3 and a Half Murders


Salil Desai - 2017
    . . a woman lying dead on her bed, a man hanging from the ceiling fan. A suicide note cum murder confession. And a name . . . Shaunak Sodhi.When the case comes their way, Senior Inspector Saralkar has just been diagnosed with hypertension and PSI Motkar is busy with rehearsals of an amateur play.What appears at first to be a commonplace crime by a debt-ridden, cuckolded husband, who has killed his unfaithful wife and then hung himself, soon begins to unfold as a baffling mystery.As clues point to a seven-year-old unsolved murder in Bangalore and other leads emerge closer home, Saralkar and Motkar find themselves investigating shady secrets, bitter grudges, fishy land deals, carnal desires, the dead woman Anushka Doshi’s sinister obsession with past life regression and her husband’s links to a suspicious, small-time god-man, Rangdev Baba. And then, suddenly, the murderer resurfaces and yet another life is in grave danger . . . Can Saralkar and Motkar get to the bottom of an unimaginably shocking motive and stop the malevolent killer from committing the fourth murder . . .?

Twenty Stories


Satyajit Ray - 1992
    

the backbenchers


Sachin Garg
    

Mumbaistan


Piyush Jha - 2012
    A prostitute, her lover and a policeman play for high stakes in BombDay. Injectionwala exposes chilling medical malpractices and a lovelorn vigilantes twisted game plan. In Coma Man, a man awakens from coma after twenty years, and sets out in search of his wife and himself. Gritty love stories, manipulative cops and hard-boiled slumlords form the backdrop of this unputdownable thriller. Its MUMBAISTAN all the way. Mumbai, a city of dreams for many. But for others, a nightmare. Behind the façade of lustre and glamour churns a seething underbelly of squalor, corruption and crime. Mumbaistan’s three explosive crime novellas unravel the subterranean secrets of maximum city—from the teeming maw of Dharavi and the wanton streets of Kamathipura to the swank high-rises of Bandra. A prostitute, her lover and a policeman play for high stakes in Bomb-Day. Injectionwala exposes chilling medical malpractices and a lovelorn vigilante’s twisted game plan. In Coma Man, a man awakens from coma after twenty years, and sets out in search of his wife— and himself. Macabre love stories, conniving cops and hard-boiled slumlords form the backdrop of a schizophrenic city that is brooding...dying. Welcome to Mumbaistan; a gritty, compelling take on the megalopolis that lives on the edge.

The Diary of My Love


Deesha Sangani - 2020
    Fresh out of college, she has just stepped into the corporate world, chasing her dreams. Life seems perfect.Ayush meets Anushkaa on her first day at work, and feels a spark of liking rush through him. Torn between his heart and mind, he is sure he is smitten by her magical charm. A chance conversation with Anushkaa evokes emotions he hasn’t felt in years. She seems to be perfect.But does a perfect life exist?When they meet again four years later, their hearts are broken and their will to love is lost. They heal each other’s hearts and help each other achieve their dreams. Finally, when they start living for themselves and each other, life plays a cruel card.Anushkaa’s diary is her only true companion, holding within the pages the secret that nobody else will ever know. Join Ayush and Anushkaa on this rollercoaster of emotions, and take a peek into the secret Anushkaa has buried in The Diary of My Love.

The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey


Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar - 2014
    Soon after, Gurubari, her rival in love, gave her an illness that was like the alakjari vine which engulfs the tallest, greenest trees of the forest and sucks their hearts out. Now Rupi, once the strongest woman in her village, lives out her days on a cot in the backyard, and her life dissolves into incomprehensible ruin around her.The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey is the story of the Baskeys—the patriarch Somai; his alcoholic, irrepressible daughter Putki; Khorda, Putki’s devout, upright husband, and their sons Sido and Doso; and Sido’s wife Rupi. Equally, the novel is about Kadamdihi, the Santhal village in Jharkhand in which the Baskeys live. For it is in full view of the village that the various large and small dramas of the Baskeys’s lives play out, even as the village cheers them on, finds fault with them, prays for them, and most of all, enjoys the spectacle they provide.An astonishingly assured and original debut, The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey brings to vivid life a village, its people, and the gods—good and bad—who influence them. Through their intersecting lives, it explores the age-old notions of good and evil and the murky ways in which the heart and the mind works.WINNER OF THE SAHITYA AKADEMI YUVA PURASKAR 2015 IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGEJOINT WINNER OF MUSE INDIA-SATISH VERMA YOUNG WRITER AWARD 2015, CATEGORY: FICTIONSHORTLISTED FOR THE HINDU PRIZE 2014SHORTLISTED FOR THE CROSSWORD BOOK AWARD 2014 FOR BEST INDIAN FICTIONLONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2016

Ravana's Sister (Meenakshi) Kindle Edition


Anand Neelakantan - 2018
    But the world knew her as an evil, ugly and immoral seductress called Soorpanakha who had dared to fall in love with Lord Rama’s brother, Lakshmana. In this fascinating story, Ravana’s Sister (Meenakshi), best selling author of The Rise of Sivagami, Anand Neelakantan, tells the poignant tale of a woman whose ears, nose and breasts are chopped off by a man as punishment for seeking love from a superior being. Overturning what popular myths and legends may have endorsed about Meenakshi aka Soorpanakha, this story is about every woman who may have lost in love, but gained much more from life in general.

On Women: Selected Writings


Khushwant Singh - 2014
    Indeed, this enduring obsession provided fodder for some of Singh’s best-known work, both as a journalist and as a peerless raconteur.On Women, a wide-ranging selection of Singh’s writings on the subject, includes Singh’s recounting of an embarrassingly drunken meeting with Begum Para, an actress of yesteryears; a sharp profile of Shraddha Mata, a tantric sadhvi who was alleged to have borne Jawaharlal Nehru’s illegitimate child; and a touching sketch of Singh’s grandmother in the twilight of her life. Also featured in this volume are unforgettable women characters from Khushwant Singh’s most popular works of fiction: Georgine, a clueless American teenager who is seduced by a middle-aged tour guide in Delhi; and Nooran, a young girl in pre-Partition Punjab, who discovers the sweet pleasure of first love only to be overtaken by cataclysmic events which leave her adrift.Insightful, poignant, and occasionally wicked, the essays and extracts in On Women are testament to why Khushwant Singh remains one of the most popular writers of our times.

Bombay Fever


Sidin Vadukut - 2017
    Never before has anyone seen anything like this. Three months later, all over Mumbai, men, women and children are ravaged by a disease that begins with initially mild symptoms—that swiftly progress until an ultimately gruesome death. Who will it hit next? And where did it come from? As the rogue microbe wreaks its bloody havoc—striking rich and poor, young and old—chaos ensues. Thousands try to flee the city, including the most powerful man in the country. Can this deadly plague be stopped? After all, all that stands between the city and apocalypse is a ragged team of doctors, civil servants, and scientists. But their intervention may be too little, too late. Suspenseful and gripping from the first page to the last, Bombay Fever is a meticulously researched novel—too plausible to ignore and too chilling to put down—from one of India’s most talented writers.

MIЯЯЯO : at THƎ WƎIЯⱭ WAYWAЯⱭ


Manoj Kumar Sharma - 2019
    But at the same time many perennial social problems also grew manifolds, remained inattentive and giving birth to exponential intensification to grievances. The volcanoes of grievances led to Genesis of MIЯЯЯO … MIЯЯЯO’s unpredictable fearless Modus-Operandi breaks all the Laws and leads to the out-of-the-box solutions as Weird Way Ward, to rejuvenate the Eco-Systems of today’s hypocritical SYSTEMS…it’s up to the discretion of the PEOPLE, to allow or not! The Story indicates India’s perennial problems through the eyes of the Protagonist, who always dreamt for the solutions as his own personal aspirations, but, couldn’t succeed meeting even single one, out of his own personal flaws. Time compels him taking help of someone, whom he never believed cordially. Out of gist of many, only 3 problems are selfishly picked-up by the Protagonist, which hurt him most personally. MIЯЯЯO weirdly solves those 3 problems with the essence of absolute cleansing as permanent solutions… Will INDIA wish to have such weird, but, permanent solutions to all other problems? Let TIME tell…

Sarasvati's Gift


Kavita Kané - 2021
    She is known as a lost river and seen as a singular goddess, never as part of a couple, such as Shiva-Parvati or Lakshmi-Narayan. In Sarasvati's Gift, Kavita Kane brings to light Sarasvati's story-the goddess of art, music and knowledge-told in the voices of nameless celestials, powerful gods and lesser mortals. The book explores her relationship with her Creator, Brahma, and their unusual marriage-a union of fiercely independent minds and the most non-conforming, unconventional of the Triumvirate couples. As these peripheral figures and silent catalysts take centre stage, we get a glimpse of an extraordinary woman and her remarkable story, obscured and buried under myths and legends.

Ram's Secret


Devdutt Pattanaik - 2017
    Devdutt Pattanaik asks a very significant question about the complexity of dharma –‘ Is Ram the King of Ayodhya first or husband of Sita? Even as the nation witnesses a tug-of-war apropos the building of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Ram’s Secret helps us understand what made Ram a righteous king and most importantly, an avatar of Vishnu.

The Worst Daughter Ever


Aarti V. Raman - 2019
    Lasya ‘LJ’ Raghavan is a spectacularly single, unsuccessful playwright with an estranged family, crippling debt, and a dead-end job. When the family matriarch Chandralekha Chakrapani dies, LJ has to face the family that considers her an epic failure… especially her father, who has taken a vow of silence against her; her cousin sister, Ahalya, who blames LJ for destroying her marriage; and bridezilla Kiki whose wedding has been cancelled. Adding to the family drama is Banjeet ‘Ben’ Dewar, her grandmother's lawyer who keeps showing up whenever LJ falls apart. Ben is everything LJ is looking for in a man, except Ahalya is interested in Ben too! Can LJ be selfish once more when the last time nearly destroyed her family? More importantly, can LJ's family forgive her when she is the ‘worst daughter ever’? Written in the style of bestselling Indian rom-coms, The Worst Daughter Ever explores love, loss, friendship, family, redemption and forgiveness in a funny, emotional, coming-of-age tale.

Mr & Mrs Nambiar


Sudha Nair - 2019
    A cute tale about how a housewife gets her groove back...Indu and Madan Nambiar have lead a well-settled, almost-perfect life for many years — and then, Madan retires.As their seemingly content coexistence is threatened, will they be able to strike a new balance? Will Indu be able to accept this new reality? Or will retirement be a new beginning for both Mr and Mrs Nambiar?Read this funny take on the repercussions of retirement.

red velvet villainy


Molly Maple - 2022
    The beloved Gus wouldn't hurt a fly, so when he ends up in the hospital after being attacked, no one quite knows where to point the finger.With the restaurant hanging on by a thread and a criminal on the loose, Charlotte knows she will have to solve this crime with a soup ladle in one hand and a cupcake pan in the other. When it becomes clear that there is more to the coveted soup recipes than meets the eye, Charlotte is certain that the person who attacked Gus won't stop until Gus is silenced once and for all."Red Velvet Villainy" is filled with layered clues and cozy moments, written by Molly Maple, which is a pen name for a USA Today bestselling author.