For the Love of Parvati: An Anita Ray Mystery

In the foothills of South India a man struggles to free himself from ropes tying him to an old bridge while the monsoon rages. In the valley below, Anita Ray and her aunt are stopped at a roadblock while the car and luggage are searched. The police offer no explanation, but a sharpshooter watching from a tree nearby hints at danger. When Anita and Meena arrive at their destination, they find Lalita Amma’s household in turmoil. Lalita’s daughter, Valli, has left her husband, and Lalita’s son, Prakash, the priest at a nearby temple, has left his job temporarily. He is strangely silent about troubles at the temple. The old servant, Thampi, has gone on a pilgrimage and Lalita has hired a new maidservant, Parvati, who speaks little but appears silently and unexpectedly throughout the house as she goes about her duties. When the monsoon clears for an afternoon, Anita escapes from the house. On a walk through the forest she comes across a body washed up along the riverbank. The police whisk the body away, insisting there is nothing sinister in the death. But Anita is certain she saw signs the man had been attacked. In this tale Anita comes face to face with a killer determined to exact revenge for a code of honor broken, a lover determined to rescue his beloved, and a woman desperate to survive.