The Bangalore Detectives Club

CWA Historical Dagger, 2023

Paperback / ISBN-13: 9781408715185

Price: £9.99

ON SALE: 28th April 2022

Genre: Crime & Mystery / First World War Fiction / Historical Fiction / India

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‘The first in an effervescent new mystery series. . . a treat for historical mystery lovers looking for a new series to savour (or devour)’ NEW YORK TIMES

A gorgeous debut mystery with a charming and fearless sleuth . . . spellbinding’ SUJATA MASSEY

‘Told with real warmth and wit. . . A perfect read for fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Vaseem Khan’ – ABIR MUKHERJEE

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2022

Murder and mayhem . . . monsoon season is coming.
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Solving crimes isn’t easy.

Add a jealous mother-in-law and having to wear a flowing sari into the mix, and you’ve got a problem.


When clever, headstrong Kaveri moves to Bangalore to marry doctor Ramu, she’s resigned herself to a quiet life.

But that all changes the night of the party at the Century Club, where she escapes to the garden for some peace – and instead spots an uninvited guest in the shadows. Half an hour later, the party turns into a murder scene.

When a vulnerable woman is connected to the crime, Kaveri becomes determined to save her and launches a private investigation to find the killer, tracing his steps from an illustrious brothel to an Englishman’s mansion. She soon finds that sleuthing in a sari isn’t as hard as it seems when you have a talent for maths, a head for logic and a doctor for a husband.

And she’s going to need them all as the case leads her deeper into a hotbed of danger, sedition and intrigue in Bangalore’s darkest alleyways . . .

BOOK ONE IN THE BANGALORE DETECTIVES CLUB SERIES

*INCLUDES A BONUS CHAPTER OF DELICIOUS INDIAN RECIPES*
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If you love murder mystery series like Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Vaseem Khan’s Baby Ganesh Agency and Ovidia Yu’s Crown Colony series, you won’t want to miss THE BANGALORE DETECTIVES CLUB, Book One in a brand new series from Harini Nagendra

‘Told with real warmth and wit. . . Harini Nagendra has created an intricate and fiendish mystery with a wonderful duo of amateur sleuths Kaveri and Ramu at its heart, and capturing the atmosphere and intensity of Bangalore in the roaring twenties. I can’t wait for the next instalment. A perfect read for fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Vaseem Khan’ – ABIR MUKHERJEE

‘Riveting. [Nagendra’s] use of colonial history is thoroughly fascinating, with devastating depictions of the airy condescension of the British. A fine start to a promising series’ BOOKLIST Starred Review

‘Harini Nagendra takes us to a wonderfully unfamiliar world in this delightful debut mystery. . .I couldn’t put it down’ VICTORIA THOMPSON, USA Today bestselling author of Murder on Madison Square

‘Absolutely charming . . . this one is a winner!’ CONNIE BERRY, USA Today best-selling and Agatha-nominated author of The Kate Hamilton Mysteries.

‘An enjoyable trip back in time with a spunky young woman for company.’ R V RAMAN, author of Fraudster and A Will to Kill

‘This lush mystery will transport you to heady 1920s Bangalore, where new bride Kaveri stumbles into sleuthing-while dragging her doctor-husband into the fray. Mouth-watering fashion and food set against simmering colonial intrigue in this delicious whodunit can be devoured in one sitting.’ SUMI HAHN, author of The Mermaid from Jeju

‘I loved The Bangalore Detectives Club . . . Kaveri especially is charming.’ OVIDIA YU, author of The Cannonball Tree Mystery

‘Nagendra makes her fiction debut with an exceptional series launch. . . rich, edifying, and authentic’ Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

‘Deliciously exotic’ Sunday Post

Reviews

I absolutely adored The Bangalore Detectives Club, a beautifully painted picture of a woman's life in 1920s India. Kaveri is a compelling character, headstrong, clever and dogged, and not at all deterred by the constraints of her position and gender. A fantastic book.
M. W. CRAVEN, bestselling and award-winning author of The Curator
The Bangalore Detective Club is a gorgeous debut mystery that introduces Kaveri Murthy, a young wife living a conservative household who applies her prodigious intelligence to solve a murder that threatens to tear apart genteel 1920s colonial Bangalore. Kaveri is a charming and fearless sleuth, trooping from elite social clubs to humble districts to ensure the right culprit is charged with murder. Author Harini Nagendra brilliantly shares the landscape, social customs and history of South India in this spellbinding novel. I eagerly await the next Kaveri mystery.
SUJATA MASSEY, bestselling author of The Widows of Malabar Hill and The Bombay Prince
From page one we plunge into the exuberant cacophony of 1920s Bangalore, right there beside Kaveri Murthy in her adopted city: the drawing-rooms and dirt lanes, the gardens and brothels, the temples and jails. Nagendra's depiction of an awkward but tender new marriage is a delight, and who could help cheering for Kaveri as she swims in her sari, studies in secret and commits herself to the pursuit of justice? More, please!
CATRIONA MCPHERSON, multi-award-winning author of the Dandy McGilver series

The Bangalore Detectives Club Series