A Murder Most Foul

Muzaffar,who first appeared in a short story titled Murk of Art in an anthology of South Asian women’s writings,inhabits a Delhi of declination. The city is rife with rumours of Dara Shikoh’s leanings and Aurngzeb’s rebeliiousness and the drain of wealth was taking its toll,amidst all this is Muzaffar,a nobleman with “considerable amount of clout” (his brother-in-law is the city’s Kotwal). “He may be a nobleman,but Muzaffar is an oddball really. He has friends in low places and has a revolutionary outlook which is not very usual for a man of his stature,” says Liddle.

Thus,a murder which has his friend as a prime suspect makes a detective out of Muzaffar. He follows a trail littered with quintessences of the period- an arrow,posend paans,a boatload of dinner china,the eponymous cameo of an unidentified Englishman and of course a seductive courtesan. “I included the courtesan’s character because I wanted to tantalize the reader with her mysterious presence. The book has other such colourful characters which act as a foil to Muzaffar’s somewhat staid demanour,” says Liddle.

Muzaffar’s adventure will continue beyond this book,assures Liddle. “I have conceptualized this book as a series. I will keep writing about him till he interests me,” says Liddle. And when she isn’t stalking the streets of Old Delhi with Muzaffar,Liddle spreads her wings. “If there’s one thing I like almost as much as writing,it’s travelling. So the end result of the two has got to be a lot of travelogues,right? I’ve written a number of them,on destinations across the world- mainly Asia,and in particular India,” says Liddle. If you spend some time in her website,you may also discover Liddle’s nerdy obsession with old cinema. Her blog (www.dustedoff.wordpress.com) is replete with sincere reviews of old (and in many cases,forgotten) Bollywood and Hollywood films like Waterloo Bridge (1940),Dillagi (1966) and Dekha Kabira Roya (1957). “It’s my other great passion,” she signs off.