Chain of Custody: An Inspector Gowda Novel

Nair’s satisfying second Bangalore police procedural (after 2014’s A Cut-Like Wound) reflects the speed of change in modern urban India while providing a reminder that age-old dangers are never far from the surface. The disappearance of Insp. Borei Gowda’s maid’s 12-year-old daughter, Nandita, happens to coincide with the start of his investigation into the grisly murder of a wealthy lawyer. Might there be a connection? Chilling passages from the perspective of a child-stealing criminal contrast with the many often slow-paced sections focusing on Gowda, his colleagues, his enemies in the vast police bureaucracy, and his troubles with his shrewish wife, Mamtha, and with his girlfriend, Urmila, a dedicated member of a child welfare group. Another subplot concerns a looming threat to a college girl conducting a secret courtship. Nair manages to tie these disparate elements together, mostly successfully. Harrowing set pieces on child abduction drive the plot to resolution. Readers will look forward to spending more time in Gowda’s agreeable company. (Nov.)