Hot Stage — Anita Nair

The third in the Inspector Gowda series, set in Bangalore, India. Borei Gowda is a splendidly grumpy, hard-drinking, deeply flawed policeman whose chaotic home life includes an absent wife, an estranged son and an enigmatic mistress. When elderly Professor Mudgood is found dead in his Bangalore house one winter morning, it is considered a natural death; after all, he was 82 years old, but Gowda isn't so sure. All the evidence points to a political murder since the professor was a fervent critic of right-wing forces in India. But the more Gowda delves into the details, the more convinced he becomes that the professor's killing has been stage-managed. There is something more sinister to it �" and Gowda has no other option but to take a calculated risk to infiltrate this sinister world.

The fast-paced plot has many surprising twists, but police work is not just about going out and catching crooks. All kinds of office politics, caste politics and other considerations complicate Gowda's life. Anita Nair lives in Bangalore, and her disclosure of Gowda's thoughts is telling: “This was a city where dog ate dog, rat devoured rat, and everyone would get ahead if they dismissed their conscience.”