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Harith Athreya #3
Praying Mantis
ISOLATION
Harith Athreya is taking a well-earned break at a boutique hotel in the Himalayan foothills. But his holiday is swiftly cut short when mysterious bloody handprints start appearing on the walls around the resort.
INCRIMINATION
When a woman then falls to her death, chaos and confusion reigns. The hotelier is convinced that the key to the case rests with four other young people who checked in at the same time as the victim, all pretending for some reason not to know each other.
INTRIGUE
Did one of these guests have something to do with it? Harith Athreya must get to the bottom of the case before the murderer strikes again…
Harith Athreya is taking a well-earned break at a boutique hotel in the Himalayan foothills. But his holiday is swiftly cut short when mysterious bloody handprints start appearing on the walls around the resort.
INCRIMINATION
When a woman then falls to her death, chaos and confusion reigns. The hotelier is convinced that the key to the case rests with four other young people who checked in at the same time as the victim, all pretending for some reason not to know each other.
INTRIGUE
Did one of these guests have something to do with it? Harith Athreya must get to the bottom of the case before the murderer strikes again…
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2023
4 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
About the author
R.V. Raman
11 books122 followersMY BACKSTORY
After a corporate career spanning four decades and as many continents, I’ve moved away from full time roles to pursue other interests. I now serve as an independent director on company boards and write. In my earlier avatar, I had advised companies, banks, regulators, governments, etc. on various matters.
Tired of extensive physical travel, I now prefer less punishing mental excursions into fictional worlds of my own creation.
ABOUT MY CORPORATE THRILLERS
Surely, there must be men like Professor Moriarty in corporate India. They may not be such intellectual colossuses or consummate masters, but they would share some key traits with him – wile, ingenuity, drive and utter ruthlessness. And they would understand the psychology of temptation.
What kind of schemes would such men device? That is the question I seek to answer through these novels.
Apart from bringing in truckloads of money, these schemes would have to satisfy the fabled professor’s taste for elegant, water-tight designs; designs that ride on the motivations and vulnerabilities of intelligent but weak-minded men. My antagonists may not have Moriarty’s guile or panache, and my detectives may be intellectual pygmies before Holmes. Nevertheless, I have taken a shot (four shots, actually) at crafting credible stories of intelligent crimes in corporate India. Each of my four novels is set in a different industry.
ABOUT MY WHODUNITS
After four corporate thrillers, I turned to writing a series of murder mysteries (whodunits) with a new protagonist (Harith Athreya). I’ve tried to model these on the Golden Age Mysteries, while keeping them current with modern technology like mobile phones. And, as is the case with all my writing, I eschew vulgarity and profanity so that my stories are appropriate for readers of all ages. The only exception is the rare cuss-word that is used as an intensifier for emphasis.
SCIENCE FICTION
And most lately, I am trying my hand at science fiction. 2080: The Lattice is my first foray into this genre and is set in a world where mankind is addicted to AI. Unfortunately, the AI has become deeply biased, even prejudiced. Additionally, the internet has evolved to an extent where it carries all five senses perfectly, making virtual presence undistinguishable from physical reality.
Meanwhile, I continue experimenting with short stories set in contemporary India. Some of them are available on Amazon.
The list of my full-length novels so far:
Fraudster
Insider
Saboteur
Conspirator
A Will to Kill
A Dire Isle / Grave Intentions
Praying Mantis
The Last Resort
2080: The Lattice
Website.
RV Raman on Facebook
After a corporate career spanning four decades and as many continents, I’ve moved away from full time roles to pursue other interests. I now serve as an independent director on company boards and write. In my earlier avatar, I had advised companies, banks, regulators, governments, etc. on various matters.
Tired of extensive physical travel, I now prefer less punishing mental excursions into fictional worlds of my own creation.
ABOUT MY CORPORATE THRILLERS
Surely, there must be men like Professor Moriarty in corporate India. They may not be such intellectual colossuses or consummate masters, but they would share some key traits with him – wile, ingenuity, drive and utter ruthlessness. And they would understand the psychology of temptation.
What kind of schemes would such men device? That is the question I seek to answer through these novels.
Apart from bringing in truckloads of money, these schemes would have to satisfy the fabled professor’s taste for elegant, water-tight designs; designs that ride on the motivations and vulnerabilities of intelligent but weak-minded men. My antagonists may not have Moriarty’s guile or panache, and my detectives may be intellectual pygmies before Holmes. Nevertheless, I have taken a shot (four shots, actually) at crafting credible stories of intelligent crimes in corporate India. Each of my four novels is set in a different industry.
ABOUT MY WHODUNITS
After four corporate thrillers, I turned to writing a series of murder mysteries (whodunits) with a new protagonist (Harith Athreya). I’ve tried to model these on the Golden Age Mysteries, while keeping them current with modern technology like mobile phones. And, as is the case with all my writing, I eschew vulgarity and profanity so that my stories are appropriate for readers of all ages. The only exception is the rare cuss-word that is used as an intensifier for emphasis.
SCIENCE FICTION
And most lately, I am trying my hand at science fiction. 2080: The Lattice is my first foray into this genre and is set in a world where mankind is addicted to AI. Unfortunately, the AI has become deeply biased, even prejudiced. Additionally, the internet has evolved to an extent where it carries all five senses perfectly, making virtual presence undistinguishable from physical reality.
Meanwhile, I continue experimenting with short stories set in contemporary India. Some of them are available on Amazon.
The list of my full-length novels so far:
Fraudster
Insider
Saboteur
Conspirator
A Will to Kill
A Dire Isle / Grave Intentions
Praying Mantis
The Last Resort
2080: The Lattice
Website.
RV Raman on Facebook
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 30, 2023
3.5 stars, rounded to 4.
Praying Mantis is the third book in the Harith Athreya series, and is set in a small resort situated in the lap of Himalayas. The property, PeterDann Castle, is owned by Athreya's friend Javed, who suspects that the five guests currently booked there share a sinister secret. He asks Athreya to stay in the hotel for a few days and while the detective is staying there, a guest apart from the five falls off the roof to her death. As Harith and the local police attempt to catch the killer, the case complicates itself as more than one guest seems to have shared connection with the victim, and the picture of the victim that emerges after her death is quite different from what everyone felt about her while she was alive.
Like the previous two books, Praying Mantis also takes its readers to yet another picturesque location, this time one with which I have a personal connection. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the novel and the description of the views from Peter Dann took me back in time. The mystery moves at an even pace and the solution lies in a lot of realistic ground work done both by Athreya and ACP Suyal. However, I felt that this book was the weakest in the series yet. One of the reasons is that there's a considerable number of characters here, and the demands of this genre don't allow for a lot of character development to happen. As such, I couldn't feel connected to either of the characters as they came and went. Besides, while the main idea behind the book - one which justifies the title so aptly - is very interesting, I felt that it sort of lacked the thrill and the aha moment that's a characteristic of a whodunnit.
Having said that, I must add that I am still looking forward to reading the next book in the series which will perhaps release sometime towards the end of the year. And will wholeheartedly recommend this book to those who love gentle, cosy mysteries set in India.
Praying Mantis is the third book in the Harith Athreya series, and is set in a small resort situated in the lap of Himalayas. The property, PeterDann Castle, is owned by Athreya's friend Javed, who suspects that the five guests currently booked there share a sinister secret. He asks Athreya to stay in the hotel for a few days and while the detective is staying there, a guest apart from the five falls off the roof to her death. As Harith and the local police attempt to catch the killer, the case complicates itself as more than one guest seems to have shared connection with the victim, and the picture of the victim that emerges after her death is quite different from what everyone felt about her while she was alive.
Like the previous two books, Praying Mantis also takes its readers to yet another picturesque location, this time one with which I have a personal connection. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the novel and the description of the views from Peter Dann took me back in time. The mystery moves at an even pace and the solution lies in a lot of realistic ground work done both by Athreya and ACP Suyal. However, I felt that this book was the weakest in the series yet. One of the reasons is that there's a considerable number of characters here, and the demands of this genre don't allow for a lot of character development to happen. As such, I couldn't feel connected to either of the characters as they came and went. Besides, while the main idea behind the book - one which justifies the title so aptly - is very interesting, I felt that it sort of lacked the thrill and the aha moment that's a characteristic of a whodunnit.
Having said that, I must add that I am still looking forward to reading the next book in the series which will perhaps release sometime towards the end of the year. And will wholeheartedly recommend this book to those who love gentle, cosy mysteries set in India.
Read
May 6, 2023This third book of the Harith Athreya series continues with the endeavor of taking readers to different picturesque locations in the vast Indian countryside. This time, the gentleman sleuth goes to foothills of the Majestic Himalayas to solve a seemingly innocuous puzzle. Like the earlier books in the series, this too is based on a location I have visited. The virtual tour of the Indian hinterland continues, with murder and intrigue as accompaniments. Of course, Athreya discovers that the puzzle is not as innocuous as it appears. Happy reading!
July 27, 2023
Praying Mantis is the third book in Harith Athreya series. I’ve read only the first book in the series before and remember enjoying it as well. Much like A Will to Kill, this one too is set in a picturesque landscape, in the Himalayan foothills where Athreya solves a murder mystery. More than once I felt as if I had entered into the world of Janardhan Maity, who happens to be the protagonist of Bhaskar Chattopadhyay’s books. There’s a lot of similarity between the writing style of the two authors. And much like the previous time, it didn’t take me long to fall into Raman’s hypnotic narration and be swept away.
Praying Mantis is a fast paced detective novel which takes place in Peter Dann Castle, a fictional resort in Himalayas. When Javed, a retired police psychologist and friend of Athreya requests him to stay over at his resort to oversee a suspicious situation, he readily agrees. Javed has a nagging feeling that a friend of his daughter is involved in something sinister along with a bunch of other young people. These five youngsters have a secret that they guard fiercely. The characters are diverse, each different from the other and soon Javed’s instinct prevails when a murder is committed. Athreya’s mind gets whirring and he sets about resolving the case with the help of the local police.
The investigation gets complicated when every character has a motive for the murder. While he sets about to discover the truth, we see the spotlight shifting from one character to the next, not knowing who is the killer. We see the efficiency and cleverness with which Athreya works and as he finds the culprit, the process of him piecing together the clues is enjoyable to read. I couldn’t guess who the killer was until the very end and even though the story may seem a bit hard to believe, I have no complaints.
I associate his books with cosy winter/monsoon reads where all you need is a cup of coffee to finish reading them like a breeze. The reason behind choosing the title Praying Mantis was an intelligent thing to do and did justice to the book. If you’re looking to explore Indian murder mystery authors, this series may just be up your alley.
Praying Mantis is a fast paced detective novel which takes place in Peter Dann Castle, a fictional resort in Himalayas. When Javed, a retired police psychologist and friend of Athreya requests him to stay over at his resort to oversee a suspicious situation, he readily agrees. Javed has a nagging feeling that a friend of his daughter is involved in something sinister along with a bunch of other young people. These five youngsters have a secret that they guard fiercely. The characters are diverse, each different from the other and soon Javed’s instinct prevails when a murder is committed. Athreya’s mind gets whirring and he sets about resolving the case with the help of the local police.
The investigation gets complicated when every character has a motive for the murder. While he sets about to discover the truth, we see the spotlight shifting from one character to the next, not knowing who is the killer. We see the efficiency and cleverness with which Athreya works and as he finds the culprit, the process of him piecing together the clues is enjoyable to read. I couldn’t guess who the killer was until the very end and even though the story may seem a bit hard to believe, I have no complaints.
I associate his books with cosy winter/monsoon reads where all you need is a cup of coffee to finish reading them like a breeze. The reason behind choosing the title Praying Mantis was an intelligent thing to do and did justice to the book. If you’re looking to explore Indian murder mystery authors, this series may just be up your alley.
August 16, 2023
Conceptually it was clever. But the reading experience was clunky and choppy. The dialogue stilted and awkward and just plain fake sounding (like robots talking).
Why did he describe what the characters wore? And in all his books, he describes the floorplan and/or maps out things needlessly.
I liked #1 and #2 in this series but here, #3, is disappointing. If there are more, I'll be more cautious by just reading a bit before deciding to take on the whole book.
Why did he describe what the characters wore? And in all his books, he describes the floorplan and/or maps out things needlessly.
I liked #1 and #2 in this series but here, #3, is disappointing. If there are more, I'll be more cautious by just reading a bit before deciding to take on the whole book.
December 27, 2023
Loved it!!! It’s been awhile since I read a proper murder mystery in the style of Agatha Christie and this did not disappoint!
A great detective along with a cute cast of believable characters makes this a real treat! If you like Indian murder mysteries, this is for you!
A great detective along with a cute cast of believable characters makes this a real treat! If you like Indian murder mysteries, this is for you!
February 1, 2025
The best one yet in the classic locked room type murder series - this one is set in the foothills of the Himalayas and was a very satisfying read.
Read
May 6, 2023This third book of the Harith Athreya series continues with the endeavor of taking readers to different picturesque locations in the vast Indian countryside. This time, the gentleman sleuth goes to foothills of the Majestic Himalayas to solve a seemingly innocuous puzzle. Like the earlier books in the series, this too is based on a location I have visited. The virtual tour of the Indian hinterland continues, with murder and intrigue as accompaniments. Of course, Athreya discovers that the puzzle is not as innocuous as it appears. Happy reading!
Read
May 6, 2023This third book of the Harith Athreya series continues with the endeavor of taking readers to different picturesque locations in the vast Indian countryside. This time, the gentleman sleuth goes to foothills of the Majestic Himalayas to solve a seemingly innocuous puzzle. Like the earlier books in the series, this too is based on a location I have visited. The virtual tour of the Indian hinterland continues, with murder and intrigue as accompaniments. Of course, Athreya discovers that the puzzle is not as innocuous as it appears. Happy reading!
August 27, 2023
Yet another scrumptious RV Raman thriller with piping hot twists and a delectable backdrop to boot.
Raman had me in the first chapter when Javed first narrates his conundrum to Athreya, I have lost count of how many people I’ve led to read the book with that intro.
Absolutely loved the backdrop of Peter Dann and the floor plans shared - makes it so easy for the reader to visualise.
There were some inconsistencies, like how the police officer seemed to be reporting to Athreya, not vice versa as it should have been.
I also was not a fan of the characterisation of said police officer, it felt like there was no nuance to her character and she was the overly dramatic-jumping to conclusions-cop, solely because of her gender?
That aside, another enjoyable offering from Raman with well placed twists.
Raman had me in the first chapter when Javed first narrates his conundrum to Athreya, I have lost count of how many people I’ve led to read the book with that intro.
Absolutely loved the backdrop of Peter Dann and the floor plans shared - makes it so easy for the reader to visualise.
There were some inconsistencies, like how the police officer seemed to be reporting to Athreya, not vice versa as it should have been.
I also was not a fan of the characterisation of said police officer, it felt like there was no nuance to her character and she was the overly dramatic-jumping to conclusions-cop, solely because of her gender?
That aside, another enjoyable offering from Raman with well placed twists.
December 12, 2023
Praying Mantis is R.V. Raman's third mystery novel featuring private investigator Harith Athreya. This time, Athreya is staying with an old colleague on the police force who now owns a resort in the foothills of the Himalayas. There is a seemingly innocent riddle: Athreya's friend saw the hotel's five guests together in town, yet they all deny knowing each other. Of course, someone is murdered, and Athreya must solve the case.
The novel seems to be tending towards one of Agatha Christie's most famous twists, but Raman skillfully conceals the real solution. Raman's cluing is sometimes a bit clunky, but overall this was an entertaining homage to Christie's country house mysteries.
The novel seems to be tending towards one of Agatha Christie's most famous twists, but Raman skillfully conceals the real solution. Raman's cluing is sometimes a bit clunky, but overall this was an entertaining homage to Christie's country house mysteries.
June 22, 2025
An interesting murder mystery set in the mountainside of India. The Author is Indian, so the stylisation and characterisation in the novel is pretty accurate. From the drama of the script, to certain cultural references, they all felt familiar and realistic. The plot was interesting enough but not seat-gripping. The plot ending was satisfying and I might read the next one in the series if I'm looking for an easy read!
September 9, 2023
An Agatha Christie-type scenario but not as well written. Maybe translation has led to some awkward language? Bit of a writing cliche to so heavily demonize a woman, who seemingly had managed to hoodwink literally all the characters so well. And the ending sees everyone happy and celebrating, even though there had been several deaths. Not for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2023
This is book 3 in the Harith Athreya series. 5 guests or is there 6? They all congregate at the Peter Dunn Castle. One ends up dead and it is up to Harith Athreya to help his friend Javed Rais, ex police psychologist and owner of the Castle to determine the murder. It is almost like Murder on the Orient Express.
September 24, 2023
I got a bit worried about the direction this was going to go when the first couple of potential motives were revealed...but it luckily didn't go in that direction so I was satisfied with the further details of those motives.
June 1, 2024
Totally loved this one! The cast of suspects and the atmosphere setting takes the reader on a roller coaster as Raman carefully lays out the crime and unveils the suspects and their intentions..
The best in the series so far!
The best in the series so far!
June 14, 2023
Pretty good. Raman's writing is consistent and he maintains a good standard.
July 30, 2023
One of the best book of the Series. Will make you long to visit Peter Dann Castle
August 24, 2024
A compelling and atmospheric mystery full of turbulent twists and turns. Just as good as a top shelf Poirot novel, this may be the best in the Athreya series yet!
July 12, 2025
A very interesting setup. A good homage to Murder of orient express I felt, with a nice twist on its plot.
Execution was fine, if a bit clunky at the end. But it held up for the most part.
Execution was fine, if a bit clunky at the end. But it held up for the most part.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 10, 2025
continuing my journey of Indian murder mystery novels. This is one of the better ones so far
June 1, 2023
Good writing and expert plotting. I liked the way the author "peels the onion" and how the story unfolds. The narrative takes you through a nicely layered mystery. As was the case in the earlier Athreya novel (Grave Intentions), we have small but critical clues here too. Athreya does a good job of deducing. Enjoyable read.
May 30, 2023
Very good. Particularly enjoyed the Himalayan foothills as the setting.
December 14, 2025
Chanced upon RV Raman while perusing the Pushkin Press catalogue. And this book justifies the inclusion. A well-crafted traditional Golden-Age mystery, with just the right degree of subterfuge and red herrings that is immensely worth the read.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews