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Murder in Moonlit Square is one of the coziest, most charming murder mysteries ever. Moonlit Square refers to Chandni Chowk, where the fictitious Delhi Haveli Hotel is located. The owner, Avtar Mehta, occasionally sneaks into the back lane to calm his jangled nerves with a cigarette. Guests do tend to throw things into a tizzy, like when they mistake a safe for a microwave and raise querulous complaints, but the customer is always right, right? It is in that very back lane that he bumps into Irish nun Sister Agatha Murphy of the Sisters of the Amazing Grace, sneaking a cigarette too. Sister Agatha doesn’t smoke, well not officially, but now that she’s semi-retired, she allows herself one a day. Also, as she tartly tells people often enough, she wasn’t always a nun. While they make not-so-desultory conversation, a figure dashes by, followed by a hotel guest shouting “Stop thief”, and that’s the point where Sister Agatha and Avtar’s unlikely friendship begins. The robbery is followed by the discovery of a murder in the hotel. Oddly enough, the victim, a Jharkhand university lecturer with a shady past, is found in the room of an elderly Pakistani pilgrim who had already checked out of the hotel with his religious group. This is enough to get not just the police but dour members of India’s secret service agencies swarming to Avtar’s hotel. Not good for business, tut, particularly not when the hysterical Indian media is playing its usual idiotic kangaroo court game. Things become infinitely worse for Avtar when it is discovered that pilgrim did not board his bus back to Pakistan—is a sinister terrorist plot afoot? The police issue a threat to Avtar: If the alleged terrorist/murderer is not found, his hotel may be shut down. Sister Agatha is not spared either, and is icily informed that she may be sent back to Ireland — but is Ireland still home after so many years in India, she wonders. The two of them panic and work hard to stay steps ahead of the police in the investigation. After all, as everyone knows, if the police don’t find the perpetrator, they nab a convenient suspect and win awards. And so, the two friends play detectives to find the missing pilgrim — with Sister Agatha in the lead because she has the more forceful personality. Their days are jam-packed, what with the snooping around and their regular jobs. Avtar has to keep the hotel running smoothly and his staff calm while dealing with a sexy secret service agent planted in the hotel, and Sister Agatha has the equally arduous task of training her students to play hockey while they would much rather perform Bollywood dances on the field. Will Sister Agatha and Avtar solve the mystery of the missing pilgrim and/or the murderer and save their skins? Perhaps, but till then, there are many twists and turns in the plot that will have you laughing like a hyena on steroids. Quite like another favourite British mystery writer, Tarquin Hall, Paul Waters understands India, enjoys India warts and all, and it shows. At the end of the book, all you want is more, more, and even more in this series. Murder in Moonlit Square By Paul Waters No Exit Press pp. 382; Rs 550
