Review: Chikkamma Tours (Pvt) Ltd by Unmana

Generally, the phrase “crime fiction” brings to mind murders and detectives of the hardboiled kind; grisly, violent killings; experienced male investigators. Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple novels are perhaps the blueprint of cosy crime — although there was nothing really “cosy” about those murders — and Unmana has produced a superb Indian addition to the sub-genre. Dubbed “A Bibliomystery”, Chikkamma Tours Ltd takes place in Bangalore and follows three women who work at a small tour company as they try to solve the murder of the owner of the bookshop above their office, who is stabbed to death in the building one night. From Jayanagar to Koramangala, Indiranagar to Church Street, the book consciously evokes actual spaces without relying on too much expository prose.” Most of the novel is written from the viewpoint of Nilima Deka, a queer woman who is the newest employee at Chikkamma. From Jayanagar to Koramangala, Indiranagar to Church Street, the book consciously evokes actual spaces without relying on too much expository prose.