The Lily Cafe is thrilled to welcome author Smita Bhattacharya! She is the author of the cozy Darya Nandkarni mystery series, following the adventures of amateur sleuth Darya across exotic locations around the world. I had the pleasure of reviewing the first novel, Kiss of Salt, and my review can be found here. If you’re looking for mysteries reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s novels, check these out!
Series: The Darya Nandkarni Cozy Mystery Series
Author: Smita Bhattacharya
Publisher: Rumour Books India
Genre: Mystery
What is the Darya Nandkarni series about?
Some years ago, I had an epiphany. Where were the books with normal female leads in them? The women in the books I read were usually tragic, struggling with a catastrophe, or simpering women waiting for a glance from a hard-hearted (but rich!) man. I wanted to read about women like me, with normal problems, normal aspirations, and a curious mind. Thus, I decided to create one. She would be like me or the kind I hung out with, who did not have to have suffered tragically or waiting for a knight-in-clunky-armor; she could do fun and outrageous things despite it. She didn’t have to be perfect; she only had to be human and willing to experience, fall, rise, and grow. And of course, also solve some crazy mysteries.
The Darya Nandkarni series are for lovers of warm snug mysteries set in exotic places
The Darya Nandkarni mystery series are cozy atmospheric whodunits. The books provide all that readers love: an exciting mystery, an escape to unknown lands, and the familiarity of lovable and relatable characters.
Darya is an amateur and an accidental detective. She is clever, spirited, resourceful, yet troubled and vulnerable. She is thrown into the most bizarre and seemingly unsolvable mysteries, most involving serial killers. Bumbling, stumbling, and crumbling, she somehow manages to solve all of them.
Darya’s adventures will make you laugh, cry, gape, and marvel. You won’t be able to put down the book until you’ve solved the mystery along with her in whichever exotic location she is.
The Books
KISS OF SALT: Darya is in Goa. Her uncle is dead and she has arrived at his home at Heliconia Lane to clear up his effects. Though she soon realizes several of his neighbors have died under similar suspicious circumstances. Could the motive of the murders be a crime that had taken place twenty years ago—a crime that the neighbors had kept a secret and now were dying for? Darya sets out to solve the mystery, uncaring she was putting her own life in danger.
Buy at: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SB4M2M6
THE SECRET ANGELS: Darya is in Chapel Road, Mumbai. She is here on a short study break. At first, she thinks it’s a quaint little lane to take pictures of and boast about to her friends. But soon she gets to know of the tragic mystery that lurks behind its peculiar charm. Three women have disappeared from there in the past years, purportedly taken by a serial killer. No dead bodies were ever found and no one was ever caught. And now it was that time of year again. Could Darya be next?
Buy at: https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Angels-Darya-Nandkarnis-Misadventures-ebook/dp/B07ZMR9MB4/
Just Published: WHO THREW DRACO DOWN THE CHIMNEY?: Darya in is Sibiu, Romania. A backpacker is missing. Impressed by Darya’s past exploits, the owner of the missing boy’s hostel tasks Darya to look for him. After some digging, Darya leads the police to an old farmhouse. They find the backpacker’s two-week-old dead body wedged inside the chimney. Along with two others.
The locals think it is the devil’s work. Darya knows not to trust local superstitions, of which there are many. But the crime is so diabolical, so unique, it begs the question: who could be doing this?
Darya needs to find out urgently before she is forced to leave Sibiu. And as she races to solve the mystery, she has to make sure she doesn’t let new friendships or the town’s insidious secrets get in her way.
Buy at: https://www.amazon.com/Threw-Draco-Chimney-Nandkarnis-Misadventures-ebook/dp/B08FR4JL3J
About Smita Bhattacharya
Smita Bhattacharya is an author of cozy and psychological thriller mysteries. She lives in Mumbai. She is also a management consultant, coffee lover, and gipsy-in-her-head. She has solo-travelled to over 40 countries and conducts workshops inspiring others to do the same. Needless to say, her stories are heavily inspired by her travels and those she meets. Smita has six published books and counting. She has worked in a vineyard, in a newsroom, in a school, in a library, in a bank. She has too many stories to tell and not enough time.
Connect with Smita Bhattacharya
Thank you so much, Smita! It was a pleasure to have you here, and I can’t wait to read the rest of your series!
The author, Smita Bhattacharya, retains all rights to the guest post and novel information published above, which may not be copied, reproduced, modified, sold, or distributed without the author’s express permission. To contact Smita Bhattacharya to request permission to utilize the above guest post and/or novel information, please send your inquiry to Kat via the Contact page.
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