Synopsis Of Hot Stage

When 82 years old Professor Mudgood is found dead in his home in Bangalore by his daughter, it is considered a natural death. But Borei Gowda, now Assistant Commissioner of Police in the force, isn’t so certain. It therefore comes as no surprise to him when the preliminary investigations reveal the death to be a homicide.

All evidence points to a political murder since the professor was a well-known rationalist and a fervent critic of right-wing forces in India. But the more Gowda delves into the case, the more convinced he is that this isn’t an assassination. Despite Gowda’s complex home situation further complicated by the arrival of a new tenant upstairs, Gowda decides to set up a parallel investigation.

Gowda and his team stumble into a secret and murky domain where there are no rules or mercy. Gowda has no option but to take a calculated risk and infiltrate this sinister world. Gowda sets the stage to bring the truth out into the open…but will he and his team succeed? And at what price?

Vivid in detail and taut with action, and filled with singular characters like Military, Ditchie Babu and OB, Hot Stage is an intense exploration of the squalor and vice that fester in the shadowy lanes of a city that exists on multiple levels

Publishers: Hot Stage

• Harper Collins, India
• Bitter Lemon Press. UK & USA