Want to start the year off with a roller-coaster of a book filled with razor-sharp humor, women taking on the patriarchy (sometimes with murder), and twists and turns that will keep you guessing? Then this one is for you!

Geeta is a social outcast in her small Indian village. Five years ago, when her alcoholic, abusive husband disappeared, the whole town assumed she killed him. What they don't know is he up and left, and she has no clue where he is. She's happy he's gone--he abused her emotionally and physically--yet she still isn't thrilled that everyone considers her a danger and an anomaly, as she doesn't have kids. She keeps away from most of her village, especially her childhood friend Saloni and only interacts with the village's women at the micro-loan meetings she attends to keep her jewelry business running.

But when Farrah, another woman who is being abused by her husband, comes to Geeta to ask for her help in "removing her nose ring" (aka killing her husband), Geeta gets pulled into a web of darkly humorous hijinks and crime.

Shroff uses the exaggerated events of murder and mean-girl drama to deftly comment on very-real aspects of rural Indian culture--the misogyny experienced by Indian women, the inequity and racism of the caste system, and the hypocrisy bred of anti-drinking directives. I really enjoyed how easily she went from humor to horror and back again.

Geeta is a complex character. She's at times scared, strong, deferential, defensive, aggressive, smart, and oblivious. Frankly, she's real. How she and the women of the village "fight back" is shocking, funny, clever, and, in the end, a heck of a lot of fun.

If you're a fan of dark humor, biting commentaries on the patriarchy, and women one-upping the forces that oppress them, give this one a whirl. It'll definitely make you think and, at times, cheer.