Summer is a great time to try out something a little different and our reviewer
Katherine Petersen found
a mystery series set in the South India region where tourists go to relax and
don't expect to find murder. Photographer Anita Ray has her hands full with her
family and their tourist hotel so when there's all kinds of mysterious
happenings on the family estate and a missing cousin, it's just added complications.
Photographer and amateur sleuth Anita Ray makes her second
appearance in THE WRATH of SHIVA by Susan Oleksiw.
Personally, I enjoyed this series installment much more
than the first mystery, UNDER THE
EYE OF KALI although
some
of the characters who play roles in THE WRATH of SHIVA are
introduced in the earlier novel.
The mystery begins when Surya, Anita's cousin-sister
doesn't arrive as planned from her latest trip abroad.
When
Anita and her Auntie Meena, who owns the Hotel Delite that
Anita helps her run, go to what's left of the family
estate
to help out Anita's great aunt and Surya's grandmother,
Punnu Chellamma, they find much more going on than they
expected.
Gauri, one of the long-time servants is going into trances
although she blithely says she is possessed by the angry
goddess Bhagavati. Konan, the family astrologer recommends
an exorcism, a traditional custom, which serves to peak
Anita's suspicions more than it seems to help Gauri. A
brutal attack on the cook's assistant and an attack on
Anita herself fuel her determination to root out what's
happening. Many of the family sacred images have allegedly
been sent out to be cleaned of "bronze disease," but Anita
doesn't believes they have vanished for other reasons and
how does Surya's disappearance fit into this tumultuous
picture?
Much of the storyline pits tradition vs. modernity, and
Anita's upbringing mirrors this dichotomy as she lives in
India but was raised in the United States. So, she doesn't
always act as her Auntie Meena wishes. There are more
details that I can't give away as well as a larger role
played by Anita's friend, Anand, a potential love
interest.
Oleksiw does a nice job creating interesting characters
and
weaving the dialect of lifestyle of southern India into
her
story. It's quite easy to feel the sea spray, hear the
sounds of animals at night and crave hear the sea with her
characters.
Anita Ray Mystery Series
You may find these books at your local library in hardcover or load them up for
your e-reader.
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