Writer Anuja Chauhan adds a dollop of spine-chilling suspense to her patented mix of laugh-out-loud humour and toe-tingling romance in her new book, which will be published in the summer of 2021. HarperCollins India on Tuesday announced the acquisition of Chauhan’s novel “Club You to Death”.

“The lockdown made me want to murder people. Hopefully, I’ve done it well,” says the author of “The Zoya Factor” , “Battle for Bittora” , “Those Pricey Thakur Girls” , “The House that BJ Built” and “Baaz” about her new work. According to Diya Kar, publisher (commercial division) at HarperCollins India, a “new Anuja Chauhan is a publishing event and this one is absolutely delicious”.

Swati Daftuar, senior commissioning editor at HarperCollins India, describes the book as “clever, funny and absolutely thrilling”. The book talks about a crime that takes place in Delhi. A personal trainer is found asphyxiated to death under an overloaded barbell at the posh Delhi Turf Club, on the eve of the club elections.

It is first thought to be a grisly freak accident. But when it comes to light that his protein shake had been laced with a lethal dose of popular party drug Pinko Hathni, it can no longer be denied that it is a cold-blooded killer. As the capital bristles with speculation and conspiracy theories, a Crime Branch veteran is appointed to investigate the case who has two able deputies to help him. Together, the trio sets out to solve the crime that seems simple enough on the surface, but turns out to have roots as deep and spreading as those of New Delhi’s famous neem trees, the publishers said.