A Dead Hand: A Crime in Calcutta

Paul Theroux returns to India in this dark novel of twisted obsession and need. Lounging in Calcutta one day,Jerry Delfont receives a mysterious letter coming from an American philanthropist, Mrs Merrill Unger. An Indian friend of her son is in trouble: he woke up in a hotel room with a dead body next to him. Will Delfont do her the honour and find out the truth? But Jerry is at first more intrigued by Mrs Unger and her Tantric massages. Yet as he begins investigating the circumstances surrounding the body he wonders what exactly is the nature of her philanthropy.