Murder at the Grand Raj Palace: A Baby Ganesh Agency Investigation

In Khan’s outstanding fourth mystery featuring Mumbai PI Ashwin Chopra (after 2017’s The Strange Disappearance of a Bollywood Star), a friend on the force, Rohan Tripathi, asks Chopra to look into the death of American billionaire Hollis Burbank, who was found in his room at the opulent Grand Raj Palace hotel. Burbank was stabbed through the chest by a knife bearing only his fingerprints. Shortly before his demise, the tycoon bid $10 million to win a painting at auction, making suicide unlikely. Chopra is fired as a police consultant by a rival of Tripathi’s invested in the suicide explanation, but he’s back in the game after Lisa Taylor, an attractive employee of the auction house who stood to get a hefty commission had the transaction been finalized, hires him to continue. Khan’s depiction of Chopra’s marriage to Poppy, a restaurateur who has her own mystery to solve involving a vanished bride, adds emotional depth to the often funny plot. This is the best entry in the series to date. Agent: Euan Thorneycroft, A.M. Heath (U.K.). (June)