The Pinnacle
A Novel
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3.4 • 5 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
When an over-the-hill American actor finds his wife, a rising star in Bollywood, dead in their Mumbai high-rise, he quickly becomes the prime suspect in this atmospheric, razor-sharp social mystery. Lucy Foley meets The White Lotus and perfect for fans of Age of Vice.
"A deliciously twisting plot, vividly realized sense of place, and scalpel-sharp satire."―Lucy Foley
"A fascinating mystery and a scintillating social critique. Fresh and addictive!"―S. A. Cosby
Washed-up American heart throb George Abercrombie hates India, even from his apartment on the 68th floor of Mumbai’s grandest luxury skyscraper, the Pinnacle. He hates the noise, he hates the heat, and just maybe he’s grown to hate his wife, the newest queen of Bollywood, Sweety Sahota.
So when George wakes from a drunken stupor to find Sweety murdered in their bedroom, he knows just how badly he’s cooked. But where is Sweety’s computer? Or her cellphone? And where has his personal assistant gone? As George scrambles to piece together the night, others in the building are covering their tracks. Sweety’s assistant must find who is blackmailing her, and a servant who knows too much goes on the run…
The Pinnacle is a dazzling and addictive thriller that’s three plots in one, set against a world of lavish opulence where someone is always watching—because everyone is hiding something.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historical mystery novelist Mukherjee's solid second contemporary (after Hunted) spotlights 50-year-old George Abercrombie, a washed-up American actor living in Mumbai and struggling in the shadow of his younger wife, Bollywood superstar Sweety Sahota. After Sweety abruptly cancels the pair's joint BBC interview for a late-night meeting with a powerful filmmaker, George drowns his anger in alcohol and wakes up, hungover, to find Sweety dead in their penthouse. Lurching between panic, guilt, and self-preservation, he enlists his agent Sal and Sal's fixer, Miss Singh, to keep him out of jail. As George scrambles to hide evidence and cobble together an alibi, Gemma Cairns, Sweety's personal assistant, receives a call from someone threatening to release a sex tape of her and her politician lover, Ashok, unless she hands over Sweety's laptop and password. While the police investigation deepens and George starts to unravel, Gemma is torn between the blackmailer's demands, her own secrets, and Ashok's ambitions. The narrative builds to a tense, surprising climax that smooths over some of the clumsier attempts at social critique that Mukherjee folds into the action. It's an immersive mystery rich in place and character.
