The Blue Monsoon is the second in the Blue Mumbai Thriller series, following The Blue Bar, but can be read as a standalone. Senior Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput is called to a bizarre murder at a Hindu place of worship, a Kaali temple: a man has been killed, his face savagely cut, his genitalia removed, and symbols of a tantric cult carved into his chest. This is the first of several similar murders. It is a copycat killing after the first was posted on social media or is a serial killer loose in Mumbai?
Author Bissau transports her readers to Mumbai, and the monsoon rains become a character: the entire novel is damp, wet, flooded with rain and emotions, scented with mold and mildew. Arnav’s paralyzed wife Tara is in the midst of a high-risk pregnancy, yet he cannot be there to assist her as the killings pile up. Treachery and deceit are all around, including a mole in his own office, and if things weren’t bad enough, floods threaten the slums of Mumbai and the ritual killings promise ethnic- and caste-related riots. The book’s topics range from social media to the ancient caste system, the Indian version of Affirmative Action, child pornography, the long-term cultural/religious conflicts of Muslims and Hindus, plus the graft and corruption of the police system.
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The Blue Monsoon (Thomas & Mercer, October 24, 2023) is available through:
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You can find my reviews of Damyanti Biswas’s other books here as well as my interview with her:
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