Paul Waters to launch new cosy crime novel at Mumbai LitFest

Paul Waters will bring Sister Agatha Murphy and Avtar Mehta, the unlikely investigators at the centre of his Irish-Indian cosy crime series, to Mumbai LitFest on October 24.

His session, ‘The Daggers Are Out!’, marks the launch of *Death at the Elephant House*. It is scheduled from 2pm to 3pm at the Little Theatre, NCPA, with author Meeti Shroff-Shah and chair Kiran Manral discussing offbeat crime solvers.

The book follows *Murder in Moonlit Square*, set in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk. In the new mystery, Sister Agatha, an Irish nun, and Avtar, an Indian hotelier, return as partners, alongside Roshni, an elephant who steals cigarettes.

Waters said the character was shaped by an encounter with artist Abhishek Singh, who spoke to him about elephants’ sensitivity and mistreatment by humans. The writer has said he visits the places he sets his fiction in and has Indian readers review his work before publication.

The October 24 discussion is set to focus on why unconventional detectives continue to work in crime fiction.