Mughal scholar Mehrunisa Khosa stumbles on a conspiracy to destroy the Taj Mahal when she discovers the murder of the Taj supervisor, and the Quranic calligraph on the tomb of Queen Mumtaz altered to suggest a Hindu origin of the Taj Mahal. That urban legend had always existed. Now, though, someone was conspiring to make it come true. In the case of the famed marble monument, all was not on the surface. A vast labyrinth ran underneath closed to visitors where Mehrunisa was trapped once. In a series of suspenseful twists and turns, the action traverses from the serene splendour of Taj Mahal to the virulent warrens of Taj Ganj, from intrigue laden corridors of Delhi to snowy Himalayan hideouts. As a right wing Hindu party ratchets up its communal agenda and Islamic militants plot a terror attack, in the dark corners of his devious mind a behrupiya, a shape shifter, is conniving to divide the nation in two. To save the Taj Mahal, Mehrunisa must overcome a prejudiced police and battle her inner demons as she sifts the multiple strands that lead to the conspirator. About the Author Manreet Sodhi Someshwar trained as an engineer, graduated from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, and worked in marketing, advertising and consulting. An award-winning writer (Commonwealth Broadcasting Association), and copywriter (Creative Abbey), she is a popular blogger as well. Her debut novel, Earning the Laundry Stripes, released in 2006 to critical acclaim, with India Today calling it ‘an enjoyable tale of a sassy girl’s headlong race up the corporate ladder...’ Her second novel, The Long Walk Home, published in 2009, has garnered critical acclaim and hit several bestseller lists in India. Legendary poet-lyricist Gulzar has called it ‘a narrative of pain that knows no borders’. She has featured at several literary festivals including the Singapore Writers Festival, the Shanghai International Literary Festival and the Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) and several Indian publications.
