The Seventh Cup

A student of history in Switzerland goes missing; a man drinks exactly seven cups of coffee everyday in the same restaurant and believes in Mind Transportation. Two newly married Swiss detective agents arrive and run into a girl who confidently picks up their bag claiming to be her own. From the colorful coasts of Goa to serene backdrop of Switzerland, the mystery of Verona Schmidt baffles everyone and so does the fact that, she did not go missing at all. And what does the Universal Law of Attraction has to do with it? The Seventh Cup by Nitesh Kumar Jain is a well-crafted mystery novel that contains just enough elements of a Shakesperean tragedy to make the reader sympathetic to the sociopath protagonist, Avinash, a drama student from Goa, India. Enter Verona Schmidt, an unsuspecting Swiss exchange student, to upstage everyone in the college Dramatics Club and to become front and center in Avinash's peculiar frame of mind. Over coffee at the local Nescafe, Avinash introduces Verona to the concept of Mind Transportation, which she perceives as nothing more than a fun game she is playing with a young man who seems to be flirting with her. The exchange student enjoys Avinash's company and co-stars with him in his play put on by the Dramatics Club of their college. She eventually allows herself (despite her claim to having a so-called boyfriend named Kevin) to enjoy champaign and a kiss with Avinash. Dismissing the romantic moment as a drunken mistake, Verona flees back to Switzerland with the obsessed Avinash in hot pursuit across the globe. Will he succeed in uniting with her again or life takes a dangerous ride from there on?