It's the first day of Ramadan in heat-soaked Bangalore. A young man begins to dress: makeup, a sari, and expensive pearl earrings. Before the mirror he is transformed into Bhuvana. She is a hijra, a transgender seeking love in the bazaars of the city.
What Bhuvana wants, she nearly gets: a passing man is attracted to this elusive young woman-but someone points out that Bhuvana is no woman. For that, the interloper's throat is cut. A case for Inspector Borei Gowda, going to seed, and at odds with those around him including his wife, his colleagues, even the informers he must deal with. More corpses and Urmila, Gowda's ex-flame, are added to this spicy concoction of a mystery novel.
Most intriguing is the grim world of Bhuvana. Her hijra fantasies, emotions, and hopes are etched in a way that is chilling yet oddly touching. Some mysteries remain till almost the end, for instance Bhuvana's connection with the wealthy, corrupt Corporator Ravikumar, who lives in a mansion as grand as the Mysore Palace and controls whole districts of Bangalore.
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It wasn't the first time. MONDAY, 1 AUGUST, 9:14PM
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(@bitterlemonpub, 3 July 2014, 365 pages, ebook, copy from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed, #BlogTour 12 October via @RandomTTours)
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I haven't read a lot of fiction set in India, certainly not crime fiction. I thought this would be something a little different. It certainly was. First off, I loved the setting. The book takes you right into the heart of Indian society. I loved the descriptions; they really brought the place and people to life. The murders of young male prostitutes are well written, engaging and suitably gory, a little too well-written at times. Unusually so, we know who the killer is early on in the book, well we know how and why she killed the first two men but we don't know who she is or what she will do next. She's an enigma it takes the rest of the book is reveal. Inspector Gowda of the Bangalore Police is a great character, determined to find out the truth regardless of his superiors dismissing his suggestions of a serial killer at large as 'ramblings'. The lack of interest by the police as more bodies turn up is chilling. The families of dead male prostitutes don't care so why should they? I enjoyed every word of this.
