Bar girls, blue saris…a dangerous world!

The Blue Bar (Blue Mumbai Thriller #1) by Damyanti Biswas     

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A dismembered body found on Madh Island in a disputed protected coastal mangrove forest are to the west of Mumbai opens up a trail of disappred bar girls going back years. Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput is called out to a building site where the workers have just uncovered a torso. Arnav dreads each call out he gets. He fears the body will be Tara, the bar girl he was involved with, who disappeared a decade ago without a trace.  The Inspector is ordered to close the case, only he suspects that this is just one of many deaths. He also suspects the undercurrent of corruption is involved. In high places possibly. Confirmed to his mind, when he’s offered a promotion that will take him away from this case.

What we have is a whirlwind trip into the killler’s psychological obsessions, his targets referred to as Items, the involvement of high powered mafia type bosses, corrupt officials and parliamentarians, rich landowners, Bollywood stars, and the disappointment of a friend’s malfeasance. 

Meanwhile the Supreme Court of India has ruled that dance bars can be reopened in Mumbai. 

In a twist, the former bar dancer Tara, the woman Arnav has never forgotten, the girl he expects to find turning up as a body, has returned to the Blue Bar for a week to choreograph the bar’s dancers. 

Now Tara’s become a target for the killer—for the second time! Can Arnav protect her? This time he has much more to lose.

A gritty account of the world of bar girls, the dark corners of the underbelly of the city, the other side of Bollywood and bright lights, the other Mumbai.

A complex novel. It’s easy to become a tad lost. A very rewarding read!

A Thomas & Mercer ARC via NetGalley.                                              

Many thanks to the author and publisher.