She Stoops to Kill

She Stoops to Kill is an anthology of crime stories by Indian women writers, edited by Preeti Gill. The tales are dark, gripping and often unsettling.

Mitra Phukan opens the book with a singing diva who chokes to death onstage on a poisoned paan, leaving the question of who wanted her dead. Pratyaksha follows with the murder of another glamorous victim, the air hostess Ginny Kalra. In Bulbul Sharma's 'Murder in the Wedding Season', a cosy wedding in Shimla is upset by a politician and a nervous widow whose past catches up with the party. Uddipana Goswami's 'Beloved of Flowers' draws on a folktale about a girl reborn as a lotus leaf to lead young Dino to the truth about a disappearance.

Manjula Padmanabhan's 'Serial Killer' enters the mind of an ordinary person who happens to enjoy murder, while Janice Pariat's 'The Nurse' shows a quieter side of death. Venita Coelho's story features Sister, a vigilante eunuch who helps the police solve a brutal killing in a city slum. Paro Anand closes the collection with a tale that begins in lust and ends in a murder, or two, that may or may not have happened.

Chilling, horrific and morbidly fascinating by turns, the collection is made for readers who like to be kept guessing.