Press Release

HarperCollins to Publish Anuja Chauhan’s ‘The Fast and the Dead’

Anuja Chauhan is back with a nail-biting new whodunnit, [and a solid dash of romance], featuring the darling old detective ACP Bhavani Singh and Bangalore’s bazaars.

Get ready for a thrilling ride with #TheFastAndTheDead, now available on preorder.

HarperCollins India is delighted to announce the publication of India’s much loved author Anuja Chauhan’s new book, a crackling murder mystery and a sequel to her superbly successful crime novel Club You to Death (soon to be on screen as a movie by Maddock Films), featuring the old-school, kind yet keen cop-detective, ACP Bhavani Singh. The novel will release on 31 October 2023.

About The Fast And The Dead 

All of Habba Galli, Shivajinagar, is disturbed when eccentric Dondi Pais empties her double-barrelled shotgun to scatter a pack of noisy mongrels on Karwa Chauth night. But their distress turns to shock the next morning when it is discovered that one stray bullet has ploughed into the skull of a sour, spiteful jeweller, leaving him quite definitely dead.

The more devout residents immediately recall how, the previous afternoon, the jeweller’s wife of thirty years had broken her fast well before the appearance of the sacred Karwa Chauth moon. ‘Aiyyo,’ they whisper, ‘she’s gone and angered the Goddess!’

But several mere mortals have motives too–including rising Bollywood star Haider Sait, back in Shivajinagar to visit his widowed mother and still eager to charm Habba Galli hottie Jhoomar Rao, now newly poor, newly single and a veterinary surgeon.

By a happy coincidence, ACP Bhavani Singh is on hand to investigate. But as corpses start piling up in the bustling bazaar, will the canny old policeman be able to prove his powerful hunch–that these deaths are not accidents, or by the hand of the goddess, but a sinister case of murders-most-meticulous?

Talking about her upcoming novel, ANUJA CHAUHAN said, ‘’This is my first bazaar novel – I love the energy and the color and the noise of a good old desi bazaar. I don’t know which bit I loved writing the most – the denizens of Habba Galli, the murder, or ACP Bhavani nosing about for clues while on his ‘annual honeymoon’, resplendent in floral bush shirts and Bermuda shorts.’’

POULOMI CHATTERJEE, Publisher at HarperCollins India, said, ‘’Anuja has proved time and again that she is the queen of wit and entertainment in any form and genre. Like all the iconic characters across her books, ACP Bhavani Singh too has made a special place for himself in readers’ hearts and minds. He is the perfect combination of the resourceful, intrepid detective from fiction and your favourite uncle at family gatherings – all kindness and understanding and teller of the best jokes, but one who never misses a trick. We’re delighted to be publishing the next investigative adventure he gets embroiled in – it promises to be as chatpata, dhamakedar and marvellously twisty as you’d expect!’’

Praise for Anuja Chauhan

‘Anuja Chauhan is the literary pop-star of our time…’ – Vogue India

‘One of the most readable writers in the country.’ – Cosmopolitan India

‘A bestselling author with her instantly likeable characters and relatable settings.’ – Elle India

‘Anuja Chauhan, anointed the Jane Austen of India…’ – Economic Times

‘Anuja Chauhan’s novels fizz with romance and social comedy, but she’s also taken on India’s biggest preoccupations…’ – Times of India

‘The only Indian writer of popular fiction really worth buying.’ – Mint

‘Anuja Chauhan has been a darling for numerous Indian readers.’ – Hindustan Times

‘Best known for quick-witted romantic novels, Anuja Chauhan seems to do the impossible – create wildly popular books that all have great literary appeal, too.’ – Reader’s Digest

‘[Anuja] is a writer of comedy, in an expansive, life-affirming sense of the word, her influences being as much Vikram Seth as Joseph Heller.’ – The Indian Express

Praise for ACP Bhavani Singh and Club You to Death

‘Having crafted this perfect insider atmosphere, Chauhan places the case (and us) in the hands of the perfect outsider… Much of the pleasure of Club You to Death comes from watching the amicable old policeman piece the case together quietly, his “little grey cells” keen enough not to draw attention to himself.’ – Scroll.in

‘Gossip, scandal and a perfect murder! Anuja Chauhan’s whodunnit Club You to Death features a beautiful corpse, an unusual investigating officer in ACP Bhavani Singh, action set in Delhi’s poshest club and a set of characters that gives the reader insights into everything from young love to privilege, politics and hypocrisy.’ – Hindustan Times

‘ACP Bhavani Singh, the true breakout character of this book, “cute as a cheeku and keen as a cheel”, is deputed to solve this case… And soon secrets begin to tumble out by the dozens, leading, 350-odd pages later, to a proper Agatha Christie-like finale, where “Cheeku-cheel Bhavani” performs like Poirot in front of a gathering of all the players.’ – The Asian Age

‘Bhavani Singh is a neatly written antithesis of the machismo-driven Bollywood franchise cop; an anti-Singham if you will, an old-school moderate in a world where excess has been normalised… He is the kind of protagonist who grows on you almost unnoticed, until you are clearly visualising their face and/or reading lines in their voice…’ – Livemint

“A fan of Agatha Christie, [Anuja Chauhan] has succeeded in creating her own version of Mrs Marple in ACP Bhavani. An old-school character people readily opened up to, there’s just so much scope in him that it would be a pity if we didn’t see him return in subsequent mysteries. Club You to Death is surely another winner for Anuja Chauhan.” – The Tribune

About the Author

Anuja Chauhan worked in advertising for over seventeen years and is credited with many popular campaigns including PepsiCo’s Nothing official About It, Yeh Dil Maange More, Mera Number Kab Aayega, Oye Bubbly and Darr ke Aage Jeet Hai. She is the author of five bestselling novels (The Zoya Factor, Battle for Bittora, Those Pricey Thakur Girls, The House that BJ Built and Baaz) all of which have been acquired by major Bombay studios. She lives outside Bangalore with her three children, a varying number of dogs and cats, and her husband, television producer Niret Alva, who is a member of various clubs that shall remain unnamed here.

For more information and queries, please write to: Shabnam.Srivastava@harpercollins.co.in

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