Inspector Ghote, ´one of the great creations of detective fiction´ (Alexander McCall Smith), is plunged into the dazzling, chaotic world of Bollywood movies when the world´s most famous screen villain is murdered in this classic mystery - with a brand-new introduction by bestselling author Vaseem Khan.
India´s most famous screen villain, Dhartiraj, lies dead on a Bollywood film set, his neck snapped by a falling stage light. There´s no doubt it´s murder, and Inspector Ghote of the Bombay CID, who´s thrilled to be personally assigned such a high-profile case, quickly discovers that there´s no shortage of suspects.
The fading star who Dhartiraj toppled from his place; the superstar who stole Dhartiraj´s wife, and whose mistress Dhartiraj stole in revenge; and Dhartiraj´s secret-dealing stand-in - Ghote finds he could easily make a case for each of them wanting the great Dhartiraj off the boards and into permanent retirement.
But his investigations are hindered not just by the film studio´s intimidating owner, who is determined that nothing will stand in the way of his latest film´s financial success, but by Ghote himself. For the good detective, caught up in visions of his own glittering success, finds himself desperate to solve the case in record time.