be fairly obvious very early in the book. In addition, the writing was not intellectually stimulating and the dialogue didn't strike me as being of either the period or the place.I had purchased this book because I had recently finished Laurie King's "The Game," which takes place in the about same time period and vicinity. Since "The Game" was definitely 5 stars, I was anxious to prolong the atmosphere with another book of similar subject matter and location. Unhappily, "Ragtime in Simla" was the wrong choice and so disappointing that I won't bother with any of this author's other books.