Arjun Raj Gaind

Punjab in 1984. Separatists fight for a free Khalistan, clashing violently with the police. Eight-year-old Himmat is visiting his grandparents in Amritsar when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated. As riots against Sikhs engulf the nation, devastating Himmat's family in their wake, an unforgivable act of cowardice leaves the boy permanently estranged from his grandfather. Thirty years later, Himmat lives in London still grappling with the memory of the events he witnessed in Amritsar as a boy. Unable to sustain any lasting relationships, he drowns his regrets in alcoholism. When his grandfather's illness forces Himmat to return to India, he finally begins a journey towards redemption. Based on real events, The Anatomy of Loss is a deeply personal narrative chronicling the impact of Operation Blue Star and the assassination of Indira Gandhi on contemporary Punjab and the Sikh diaspora.

The Anatomy of Loss

"Golden age fans will appreciate how Sikander works his way through an array of suspects. Once again, Gaind successfully blends detection with history." --Publishers WeeklySTARRED review December, 1911. All of India is in a tizzy. A vast tent city has sprung up outside the old walled enclave of Mughal Delhi, where the British are hosting a grand Durbar to celebrate the coronation of the new King, George V. From across India, all the Maharajas and Nawabs have gathered at the Viceroy of India's command to pay homage and swear loyalty to the King Emperor, the first monarch of England to travel out to India personally. Maharaja Sikander Singh of Rajpore is growing increasingly bored, cooling his heels at the Majestic Hotel as he awaits George V's arrival. Just as his frustration is about to peak, a pair of British officers shoulders in. They insist that he accompany themto the British Encampment. Irked, but his curiosity piqued, Sikander agrees. To his surprise, they take him to the King Emperor's quarters where Sikander's old school friend, Malik Umar Hayat Khan, the Durbar herald, awaits. Malik Umar is serving Lord Hardinge, the Viceroy and the highest-ranked Englishman in the country. Lord Hardinge, overruling several subordinates, tells Sikander that his services as a sleuth are needed by King and country. Sworn to secrecy, Sikander is ushered intoGeorge V's personal chambers. And there he finds the cause for his extraordinary summons--an exquisite nautch-girl, hanged until dead. Employing techniques he has learned from studying Eugene Vidocq and Sherlock Holmes, Sikander examines the scene and demonstrates the girl was not a suicide, but murdered. Her death at the very heart of the encampment could ruin the enormously costly celebration and spark deep political repercussions in Indiaand in England. Under this pressure, the Viceroy hands Sikander both the case to solve and a ticking clock--he must complete his investigation before George V arrives. And under the surveillance of one Captain Campbell of an elite British regiment. The list of suspects and motives is too large, the number of hours for the task too few. But he gave his word and so the Maharaja must put his skills to work. In the end, Sikander wishes he had not. The Maharaja Mysteries are perfect reading for fans of Tarquin Hall, Barbara Cleverly, and the late HRF Keating--and Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Coyle.

Death at the Durbar

"Golden age fans will appreciate how Sikander works his way through an array of suspects. Once again, Gaind successfully blends detection with history." —Publishers Weekly STARRED review December, 1911. All of India is in a tizzy. A vast tent city has sprung up outside the old walled enclave of Mughal Delhi, where the British are hosting a grand Durbar to celebrate the coronation of the new King, George V. From across India, all the Maharajas and Nawabs have gathered at the Viceroy of India's command to pay homage and swear loyalty to the King Emperor, the first monarch of England to travel out to India personally. Maharaja Sikander Singh of Rajpore is growing increasingly bored, cooling his heels at the Majestic Hotel as he awaits George V's arrival. Just as his frustration is about to peak, a pair of British officers shoulders in. They insist that he accompany them to the British Encampment. Irked, but his curiosity piqued, Sikander agrees. To his surprise, they take him to the King Emperor's quarters where Sikander's old school friend, Malik Umar Hayat Khan, the Durbar herald, awaits. Malik Umar is serving Lord Hardinge, the Viceroy and the highest-ranked Englishman in the country. Lord Hardinge, overruling several subordinates, tells Sikander that his services as a sleuth are needed by King and country. Sworn to secrecy, Sikander is ushered into George V's personal chambers. And there he finds the cause for his extraordinary summons—an exquisite nautch-girl, hanged until dead. Employing techniques he has learned from studying Eugene Vidocq and Sherlock Holmes, Sikander examines the scene and demonstrates the girl was not a suicide, but murdered. Her death at the very heart of the encampment could ruin the enormously costly celebration and spark deep political repercussions in India and in England. Under this pressure, the Viceroy hands Sikander both the case to solve and a ticking clock—he must complete his investigation before George V arrives. And under the surveillance of one Captain Campbell of an elite British regiment. The list of suspects and motives is too large, the number of hours for the task too few. But he gave his word and so the Maharaja must put his skills to work. In the end, Sikander wishes he had not. The Maharaja Mysteries are perfect reading for fans of Tarquin Hall, Barbara Cleverly, and the late HRF Keating—and Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Coyle.

Aditya Bidikar

"If you¡¯re looking for something off the beaten path, Empire of Blood is a great book to check out." - Panels.Net "EMPIRE OF BLOOD is one of the most vibrant and original comics on the stands today, a comic that you should at least be made aware of." - ComicsTavern.com Imagine a world where the sun never set on the British Empire, where the Union Jack still flies proudly across Europe and Asia, ruled over by the mysterious Blood Queen. Powered by an alchemical elixir called Aqua Vitae that makes them impervious to illness and injury, the English live in luxury in domed cities, while the rest are sequestered in vast slums, forced to pay weekly blood tithes. This is the strange, horrifying story of a world gone wrong, a world where resistance is doomed to fail, but were it might just be more important than ever. COLLECTING ALL FOUR ISSUES OF THE MINI-SERIES!

EMPIRE OF BLOOD

"Set in the tiny princely state of Rajpore, Indian comic book writer Gaind's first novel is both a satisfying locked-room mystery and a keenly observed comedy of manners." —Publishers Weekly From the borders of icy Kashmir to the shark-infested shores of the Malabar Coast, Major William Russell, the English Resident of the small, princely state of Rajpore, is renowned as a straitlaced man of rigorous habit. When his valet knocks on his bedroom door the morning after the 1909 New Year's Ball and receives no response, he and the Resident's elderly secretary eventually task the English Commandant of Cavalry with breaking it down. The Resident is dead in his bed. His Highness Farzand-i-Khas-i-Daulat-i-Inglishia Mansur-i-Zaman Maharaja Sikander Singh, Light of Heaven, Sword of Justice, Shield of the Faithful, sole ruler of Rajpore, is slow to rise after the night of revelry. But news of the murder galvanizes him. The fabulously wealthy Maharaja, who perforce has surrendered much of his authority to the British, is a man of indolent habit although he keeps himself thoroughly fit. A lover of luxury cars and beautiful women, his deepest passion is for mysteries. He cannot resist an enigma, relishing a riddle and the rush of resolving it. Like August Dupin and Sherlock Holmes, Sikander wields careful and deliberate logic to crack puzzles that leave less intelligent men confounded. Here is such an opportunity, and well timed—for the Maharaja, resigned to another year of indolence, is almost fatally bored. Abandoning the lavish comforts of his ornate palace, Sikander orders his massive manservant Charan Singh into his Silver Ghost and speeds to the insular English settlement. Despite the objections of the local Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police, he works the crime scene and deduces that Resident was poisoned by a massive dose of strychnine. As a clock starts ticking—the British authorities dispatch their own investigator from Simla—Sikander overcomes obstacles, false trails, and the growing hostility of the English Establishment, while learning that Major Russell was not as pukka, as proper, as he liked to pretend. Will the Maharaja work through a surplus of suspects and motives before the British shut him down and cover up the truth about the Major's death? Arjun Gaind's clever, fascinating debut introduces an elegant new detective in the tradition of Lord Peter Wimsey, while painting a scathing portrait of the British Raj.

Arjun Raj Gaind

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