Bestselling author Anita Nair’s new thriller in the Inspector Gowda series – Hot Stage

nandini.tripathi@harpercollins.co.in | 16 November 2023

is proud to announce the release of

Hot Stage

The third book in the highly acclaimed

Borei Gowda series

by bestselling author

Anita Nair

Releasing 2 December 2023

Fiction/Crime & Mystery | 444 pp | Rs 399

ABOUT THE BOOK

When elderly Professor Mudgood, a well-known rationalist and fervent critic of right-wing forces in India, is found dead in his home in Bangalore by his daughter, ACP Borei Gowda is quite certain that it is a homicide.

Although all evidence points to the murder being politically motivated, the more Gowda delves into the case, the more convinced he is that it isn’t an assassination. As he and his team launch a parallel investigation, they stumble upon a secret and murky world where there are no rules or mercy. When Gowda’s hand is forced, he takes a calculated risk and infiltrates the sinister domain to bring the truth out into the open … Will he succeed? And at what price?

Vivid with detail and taut with suspense, Hot Stage is at once a cracking police procedural and an intense exploration of the squalor and vice that fester in the shadowy lanes of an urban sprawl.

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Anita Nair, author, says ‘After Chain of Custody was published in 2016, I needed to find a subject that was worthy of Borei Gowda’s attention. I started my research on what I thought would be the third in the series and suddenly a whole new plotline presented itself. Writing a Gowda novel is a harrowing experience, as I do the fieldwork and research myself. But as the story falls into place with a life force of its own, the satisfaction is most gratifying. For all the Gowda fans I kept in limbo for so long, I hope the waiting was worth it for this one will take you by surprise as it did both Gowda and me…’

Poulomi Chatterjee, Publisher, HarperCollins India, adds ‘As atmospheric as they are intriguing, Borei Gowda’s previous trysts with crime have thrilled readers in equal measure. We’re delighted to be publishing Hot Stage, in which Anita Nair takes us once again into a murky world where there are neither rules nor mercy. The shocking twists that Gowda has to navigate in Hot Stage are certain to keep readers intently hooked and entertained.’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ANITA NAIR is one of India’s most acclaimed authors whose oeuvre ranges from literary fiction to noir to poetry to children’s literature to translation. Her books have been translated into thirty-two languages around the world and have been adapted for audio, the stage and the screen. She is the recipient of several prizes and honours including the Central Sahitya Akademi award, the Crossword Prize and the National Film Award.

Founder of the creative writing mentorship programme Anita’s Attic which has mentored over 125 writers, Anita Nair is also a High-Profile Supporter of the UNHCR.

Anita Nair’s new novel is Hot Stage, third in the Borei Gowda noir series. 

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READ MORE IN

THE IMMENSELY SUCCESSFUL BOREI GOWDA SERIES

Now available in brand new jackets

Praise for Cut Like Wound

‘Nair captures the seedy side of shiny new India vividly, and Inspector Gowda—with his weary self-knowledge; his secret, wistfully aspirational biker tattoo; his stagnating marriage and his confusion when an old flame re-enters his life—is a welcome addition to the ranks of flawed-but-lovable fictional cops.’

— The Guardian

‘I loved this book and was constantly gripped. Truly astounding writing.’

— Peter James, author of Dead Simple and Looking Good Dead

‘Nair weaves a fast-paced, engrossing tale of suspense … This is not an old-fashioned whodunit. And therein lies the strength of Cut Like Wound. It is not just a story of another smart cop on the trail of another serial killer. It is more a story that explores the mind of a killer, even tempts the reader to sympathise. All the time, without letting go of the fact that Gowda is the true protagonist.’

— India Today

‘Cut Like Wound, set in Bangalore, is a racy page-turner. But it is also a commentary on a society, a people, a way of life, love, longing, identity and loneliness’

— The Hindu

‘The plotting is tight, the setting is familiar to Indian readers and the characters are riveting. The Trainspottiest side of Edinburgh couldn’t have hosted Cut Like Wound ’s startling scenes of ritual worship or its lively transgenders. Even the venal corporator is believable.’

— Hindustan Times

‘The murder is well plotted with the requisite smoke and mirrors to keep the reader guessing. Cut Like Wound sets a gripping pace.’

— The Deccan Chronicle

‘This book [is] consistently interesting as a commentary on the lives of the sexually marginalised, on the blurring of gender expectations, and the emotional baggage carried by both men and women in a world of role-playing and self-presentation.’

— The Sunday Guardian

‘[Those] who enjoy international settings will surely enjoy the well-drawn tension between modern and traditional Indian culture, Gowda’s steady confidence and the heady immersion in Bangalore’s hidden recesses.’

— Booklist

‘[A] startling debut crime novel.’

— Sunday Times

‘The psychological thriller is soaked in the sights and smells of Bengaluru and introduces quite a few interesting characters, including the hero, Inspector Borei Gowda. As usual, Nair’s writing is lucid which makes the reading light and quick.’

— Verve

‘In Cut Like Wound, Nair retains that same earthiness, in a dramatically different genre. The unglamorously named Inspector Borei Gowda literally pops out of the pages at you, and by the finish, is so lifelike that you have his entire appearance and personality mentally mapped out … The story is an honest yet uncomfortably raw exposé of the underbelly of contemporary Indian life.’

— Khaleej Times

‘Gowda’s first case delights—and sometimes shocks—the senses and is a very welcome addition to the still frustratingly small ration of Indian crime fiction now appearing in Britain.’

— Morning Star

‘Anita Nair has successfully leavened the standard mystery novel with her own brand of character-driven narrative.’

— New Internationalist

‘[This] is a fine crime novel.’

— Crime Chronicles

‘Cut Like Wound is a fresh mystery.’

—  The Mystery Gazette

‘Excellent, and hopefully, start of a series of novels featuring Borei Gowda.’

— Afternoon Despatch & Courier

Praise for Chain of Custody

‘Fine follow-up to [the] first Inspector Gowda book. Harrowing but compassionate tale of modern India … both brutal and sympathetic, with an all-too-human (and not entirely likable) cop hero.’

—Ian Rankin, bestselling crime novelist and creator of the Inspector Rebus series

‘Chain of Custody is a true-blue crime thriller—the action is frenetic, the dialogues sharp, [and] it has a whole range of well-fleshed-out characters. As Gowda and his team close in on the villains, Nair doesn’t miss a beat to point towards the many inequities, injustices and inhumanity of a system which is for and of the rich and powerful.’

—Outlook

‘[Chain of Custody] is set in Bangalore, and we traverse not the cosmopolitan glitter of the city, but the seedy, depraved alleys of the other Bangalore, where all kinds of evil lurks behind modest, inconspicuous looking walls. Where boys and girls not yet in their teens lose their childhood to violence and prostitution. This is a novel very hard to read, but the way Nair tells it, it is also very hard to look away and stop reading … This is some seriously good literary noir, a fine example of using the canvas of crime to make important and urgent social commentary, all done through wonderfully layered prose and strongly evolved characters.’

—Scroll.in

‘A book about child abduction and rape will necessarily be a harrowing read, and it is to Nair’s credit that while she doesn’t shy away from depicting violent scenes, they don’t seem gratuitous. The dignity that she imparts to even the most minor actors, not leaving them as mere bystanders in Gowda’s story, speaks volumes about her experience and talent as a writer … Make some space, Rebus and Wallander. Our Gowda may soon be joining you.’

—Mint

‘The author lays out everything as on a flat board, with no red herrings till the story is well up and running. Then what could be a red herring makes its tantalising appearance and puts the reader to work, trying to discern if it indeed is one or not … This, despite the fact that one of the young victims happens to be Gowda’s maid’s daughter. Then again, this unsentimental gaze is not in the least uncaring. The perpetrators of the crimes against children are shown to the reader early on, but that does not in any way keep the reader from second-guessing the characters every step of the way, a most gratifying benefit of good crime fiction … Neither Inspector Gowda nor the story takes one false step all through, making the book a satisfying read.’

—Deccan Herald

‘Well-researched, the book contains elements of reality, with many scenes based on real-life accounts obtained by the author from police reports, and meetings with victims and social workers. We get a glimpse of the goings on from the standpoint of the investigators, the victims and from the perspective of the perpetrators. Nair doesn’t shy away from depicting harrowing scenes involving children being sexually abused and treated as sex slaves. One feels helpless towards the condition of the victims and a natural revulsion towards the perpetrators. A sensitive reader may feel numb and want to stop reading, but is compelled to read on, riveted in the horror of what is unfolding.’

—The Tribune

‘This is straightforward genre fiction following all the tropes that detective novels have long claimed as their own. Like Rankin’s Inspector Rebus and Robert Galbraith’s Cormoran Strike, we get given yet another hard-bitten, depressive cop, difficult to dislike despite his grouchiness and solitariness and adultery. What a relief, though, that he’s Indian and not Scottish or Belgian and that we get taken to places so familiar (markets and warehouses and railway stations) and yet so alien, transformed via Nair’s imagination to hives throbbing with criminal activity.’

—Sunday Express

‘Inspector Borei Gowda is an admirable three-dimensional creation, quick tempered and emotional. The search for a missing thirteen-year-old girl develops into the more serious discovery that Bangalore has become a hub for the sex-trafficking of young girls. It is Anita Nair’s hometown and it shows, in the lively portrait of a city in uncertain transition and in the passion with which she endows Gowda in his war against evil.’

—Marcel Berlins, lawyer, author, columnist and TV presenter of Law in Action

‘I love Inspector Gowda. He is a brilliant creation—loveable, flawed, smart and doggedly determined. A truly good man in a bad world.’

—Peter James, author of Dead Simple and Looking Good Dead

‘Nair’s satisfying second Bangalore police procedural reflects the speed of change in modern urban India while providing a reminder that age-old dangers are never far from the surface. Harrowing set pieces on child abduction drive the plot to resolution. Readers will look forward to spending more time in Gowda’s agreeable company.’

—Publishers Weekly

‘[Nair’s] fictional detective is her vehicle for social comment. Far from being polemic though, this is first and foremost a thriller. The shifting viewpoints keep the pace up, the office politics of the police station are as centre-stage as any wider political issues, keeping the focus down on the personal level. Gowda fits the modern template for the flawed fictional police inspector, committed to finding the truth, hopefully in the pursuit of justice, but not necessarily hidebound by the rules. All of it told in the truly authentic voice of an author writing about her home town.’

—The Bookbag

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For reviews, excerpts, author interviews and more information, please contact Nandini Tripathi at nandini.tripathi@harpercollins.co.in