A sparkling read.. completed its 300 pages in just two reading sessions.The book can be appreciated at many levels:a riveting account, beautifully written, of what would be a common-enough crime of passion, but became a litmus test for a variety of reasons explained in the book, including the utiliity of having 'friends in high places';Deeply researched, so as to not become just another tawdry whodunit' ;A fascinating account of the fight between the executive and judiciary, with detailed legalese of the laws of the time demystified.An extraordinary study of the influence of the fourth estate! (how much more powerful would have been Russi Karanjia's Blitz in today's wired world)My favorite element of the book is perhaps the best depiction (in a non-fiction book) of the Bombay of the late 1950s-1960s. As the author describes it in chapter 13: 'when the rest of India was a commodity, Bombay was a brand. Liberal, cosmopolitan, floating above the rest with an easy audacity. Stylish, rakish, one ear always cocked for the knock of opportunity'.And in this mix, it is fascinating to read about Bombay's Parsi culture, it's influence upon the Nanavati case, as also about the 'protagonists' on the other side, the Sindhis. The sight of Ahuja's skull in the courtroom must have invoked, at the time, Hamlet's 'Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him....a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is.'Congratulations to the author, (Bachi Karkaria), and I hope this is not her only book.