Favorite Movie and Book welcomes mystery author Harini Nagendra - A Diamond Heist Gone Awry and her new book, The Bangalore Detectives Club

Your Favorite Movie:

Victoria No. 203 is an Indian (Hindi language) film from 1972, the year I was born. It’s a classic heist comedy, which was a favorite TV re-run when I was a kid, and a staple family favorite. A diamond heist goes awry, and the mastermind behind the theft, a rich businessman, hides the diamonds in a Victoria horse carriage (no. 203). The poor unsuspecting owner of the Victoria is arrested, and his daughter sets out to prove his innocence. She dresses up as a man, wearing her father’s clothes and driving the Victoria at night while sleuthing for the truth. 

Two elderly con men, released from jail, find out about the heist and make friends with the heroine and her young brother, pretending to be friends of the family so that they can look for the diamonds. Of course, they end up getting very attached to the heroine, adopting her and her brother, helping her free her father and establish his innocence – and of course, finding the jewels! Saira Banu, one of India’s top actors of the times, is at her glamorous best in this musical, with bouffant hair-dos, chandelier earrings, and slinky sequined saris. 

The comical dynamics between the squabbling con men, a love story, a side plot about a child kidnapped at birth, and a number of other intersecting plots and twists make this a very entertaining film.

About the Book:

The first in a charming, joyful crime series set in 1920s Bangalore, featuring sari-wearing detective Kaveri and her husband Ramu. Perfect for fans of Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.

When clever, headstrong Kaveri moves to Bangalore to marry handsome young doctor Ramu, she's resigned herself to a quiet life. But that all changes the night of the party at the Century Club, where she escapes to the garden for some peace and quiet—and instead spots an uninvited guest in the shadows. Half an hour later, the party turns into a murder scene. When a vulnerable woman is connected to the crime, Kaveri becomes determined to save her and launches a private investigation to find the killer, tracing his steps from an illustrious brothel to an Englishman's mansion. She soon finds that sleuthing in a sari isn't as hard as it seems when you have a talent for mathematics, a head for logic, and a doctor for a husband . . .And she's going to need them all as the case leads her deeper into a hotbed of danger, sedition, and intrigue in Bangalore's darkest alleyways.

About the Author:

Harini Nagendra is a professor of ecology at Azim Premji University, and a well-known public speaker and writer on issues of nature and sustainability. She is internationally recognized for 

her scholarship on sustainability, with honors that include the 2009 Cozzarelli Prize from the US National Academy of Sciences and the 2013 Elinor Ostrom Senior Scholar award. Her non-fiction books include Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present and Future, and two books co-authored with Seema Mundoli – So Many Leaves, and Cities and Canopies: Trees in Indian Cities. The Bangalore Detectives Club is her first crime fiction novel. Harini lives in Bangalore with her family, in a home filled with maps. She loves trees, mysteries, and traditional recipes.

Answer these questions:

Red, White or Blue? Blue, most definitely. It’s the favorite color in our family.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter? Spring, with all the flowers and birdsong.  

Cake or Pie? Cake – especially if it’s chocolate!

Coffee, Tea, or Champagne? Tea, all kinds – though I like an occasional cup of coffee. I’m not much for fizzy drinks.

Country music or Michael Buble? Country music, I love the guitaring!

Pencil or Pen? Pencils, especially the colored ones.

 

Find the Book at:                                                             

The Bangalore Detectives Club at: Amazon

Harini Nagendra at: Website