Inspector Gowda, a homicide investigator in India's third-largest city, Bangalore, is tasked with searching for the missing daughter of his housekeeper. At the same time, a complicated murder case demands all his attention: a wealthy lawyer has been bludgeoned to death in a heavily guarded gated community. Both tasks are important to him, and he needs plenty of connections for both. Inspector Gowda struggles daily with his powerlessness in the grand scheme of things and his inconsistencies in the small details—such as cheating on his wife, failing to be there for his mistress, and being estranged from his son. However, when it comes to investigating, Borei Gowda makes no compromises. For "Chain of Violence," Anita Nair spent two years researching and working with the social work NGO BOSCO, which contributed to some of the hardest experiences of her life. Nair tackles a horrific subject with clever genre techniques and strong, compelling prose.