Finding light in dark abundant: Review of Hot Stage by Anita Nair

(This review does not have any spoilers)

It seems as if many prominent authors have a detective novel in them. In west, JK Rowling (under a pen name of Robert Galbraith) has written furiously famous Strike series. Stephen King forayed into this sub-genre with his Mercedes Killer trilogy that continued with Holly. Back home, it’s Anita Nair who is spinning the mystery yarn with her ‘Borei Gowda’ series. Already two book old (Cut Like Wound and Chain Of Custody), ACP Gowda is back to solve his third mystery in Hot Stage.

The book begins with a spicy meetup of two killers (goons? Henchmen?) Military and Oil Mill Jaggi, followed closely by a third- punter. We are then taken right into the heart of the murder of Prof Raghava Mudgood. The investigation finds its way to ACP Gowda who’s returning from a quick getaway with his ladyfriend Urmila. Staged as a heart-attack, the forensics quickly put a stamp of murder on the ‘death’. This incident also reminds Gowda about two strange bludgeoning. And the investigation begins.

In ACP Gowda, Nair has created a man of blood and bones, and not just a stereotypical detective character. Bead by bead the string strengthens and the man comes clear with all the flaws and the shenanigans. Gowda, like most men his age (51), is shy of displaying affection in public. He also doesn’t like the trappings of a senior post and lambasts a newly transferred constable when he drapes a new towel on his chair. With this, Nair also takes a subtle dig at the sycophancy prevalent in the government services. Who amongst us hasn’t seen that towel upon an important looking sarkari chair.

This is what he tells the constable- ‘Do you think that I come to the station to take a bath?’ A co-employee remarks- 

‘Gowda was always an arrogant bastard, but ever since he became ACP, it’s like he’s in a permanently foul mood. I can’t imagine why. He could make some serious money if he wanted. But he won’t and won’t let us either. So be careful around him. Unless you want your head bitten off, that is.’ What more could be the evidence of his straight honesty? 

Nair, in a heartwarming note for the elderly, writes upon their predicament in these lines- ‘Gowda looked at what had once been Professor Mudgood. Did anyone remember what his first name was, he wondered; did anyone even use it anymore? He remembered his father commenting about this once. ‘No one calls me Chidananda anymore. After a certain age, there is no one left who remembers you as a person. Instead, you become Appa, Aja, Chikappa, father, grandfather, uncle, etc.’ Nair has managed to create a sense of dread and a scene where Dr Khan recreates the last minutes of Prof Mudgood is quite chilling.

In her book, Nair also laments the loss of Green Bangalore and underlines the nexus between government and real estate sharks in these lines- ‘More and more apartment buildings were being built everywhere. Tall edifices of matchbox homes and–as a sop for the mind-numbing sameness- zigzag pathways through the grounds with enough shrubs and flowering plants to warrant the word ‘exclusive, along with a clubhouse with a pool and a gym to foster a sense of community. How was Bangalore going to withstand this erosion of green space and the water table, he shuddered. How was he going to cope living in this new Bangalore?’

Smattering of Kannada in English is pleasant and words like Dodagubbi lake, Obattu and Congress kadalekai make you google them. It’s pleasant to see the two languages coming together in Nair’s writing.

Nair has managed to create a sense of dread and a scene where Dr Khan recreates the last minutes of Prof Mudgood. Even though the reader is inside the murder scene with the murderer and the victim, it is still chilling to revisit the scene in a forensic expert’s lab which is a sign of an accomplished writer.

You can buy ‘Host Stage’ at a bookstore near you or from Amazon

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Have a happy reading.