The Miss India Murders
by Gauri Sinh
It's 1995. The finale of the Ms India Pageant, hosted by the mega media conglomerate, Eye India, is only days away. In the running are twenty beautiful contestants, including India's sweetheart and the reigning model, Akruti Rai. Then, the final dress rehearsal ends on a nightmarish note as the sensuous and ambitious model 'Lajjo' is murdered - right on the ramp. Akruti and her fellow contestants soon become prime suspects in a case that becomes increasingly macabre as bodies pile up - the gossipy, affable pageant hairdresser Doreen, the self-assured mean-girl Nuzhat. Amidst massive public outcry and searing press coverage, Akruti is convinced by an enigmatic fellow contestant, the statuesque and self-possessed Parvati Samant, to somehow help in the investigation and try to find the murderer. But who really is Parvati? And can Akruti help unearth the sinister truth, clear her own name and also keep an eye on the prize?