The Artful Murders: A Ragini Malhotra Mystery

In a leafy lane in South Delhi's Greater Kailash-II, all is not well. LakshmiKrishnamurthi, the lovable 'Madrasi aunty' of the neighbourhood, has notbeen seen for 48 hours. When her neighbour, Ragini Malhotra, accompaniesVikas, the local cop, to investigate, she finds a painting missing from thewall-a five-crore Husain.Meanwhile, far away, on the Mumbai-Pune highway, Pratap, a long-distancedriver, is found stabbed to death. In the car with him that night were anunidentified man and Shobhana Shandilya, a glamorous Mumbai socialite,twice divorced, who has set her sights on the well-known scientist AfrozAhmed as husband number three.Is there a connection between the two crimes? Housewife turned SherlockHolmes Ragini Malhotra discovers that there may just be-when shemeets Mrs Krishnamurthi's niece, the nubile young Bharatanatyam dancerSaudamini, and the seemingly genteel Ruksana Begum, once M.F. Husain'smuse.It's a tangled web, and Ragini's detective skills will be properly tested. Ablyassisted by Raunaq, an auto driver, Rudy, Pratap's gay partner, and PremlataPuri, a private investigator, Mrs Malhotra joins the dots to bring thisintricate mesh of love, betrayal, greed, deceit and art smuggling to a startlingconclusion.In his first foray into detective fiction, Feisal Alkazi brings together hisknowledge of the worlds of art and theatre, and of the city of Delhi, to createa masterful, entertaining-and sparkling-page-turner.