Robert Owen

Durga Noir Robert Owen

'Durga Noir' is a pulp style detective noir thriller set in an alternative history World - 'The Bharat Empire'. The main action takes places in 1970s Calcutta where a down at heel private eye is hired to help find the missing wife of a billionaire industrialist, a small catch being the that the vanished spouse is an old flame of the dysfunctional detective. Why has the wife gone missing?Who is responsible? Who is the mysterious 'Irishman'?What is the connection with a seemingly catastrophic event in the prologue?As the plot progress it will become clear that the past of the protagonist and the major supporting characters are intimately intertwined with the current mystery. The detective will discover that he is in fact a pawn in a large-scale conspiracy that threatens the stability of the Empire, being manipulated by a ruthless faction who wish to eliminate their opponents. The book is written as a first-person narrative from the point of view of the protagonist, and though the character is male, there are two strong supporting female characters who will be central to both the plot and the final resolution. This novel is the gateway to a wider forthcoming series set in the universe of the 'Bharat Empire', a reality in which the British Indian Empire still exists and rivals the United States for dominance across the World. This isn't the British Raj as we know it however; this is the Indian Raj ruled principally by Indian statesmen since the days of the Bengali Renaissance in the 1800s. Later novels in the series will cover the history of the Empire, how it diverged from our own history, why it did so, and who is responsible. The author is a British citizen who has spent many years living and working in India and who has a great respect for the history and culture of both nations. This valuable perspective has led to a unique setting with a fusion of our modern World and the Bengal of the Babus.