The Fast and the Dead, a gripping murder mystery set in Bangalore’s Habba Galli, is an tale of suspense and romance.
Author of six bestselling novels, Anuja Chauhan’s new whodunnit-romance, The Fast and the Dead, is an entertaining murder mystery filled with humor and a love story at its heart. The protagonist of the story is the ‘hottie’ of Habba Galli, Jhoomar Rao. Newly poor and newly single, she is a veterinarian surgeon obsessed with animals. Jhoom lives with her mother, Jaishri, an assistant professor at Bangalore University. Both women are staunch feminists. The Raos’ neighbours are the Saits. Ayesha Sait is passionate about the cause of street dogs, while her son, Haider, is a major Bollywood star in Mumbai. Since childhood, Haider has harboured a solid crush on Jhoom. With a shooting schedule for a period film on the Sholay location just outside Bengaluru, Haider comes to stay with his mother for a month. Then there is Dondi Pais, an elderly and somewhat senile woman who threatens to kill dogs with a huge gun that she owns.
On Karwa Chauth night, mysterious gunshots are heard, and a dog is found injured. Later, a wealthy jeweller is also found dead after being hit by a bullet on his head. Apparently, his wife had broken her Karwa Chauth fast before moonrise on the same night. Cop-detective ACP Bhavani Singh from the Crime Branch, New Delhi, happens to be visiting Bengaluru for a wedding along with his wife. As he begins investigating the curious incident, he soon deduces, quite predictably, that this is a ‘clear-cut case of pre-planned, deliberate, cold-blooded murder.’ He also discovers a colourful cast of characters, each of whom becomes a suspect, with different motives to commit the crime. All the while, sparks begin to fly between Jhoom and Haider.
The book is primarily set in Bengaluru’s bustling Habba Galli, an iconic one-kilometre stretch in the heart of the city’s commercial business district. The prose is peppered with several references to popular spots in Bengaluru, such as Cubbon Park and Russell Market. The author also describes the ‘fairy tale Disney bazaar’ in rich detail:
Dogs, stray sentiments, and urban realities
‘Nike and Dior can be found on Habba Galli; so can Neki and Doir. There is pizza Chettinadu and pasta Manchurian and chocolate momos. There are harem pants in Kanjeevaram silk and prom gowns in Banarasi brocade. There are cows, cats and dogs. And above all the mayhem, there is fragrant incense smoke curling up from altars of all faiths.’
Needless to say, the subject of dogs is important in the book and comes up repeatedly, for instance, when discussing the various factions that the residents of Habba Galli can be informally divided into: those fiercely committed to street dogs, and the passionate haters who think stray dogs are pests that should be exterminated. Chauhan also brings up the growing anti-stray sentiment among people in the neighbourhood, with individuals expressing much animosity for them on WhatsApp groups and elsewhere. This is something that has become a reality in many localities these days. ‘Stray dogs incite extreme emotions all over urban India,’ observes Singh at one point.
Challenging tradition
Another significant theme in the book is the sacred Hindu festival of Karwa Chauth (or ‘KC’). The story questions our blind faith in the Karwa Chauth legend – or perhaps its myth – heard unquestioningly since childhood and reinforced over and over in countless Bollywood films. ‘Married women keep the rigorous dawn-to-moonrise Karwa Chauth fast for the long life of their husbands. This pleases the goddess and ensures them a long happy married life. But if a wife breaks her fast before the moonrise, then the angered goddess immediately strikes down her husband and condemns her to eternal widowhood.’
Chauhan’s previous novel, Club You to Death, another murder mystery, is soon going to be made into a movie by Maddock Films. The gripping storyline as well as breezy language and dialogues of her latest book too seem to be targeted to an OTT audience. The Fast and the Dead, though a bit thick, is an engaging read nonetheless.”
Publisher: Harpercollins
Price : 499
Pages: 420
