By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 16 Nov: Author Ruby Gupta’s latest crime thriller NO ILLUSIONS IN XANADU was released in the morning session of the Valley of Words by author-photographer Ganesh Saili who called the young author Dehradun’s answer to Agatha Christie. A lively discussion of the book followed the book release. It’s a story set in Mumbai where a devilishly handsome, Bollywood superstar Rajvir Kapoor, is found dead in the thirtieth- floor of Xanadu – his plush home. The news leaves everyone stunned. Hours earlier, the high-rise home had been bursting at the seams with the elite: celebrities, business tycoons, close friends, associates and family of the iconic actor. All of them were there for a party – the best the metropolis had seen. Cursory investigations show that the actor has been murdered. But by who? In this whodunit, everyone is a suspect. Along comes a nano-expert and part-time detective Professor Shantanu Bose, a house guest, who perforce joins the investigation. Surrounded by the flotsam of the upper crust, he sets about searching for the culprit. He struggles to sieve fact from fiction. Add to this the fatal attraction he seems to have to the prime suspect. Where are we going to go from here? Moderating the session, Ganesh Saili took Ruby Gupta through the paces: ‘Couldn’t you have made the story steamier?’ ‘This was a crime fiction book,’ With a smile, Ruby Gupta reminds her audience. ‘I had a tale to tell. That is exactly what I have done.’ ‘You’ve done research on Khushwant Singh, he always had a joke or two in his columns! You don’t seem to have given in to that temptation.’ ‘This is a story about a murder and that, let me assure you is no laughing matter!’ It was precisely this the banter that made for a lively session which attended by author Satish Aikant, his wife Rajni; young author Pooja Marwah Poddar among many others.