Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Into the Leopard's Den, by Harini Nagendra {ends 7/14}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Kaveri gave Ramu a watery smile, gripping his hand. ‘Last week, on her sixtieth birthday, Uma aunty told me that she feels like her life has restarted all over again.’

‘Of course it has,’ Ramu agreed. ‘Her son and daughter-in-law constantly tell her that she is old and should sit at home. But ever since she became part of the Bangalore Detectives Club, a whole new world has opened up.’

‘I hope she is careful tomorrow,’ Kaveri fretted. ‘If we are right, then the killer is a very intelligent and careful person. Someone who plans well ahead and doesn’t like to make mistakes.’

Ramu nodded. ‘It was only by accident that Venu found Kupamma so soon after she was stabbed. The murderer must have expected that the death would be discovered only later the next morning, when Hiramma arrived with her daily tiffin. Perhaps he even planned to pin the murder on defenceless Hiramma.’

‘Not defenceless anymore,’ Kaveri reminded him. ‘Now she has us to uncover the truth.’

Kaveri Murthy’s reputation as a good detective has spread, and people continue asking for her help to solve cases involving their loved ones, even while she is pregnant with her first child. Luckily she has the unwavering support of her husband, doctor Ramu.

Official synopsis:

Bangalore, 1922: Pregnant and confined to the house by her protective mother-in-law, Kaveri Murthy has resolved to take a break from detection. But when an elderly woman is murdered at night and dies clutching a photograph of Kaveri while asking for her help—how can she refuse? Missing the assistance of her husband Ramu, who is working in Coorg, Kaveri investigates her new case with her able assistants, milk boy Venu and housemaid Anandi. They find a trail of secrets that lead them to suspect the killer may be in Coorg.

Eager to be reunited with her husband, Kaveri sets off to Coorg to investigate. When she arrives, she encounters a thorny thicket of cases. Why does a ghost leopard prowl the forests at night, terrorizing the plantation workers? And who is trying to kill Colonel Boyd, the Coffee King of Coorg? She finds suspects in every coffee bush and estate—from Boyd’s surly plantation manager and security guard to the feuding brothers who own the neighboring plantation—and the many women the Coffee King has pursued and abandoned.

When two vulnerable children appeal for her help, Kaveri is drawn deeper into the case, becoming emotionally involved in finding the killer. Soon, one murder turns into two—and then a few days later into three. Now the killer has tasted blood and needs to be stopped. Racing against time, Kaveri must take on her most complex challenge so far, with the assistance of Anandi and Venu in Bangalore, and with Ramu and Inspector Ismail in Coorg. In this stunning new novel by an acclaimed master of the form, the Bangalore Detectives Club must find and expose a brutally intelligent killer before they strike again.

In this, the fourth book in the Bangalore Detectives Club series, Kaveri again is asked for help with  multiple cases with some similarities. Is there a link between the ghost leopard, the murder of an old Bangalore woman, and the attempts on a plantation owner’s life in Coorg? When so many random occurrences seem to overlap, it seems inevitable that solving one will lead to solving the rest.

The clues in this story lead Kaveri to travel by car and driver to Coorg from her home in Bangalore. She leaves a few members of their detective club working the clues in Bangalore and joins her husband who is in Coorg at a clinic helping local plantation workers. She’s certain the death of an old woman in Bangalore is related to a rumored trip to Coorg not long ago, so Ramu already being there is quite convenient for her to disguise her motives for traveling while pregnant.

Kaveri, Ramu, and their cast of friends and family are such likable characters. This book also wrapped up with some of the recipes Kaveri enjoys while visiting Coorg. The book earned 4 out of 5 stars. Publication information states this is the final book in the series. This story and the earlier three in the series would be enjoyed by those who like strong female characters, historical fiction depicting 1920s Bangalore, and warm family and found-family relationships.

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliates link}

Becki Bayley is a Gen X mother who likes reading by her flowers, and taking breaks to watch the birds and butterflies and to refresh her drink. See what else she’s been up to on her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of Into the Leopard's Den!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Monday, July 14th, at 11:59pm EST, and winner will be notified via email the next day and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

Into the Leopard's Den, by Harini Nagendra

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Book Review: Knife River, by Justine Champine

Review by: Becki Bayley

Later that night as I tried to fall asleep, I remembered a woman, a self-described psychic, who called us at the house years ago. It was just weeks after our mother disappeared, and we were still sleeping with the phone then, the receiver resting between both our heads on the floor in our mess of quilts. Liz answered on the first ring. It was after one in the morning. My sister put the call on speakerphone just as the woman began to say that our mother’s body was in water. She couldn’t say exactly where, but described a lake with a faded red boat house and two Adirondack chairs at the end of a dock. Liz grabbed her notepad and began to furiously jot it all down, tearing the pages off as she filled them and letting each one fall to the side. I remember the chill that came over me then, lying there in the dark still dressed in my day clothes, eyes crusted over with sleep, listening to the sound of this strange woman’s voice fill our living room.

The lives of Liz and Jess are forever changed when their mother, Natalie, doesn’t return home one night. The police never charge anyone with a crime, and can’t even find Natalie’s body. When her bones are discovered fifteen years later, Jess moves back home to hopefully find closure with her sister.

Official synopsis:

When Jess was thirteen, her mother went for a walk and never returned. Jess and her older sister, Liz, never found out what happened. Instead, they did what they hoped their mother had done: survive. As soon as she was old enough, Jess fled their small town of Knife River, wandering from girlfriend to girlfriend like a ghost in her own life, aimless in her attempts to outrun grief and confusion. But one morning, fifteen years after their mother’s disappearance, she gets the call she’s been bracing for: Her mother’s remains have been found.

Jess returns to find Knife River—and her sister—frozen in time. The town is as claustrophobic and rundown as ever. Liz still lives in their childhood home and has become obsessed with unsolved missing persons cases. Jess plans to stay only until they get some answers, but their mother’s bones, exposed to the elements for so long, just leave them with more questions. As Jess gets caught up in the case and falls back into an entanglement with her high school girlfriend, her understanding of the past, of Liz, of their mother, and of herself become more complicated—and the list of theories more ominous.

Knife River is a tense, intimate, and heartrending portrayal of how deeply and imperfectly women love one another: in romantic relationships, in friendships, and especially as sisters.

Jess was a unique character to narrate this story. She was only 13 when her mother disappeared, so her high school years were spent with her sister raising her, and the constant suspense of hoping their mother would return while knowing she was probably already dead. Liz sacrificed her dream of college to stay in their small town and see her sister to adulthood. They were different girls with not much in common when their mother disappeared, and suddenly having to navigate life without their mother did not make them closer.

When some children playing discover human bones and the authorities contact the sisters, Jess leaves her suburban life with her girlfriend to return to the small town where she never felt like she belonged. Liz still lived in the same house, so she would be there if their mother was ever able to return. The sisters anxiously anticipated finally getting some answers.

The book earned 5 out of 5 stars. The story was complicated, but well told and resolved by the end. This could be recommended for those who like family dramas and small towns as a setting.

{click here to purchase via my Amazon Affiliates link}

Becki Bayley is a Gemini who enjoys reading in her flower garden with a refreshing drink when she’s not on-the-go having adventures with her kids. See what they’re up to on Instagram, where she posts as SweetlyBSquared.

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