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In a small village in India, 8-year-old Munia is found dead in the woods where she was playing alone. Brought up by her hard-working single father, Chand, she was a well-loved, Independent child. Blame is cast on the man who found her body, an itinerant carpenter fallen on hard times. The two local policemen aren’t fully convinced, but villagers want immediate revenge and influential people discourage further inquiries. There is good reason for this, as the mystery unfolds. Tensions between Hindus and Muslims are on the rise, which creates difficulties for Chand’s Muslim friend Rabia. She and her husband, now dead, banded together with Chand when the three were squatting in perilous conditions on the riverbank and now they remain in close touch despite living in different towns. This book immediately immersed me into the culture with rich local color and language, as well as universal emotional material. An unusual reading experience, highly recommended.
It’s very puzzling when Sam’s wife, Bryden, doesn’t fetch their little daughter Clara from preschool. She was working from home and everything seems to be its usual place except Bryden. As the case unfolds, we discover the couple’s apparent harmony and prosperity are not quite what they seem. Relatives and friends do what they can to cover Clara’s care, but darker motives underlie some of their solicitous attempts. A true-crime email thread throws suspicions every which way. CCTV cameras are not as ubiquitous as the detectives would like. Lapena is a master of psychological thrillers, as this book shows.
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