Poisoned Arrow

Translated from the Urdu by Shamsur Rahman Faruqi.

In an unnamed city somewhere in Hindustan, a man is killed by a poisoned arrow outside a popular nightclub. The subsequent investigation, led by the intrepid Colonel Faridi and his assistant, Captain Hameed, opens up a shadowy underworld network of pimps, drug dealers, and foreign spies. But who is behind it all? The diminutive Goan named Finch? The beautiful yet mysterious Tara Nayadu? Or the enigmatic American arch-criminal, Doctor Dread?

Welcome to Ibne Safi’s "Jasusi Dunya," an intricately demented world of larger-than-life villains, mad genius detectives, and beautiful femmes fatales. With a huge cult following among readers in both India and Pakistan, this series spans 125 novels published between 1952 and 1979. They remain some of the bestselling books in Urdu even today.