Vithal Rajan
Hachette India
272 pages, Rs 395
Vithal Rajan, who has also authored Shelock Holmes adventures set in India, centres this collection of twelve stories around a middle-aged Dalit widow who is also a village midwife. Ramulamma uses her detective skills, knowledge of practical medicine and intuition to deliver justice to the poor, bring powerful landlords to book, and teach the police a lesson or two about the meaning of duty.