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From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

*Starred Review* In this third installment in the wildly inventive Baby Ganesh Agency Investigation series, Ganesha, a young elephant, and Inspector Ashwin Chopra (retired), of the Mumbai Police, work side by side (space permitting) investigating the kidnapping of a huge Bollywood star, the handsome, charismatic, and spoiled Vicky Verma, who was scheduled to start work on the most expensive historical epic ever attempted in Indian cinema, The Mote in the Third Eye of Shiva. This mystery works on every expected level and on a couple of unique ones. As with Khan's first two novels, the plotting is well paced. The setting, this time concentrating on Bollywood, especially the studio where The Mote is being filmed, is splendidly drawn, letting readers in on the history and artistry of Indian cinema, while giving a soundstage-set tour of the studio. And the relationship between Chopra and his elephant (Ganesha was bequeathed to Chopra by an uncle shortly after Chopra's forced retirement) remains a continuing, developing delight. Readers can see how taking care of the traumatized, undersized elephant rescued Chopra from himself and helped him move out of retirement and into private-eye work. (Hindi readers will recognize the elephant's link to the god Ganesha, sometimes known as the God of Beginnings and Remover of Obstacles.) A great warmth and wisdom infuse this and the other Baby Ganesh books.--Fletcher, Connie Copyright 2017 Booklist

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