Death in Shambles: A Hill Station Mystery

Lionel Carmichael a retired police deputy inspector general is looking forward to living a quiet solitary life in the hill station of Debrakot with an assortment of eccentric neighbours for occasional company. His plans are upended when he is asked by a former colleague SHO Thapliyal to help out in a double murder case. The scene of the crime is the ghostly Shambala Villa or ‘Shambles’ as it is known to the residents of the town named thus due to its decrepit appearance. The victims of the brutal crimes are Reuben Sabharwal a self-styled god-man who dabbles in the mysterious and occult and an unknown woman dressed in a pale green sari found hanging by a noose near Reuben’s body.. Trudging through the monsoon rains of Debrakot Lionel embarks on his journey towards the truth only to become more and more entangled in a web of deceit and lies. Even as a myriad powerful forces attempt to stop him Lionel continues to push for the truth—until the sleepy little hill station finally gives up its grim secrets.