Quietly dignified Inspector Ghote, ‘one of the great creations of detective fiction’ (Alexander McCall Smith), finds himself trapped on a train with a fellow passenger who may – or may not – be the legendary confidence trickster he is travelling to collect, in this classic mystery – with a brand-new introduction by bestselling author Vaseem Khan.

When Inspector Ganesh Ghote boards the train to Calcutta, he’s looking forward to spending forty hours detached from his responsibilities, but nevertheless still doing his job. He is on his way to collect legendary swindler A. K. Bhattacharya, who’s defrauded wealthy art-lovers for years, and bring him back to Bombay to stand trial.

But his peace and quiet is immediately disturbed by a chatty fellow traveller, who, Ghote soon realises, talks relentlessly but never gives anything personal away. Who is this man, who never takes off his sunglasses, and whose hair appears freshly dyed? The good inspector’s heart stops when he sees the initials on his companion’s case: A.K.B.

A. K. Bhattacharaya, the master trickster, is in prison in Calcutta, awaiting transfer under Ghote’s custody to Bombay. It would be the wildest fantasy to think he should be sitting on the train with Ghote instead.

Wouldn’t it?