A WHODUNIT SET IN COLABA
Colaba, Mumbai, May 2020; Lockdown, Day 46: Baman Marker, the chairperson of Daisy and Lily Apartments, is found poisoned in his home. He dies soon after. The twin apartments are sealed, so the murderer could have only been one of the residents. The news shakes 15-year-old Nandini Venkat, a devourer of murder mysteries, out of her stupor. After all, didn’t she spot a pair of legs climbing up and down the stairs that deadly night? With her not-so-alert twin Ved, and BFF Shanaya, she begins an investigation. But the chairperson knew every dirty little detail about every resident, so the list of suspects is long.
Was it Mr Carvalho — Nandini’s crush Daniel’s father — with his shady past? Or Shanaya’s mother, Amrita Aunty, who had a running feud with Baman? Or mean retired principal Lina Almeida, who now makes detox smoothies? Or immobile Mr Alimchandani with a long-buried secret? The seemingly listless days of a lockdown come back to life in this gripping and entertaining whodunit. With Murder at Daisy Apartments, author Shabnam Minwalla brings her gift for dramatic storytelling to a new genre.