On 1 June 2001, the heir to the Nepalese throne, Crown Prince Dipendra, donned military fatigues, armed himself with four guns and walked in on a quiet family gathering. Without speaking, he mowed his family down before turning a pistol on himself. While Nepal has been a mecca for trekkers and tourists for fifty years, very few discover what is really going on in this beautiful kingdom tucked into the shadows of Himalayas. In fact it's one of the poorest countries in the world, with a very conservative royal family, and a serious Maoist revolution being fought throughout the countryside in the last few years. Two award-winning journalists have conducted exhaustive interviews with everyone from Maoist guerrillas to members of the royal family, gaining insights into the events behind the massacre. At the heart of the story is the love affair between Crown Prince Dipendra and the beautiful aristocrat, Devyani Rani, that he was forbidden to marry. This fascinating book not only gives a remarkable portrait of modern Nepal but also investigates an extraordinary, colourful crime that took place in a city that looks more in keeping with the fourteenth, than the twenty-first, century.
