Beware the office ghost – or the seemingly boring husband who might just find a most macabre way of doing something different... Twelve spine-chilling stories from a writer whose sleight of hand with black humour is hard to match. In A Brief Lesson in Trust, Geeti learns the hard way that the most reliable girl in school is not always what she seems; in St. George and the Dragon, Mr George, the archetypal government clerk finds a fiendishly clever way to outstmart his corrupt boss while The Howling Waves of Tranquebar takes us to this tiny Danish settlement of yore where an innocuous-looking beer mug still has strange powers of destruction. These and other stories in this collection entertain, amuse – but always end with a twist in the tale that leaves a few goosebumps.
Author
Madhulika Liddle is best known for her books featuring the 17th century Mughal detective Muzaffar Jang, although she is also a prolific writer of short fiction, travel writing, and writing related to classic cinema. The Muzaffar Jang Series: Madhulika’s best-known series of works are historical whodunnits featuring the 17th century Mughal detective, Muzaffar Jang. Till now, four books in the series have been published: The Englishman’s Cameo (2009) The Eighth Guest & Other Muzaffar Jang Mysteries (2011), Engraved in Stone (2012), and Crimson City (2015). In October 2021, Madhulika Liddle published The Garden of Heaven, the first novel of a four-novel series called the Delhi Quartet. This is a series of historical novels that will span 800 years of Delhi's history. The Garden of Heaven was long-listed for the Book of the Year (Fiction) Award of the annual Tata Literature Live! literature festival. In March 2023, Madhulika's The Pledge: Adventures to Sada was released. A fantasy adventure novel, this is the first part of a two-part series called The Mandala Purana, written in collaboration with film-maker Kannan Iyer. Short stories: Madhulika has written a range of short stories in different genres, including black humour, humour, crime and detection, and social awareness. Several of these have won awards (including the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association’s (CBA) Short Story Competition, for A Morning Swim, in 2003) or have been selected for anthologies. Her story, Poppies in the Snow, was longlisted for the 2015 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Prize. Short story collections: My Lawfully Wedded Husband & Other Stories. Black humour shorts, all of which have a twist in the tale. Woman to Woman: Stories. A collection of twelve women-centric stories. Madhulika is also known for her travel writing, which has been published in Rough Guides, National Geographic Traveller (India), Lounge (Mint), and other periodicals. In addition, she is a cinema buff and blogs (mostly about classic cinema) at www.madhulikaliddle.com. Awards and Recognition: CBA Short Story Competition – Honourable Mention (2002) for Love and the Papaya Man CBA Short Story Competition – Overall Winner (2003) for A Morning Swim Winner of Oxfordbookstore e-Author version 4.0 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Prize (2015) - Longlisted for Poppies in the Snow Book of the Year Award, Tata Literature Live! (2023) - Longlisted for The Garden of Heaven Starting 2022, Crimson City (Muzaffar Jang #4) is being taught as an elective to Delhi University students majoring in English
