The Last Resort

Detective Harith Athreya returns for another enthralling, cozy stand-alone mystery, this time entering the glamorous world of Bollywood celebrities and backwater criminal dealings.

“A slice of sheer pleasure: a locked-room mystery that blends the feel of classic crime with the modern world, while presenting a proper, thorny puzzle.”  — The Observer

BOLLYWOOD

After suffering a dangerous fever during his last case, Detective Harith Athreya is recuperating in the beautiful backwaters of Kerala with his wife Krishnaveni. When he meets a family of vacationing Bollywood royalty they are enthralled by his ‘real-life’ experience, and ask for his help making a murder mystery film. Beloved by the resort staff, and instantly recognisable to the other guests, the family project an image of holidaying celebrity glamour.

BANKRUPTCY

But the family is not what it seems – there are major money troubles, mounting debts, links to organised crime, and rivalry between the scions. From the outside, it’s impossible to distinguish the affairs, arguments, accusations of violence and usual celebrity drama from more insidious criminal activities.

BUTCHERY

When one of them – a young film producer named Danuj – is found murdered on one of the resort’s luxury houseboats, Athreya puts his holiday on hold to solve the case. Danuj’s wounds correspond exactly to those of the victim in the film they have been making: is this simply the work of an angry co-star, or something more sinister?

All the charms of classic crime writing are given fresh Bollywood glamour in the fourth book of R.V. Raman’s ‘hugely engaging’ Harith Athreya mysteries.