The Masala Murder

Book excerpt: Reema Ray, private investigator and food writer. She didn't set out to become Calcutta's expert in infidelity cases, but that is where her detective agency has taken her. When the deceit gets too much, she finds a welcome distraction and a means to pay the bills by becoming a food critic for a magazine. And since she once dreamed of becoming a pastry chef, she doesn't mind much, does she? But what really turns her on is solving a juicy mystery. Her worlds collide when a gourmet provisions supplier she had once profiled ends up dead under suspicious circumstances. She might be rusty, but her food-obscured nose can still sniff out a murder, and she decides to launch her own investigation. Then her ex-boyfriend shows up at her doorstep when he finds himself being treated as prime suspect in the kidnapping of his own wife! Suddenly, Reema is handling not one but two cases. With no access to official evidence, she relies on the meddling group of do-gooders she has dubbed the Calcutta Crime-Fighter's Club. If all this wasn't trouble enough, the alluring Shayak Gupta turns up around every corner, and while she can't seem to resist him, she doesn't believe a word he says either. This first Reema Ray mystery follows a comical ride through Calcutta as Reema comes to terms with her feelings about the men in her life while whipping up delicious meals and being beset by criminals and the police alike!