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Harith Athreya #4
The Last Resort
There's blood in the backwaters of Kerala…
BOLLYWOOD
Detective Harith Athreya is recuperating in the beautiful backwaters of Kerala when he meets a family of vacationing Bollywood royalty, who ask for his help making a murder mystery film.
BANKRUPTCY
But the family is not what it seems- there are rumours of major money troubles, links to organised crime, and rivalry between the scions.
BUTCHERY
When one of them is found dead, murdered exactly like a victim in the film, Athreya puts his holiday on hold to solve the case. Is this the work of an angry co-star, or something more sinister?
________
Praise for the Harith Athreya Series
'Hugely engaging' SUNDAY TIMES
'A slice of sheer pleasure' OBSERVER
'Like stepping back to the Golden age of the classic mystery' RHYS BOWEN
'An impressive whodunnit' INDEPENDENT
'Athreya is a fine detective' NEW YORK TIMES
BOLLYWOOD
Detective Harith Athreya is recuperating in the beautiful backwaters of Kerala when he meets a family of vacationing Bollywood royalty, who ask for his help making a murder mystery film.
BANKRUPTCY
But the family is not what it seems- there are rumours of major money troubles, links to organised crime, and rivalry between the scions.
BUTCHERY
When one of them is found dead, murdered exactly like a victim in the film, Athreya puts his holiday on hold to solve the case. Is this the work of an angry co-star, or something more sinister?
________
Praise for the Harith Athreya Series
'Hugely engaging' SUNDAY TIMES
'A slice of sheer pleasure' OBSERVER
'Like stepping back to the Golden age of the classic mystery' RHYS BOWEN
'An impressive whodunnit' INDEPENDENT
'Athreya is a fine detective' NEW YORK TIMES
288 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2023
About the author
R.V. Raman
11 books124 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
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
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November 23, 2023The Last Resort continues the journey of taking the reader to different picturesque places in the vast Indian countryside. This time, you go to scenic Kumarakom among the houseboats and backwaters of Kerala. This fourth Athreya mystery is based on a real-life location that has been fictionalised. As usual, creative liberties have been taken. Happy reading!
May 4, 2025
Fun little mystery! It was predictable but the plot was planned very intricately. Loved the drama and the build up.
August 16, 2026
Rating: 3.75* of five
The Publisher Says: There's blood in the backwaters of Kerala…
BOLLYWOOD
Detective Harith Athreya is recuperating in the beautiful backwaters of Kerala when he meets a family of vacationing Bollywood royalty, who ask for his help making a murder mystery film.
BANKRUPTCY
But the family is not what it seems—there are rumours of major money troubles, links to organised crime, and rivalry between the scions.
BUTCHERY
When one of them is found dead, murdered exactly like a victim in the film, Athreya puts his holiday on hold to solve the case. Is this the work of an angry co-star, or something more sinister?
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: Latest of the four (to date) Golden-Age inspired mysteries set across the wildly varied, beautiful subcontinent of India. Using plots we've all loved for generations, techniques of obfuscation and misdirection that work as intended here like they have since Mary Roberts Rinehart began practicing her craft over a hundred twenty-five years ago, Author Raman brings new delights and fresh energy to the film-becomes-crime plot. We meet Mrs. Athreya at last! Dekight beams out of every passage she appears in, as her lifelong love of Bollywood and its films is meshing with the Gurua family's vacationing next to the resort she;s brought her husband to as he recuperates from dengue fever.
It's permaybehaps not my own favorite, that would be Grave Intentions , as this entry lacks some expansiveness of characterization that it could've used. No one involved in the aforementioed Guria family is realized all that well, in fact as the mystery unfolds it begins to feel as though Author Raman simply hasn't got much interest in them, leaving them mostly feeling like labels. The murder being a near-pefect echo of a famous scene in a Guria-produced movie really doesn't feel organic but put there to pique Mrs. Athreya's ongoing interest in the proceedings...a kind of authorial bribe to the character from the auythor that sadly doesn't keep her onscreen nearly long enough.
I'm so deeply pleased we gave the Dramatis Personae, two maps, and a pretty detailed Guria family tree; it is very helpful indeed. I'm always happier with these inclusions in any murder mystery. It's not always clear from dialogue and narration how everything fits together without maps.
A series I'm very happy I've discovered, and expect will continue.
The Publisher Says: There's blood in the backwaters of Kerala…
BOLLYWOOD
Detective Harith Athreya is recuperating in the beautiful backwaters of Kerala when he meets a family of vacationing Bollywood royalty, who ask for his help making a murder mystery film.
BANKRUPTCY
But the family is not what it seems—there are rumours of major money troubles, links to organised crime, and rivalry between the scions.
BUTCHERY
When one of them is found dead, murdered exactly like a victim in the film, Athreya puts his holiday on hold to solve the case. Is this the work of an angry co-star, or something more sinister?
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.
My Review: Latest of the four (to date) Golden-Age inspired mysteries set across the wildly varied, beautiful subcontinent of India. Using plots we've all loved for generations, techniques of obfuscation and misdirection that work as intended here like they have since Mary Roberts Rinehart began practicing her craft over a hundred twenty-five years ago, Author Raman brings new delights and fresh energy to the film-becomes-crime plot. We meet Mrs. Athreya at last! Dekight beams out of every passage she appears in, as her lifelong love of Bollywood and its films is meshing with the Gurua family's vacationing next to the resort she;s brought her husband to as he recuperates from dengue fever.
It's permaybehaps not my own favorite, that would be Grave Intentions , as this entry lacks some expansiveness of characterization that it could've used. No one involved in the aforementioed Guria family is realized all that well, in fact as the mystery unfolds it begins to feel as though Author Raman simply hasn't got much interest in them, leaving them mostly feeling like labels. The murder being a near-pefect echo of a famous scene in a Guria-produced movie really doesn't feel organic but put there to pique Mrs. Athreya's ongoing interest in the proceedings...a kind of authorial bribe to the character from the auythor that sadly doesn't keep her onscreen nearly long enough.
I'm so deeply pleased we gave the Dramatis Personae, two maps, and a pretty detailed Guria family tree; it is very helpful indeed. I'm always happier with these inclusions in any murder mystery. It's not always clear from dialogue and narration how everything fits together without maps.
A series I'm very happy I've discovered, and expect will continue.
May 29, 2024
The Last Resort is another entry in R.V. Raman’s reliable series of closed-circle mysteries set in contemporary India. Private investigator Harith Athreya is recovering from dengue fever at a friend’s home in the lake country of the state of Kerala. There is a private resort nearby where a family of Bollywood moguls, the Gaurias, are staying. Before long, someone is killed, and the Gauria patriarch retains Athreya to find the murderer.
There is something very comforting about this series, even though—apart from the first volume—it has not been particularly remarkable. I enjoy Raman’s descriptions of India’s varied regions and climates, and for me there is nothing more relaxing than an old-fashioned mystery novel.
There is something very comforting about this series, even though—apart from the first volume—it has not been particularly remarkable. I enjoy Raman’s descriptions of India’s varied regions and climates, and for me there is nothing more relaxing than an old-fashioned mystery novel.
December 10, 2025
Not the biggest fan of the writing. It was very straightforward: someone has been killed, who did it? We follow the detective around as he looks for clues and interrogates people. The lack of complexity in the story made it less intriguing for me. There were not any tense moments or exciting plot twists.
February 23, 2024
A good plot as usual but the writing is still not to my taste. It's still as unnecessarily wordy as the other mysteries. I feel that Mr. Raman provides unnecessary explanations rather than letting us infer from context.
That said, I would read ten more of the Harith Athreya mysteries.
That said, I would read ten more of the Harith Athreya mysteries.
February 7, 2026
It is not easy to right a murder mystery. Most often during the revelation, the author picks just any character from the plot and adds a background story to present the killer. This book is just an example of that.
December 12, 2023
A delightful read. Enjoyed it thoroughly!
December 15, 2023
A nice little mystery in the backwaters of Kerala. Neat and compact. It captures Kumarakom very well (I had been there some years ago). As usual, Athreya is entertaining and sharp.
January 11, 2024
Not as good as Praying Mantis because you never quite get into the secondary characters but the investigators wife was a welcome addition!
January 7, 2025
A bit underwhelming compared to other stories in the series. Not bad, by any means, just that 'The grave intentions' was far superior.
December 25, 2023
A charming mystery set in the backwaters of Kerala. As usual, Athreya does a brilliant job. Enjoyed it very much.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews