Inspector Gowda is back in another nail-biting thriller set in Bangalore India, the city now a hub for child trafficking.
How is twelve-year-old Nandita's disappearance connected to the murder of a well-known lawyer? What services has college student Rekha been persuaded to perform by her 'boyfriend'? Who is the mysterious crime lord lurking just out of sight? And who, just who, is Krishna?It begins as a search for a missing girl, but the case takes a more sinister turn when Inspector Gowda finds himself embroiled in Bangalore's child-trafficking racket. Negotiating insensitive laws, indifferent officials, uncooperative witnesses, not to mention wife, son and lover on the home front, Gowda must race against time to a finish line he can't yet see.
"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, winner of the 2016 Diamond Dagger and author of Dead Simple and Looking Good Dead
Read the review of Chain of Custody in SHOTS Magazine
Ian Rankin names four favourite novels for 2016 in the Guardian (Nov 26), includes Chain of Custody by Anita Nair: 'concerns child slavery in Bangalore and is both brutal and sympathetic, with an all-too-human (and not entirely likable) cop hero.'
Industry Reviews
Praise for A Cut-Like Wound "I loved this book and was constantly gripped. Anita Nair's writing in some moments has photographic qualities, in others the precision of surgeon's scalpel; and always the great inner warmth of the human heart. Truly astounding writing."- Peter James, author of 'Dead Simple' In this exceptional police procedural, Nair immerses her readers in Bangalore's alluring and sinister melange of Hindu and Moslem cultures, revealing a people afflicted by the inability to allow unqualified praise for anything or anyone. Complex, psychologically deep characters are a plus. PW Starred 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 Anita Nair is a feminist and highly regarded Indian novelist. As startling a debut crime novel as you are likely to read. This is a troubling novel about men and sexual identity, ending with a shattering and unexpected revelation. Sunday Times Nair captures the seedy side of shiny new India vividly, and Inspector Gowda with his weary self-knowledge; his secret, 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. Guardian "