Tag Archives: police

Book Review: The Blue Monsoon by Damyanti Biswas

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About the Book:

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A ritual murder at a Mumbai temple exposes the city’s dark secrets and ravages the personal life of a detective in this sequel to The Blue Bar.

Amid incessant rains pounding down on Mumbai, Senior Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput is called to a shocking crime scene. A male body is found dismembered on the steps of a Kaali temple. Drawn into his flesh are symbols of a tantra cult. The desecration of a body at a Hindu place of worship puts the city on edge and divides Arnav’s priorities: stopping a fanatic from killing again and caring for his wife who’s struggling through a challenging pregnancy.

Then video footage of the murder is uploaded onto the account of a Bollywood social media influencer, triggering twists in the investigation Arnav didn’t see coming. Caste systems at war. A priest under suspicion. And an anonymous threat that puts his wife’s welfare at risk. When more bodies are found, the savagery of the city begins to surface—and Arnav fears that no one is safe from a bigger storm brewing.

My Thoughts:

This is a dark crime thriller/ murder mystery that brings to the surface the truths of the caste system and various beliefs among people. It is horrifying but true and resonates very deeply. The story is gripping and pulls the reader into a rain filled journey through Mumbai as Senior Inspector Arnav tries to uncover the person or persons behind a string of murders which seem to have some religious connection as well as suspected underworld connections. This book follows the characters introduced in Book 1, The Blue Bar, but can be read as a standalone like I did. There are some brief references to events in the first book, but they eventually make sense as we read through The Blue Monsoon.

What can I say about the characters? They are diverse, interesting, intriguing with so many different shades and layers. It takes time to peel back each layer and author Damyanti does just that. It’s very hard not to develop a connection with each of the characters, each of them playing an important part in driving the plot. Tara is an example of the kind of strength we can only strive towards while Pia is your typical teenager who has been through something traumatic but is still able to move past it enough to live a normal life. She is surrounded by love and care and that is beautiful. I also formed a deep respect for Arnav and his way of thinking, the respect he has for people as well as his no-nonsense attitude. These are just some of the characters in the story and being the main ones, I have focused on them. The supporting characters (including a Bollywood social media influencer, an ex-cop, a priest, a tantric, workers at a hair factory and so on) are many and have their own purpose for being in this story. Each of them add a new layer to the plot as it progresses and reaches the climax.

The author has indeed done a lot of research to write about the police procedurals, religious and tantric beliefs, caste system and how people are treated as well as the lives of people in Mumbai, especially those who cannot afford most luxuries. It is devastating to read about their plight and life, but it’s something I believe we can learn from, especially their determination and drive. Another aspect is Tara’s condition and paralysis, how it affects her and those around her, her insecurities, the love of the people who care for her. The author has taken time to focus on these as well as each of the specific relationships in the book. There is a layer to all of it that remains with us even after finishing the book.

Having talked about the characters and various themes of the story, I would also like to comment on the author’s style of writing. The story is very well-written with a flow that will pull the reader in. The words seem to just flow off the page and into the mind of the reader, painting pictures of the events as they unfold and giving us enough perspective to imagine the characters as they move about or interact. This is truly a masterpiece of storytelling and a book I truly enjoyed despite the themes involved.

I highly recommend this book for all fans of Crime Thrillers and Murder mysteries. The Blue Monsoon is one for the shelves and TBRs, this is a must-read!

Book Review: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

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About the Book:

The Girl on the Train

The debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people’s lives.

EVERY DAY THE SAME
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

UNTIL TODAY
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

My Thoughts:

Wow. This is a mind blowing, brilliantly written psychological thriller that is literally a train ride! Written in the POV’s of three of the characters, with interchanging and different dates, the author weaves a tale that slowly brings all of them together.

At first, I kept losing track of the dates mentioned at the beginning of each chapter and hence ended up rather confused about the happenings. Rachel, the main protagonist, takes the train everyday and as she passes a particular station, she sees a house and it’s occupants everyday, to the extent that she had even given them imaginary names. Her husband, Tom left her to marry Anna and this did not sit well with her. The fact that they had a little daughter only made things worse. Rachel could not stop her growing dependency on alcohol nor the many times she called or emailed her ex-husband. She also lost her job and ends up constantly lying to the lady whose apartment she shares. Little does she know that she would see something rather shocking and then their lives would eventually meet and their paths would become extremely tangled.

The thoughts run deep, the psych playing a major role. Alcoholism coupled with anger makes Rachel behave rather unconventionally. The author slowly brings out the story behind each of the three women in the story and shows us exactly how deep the hurt goes. They are broken and seeking solace and trying to find themselves in any way that they can. When Megan goes missing, Rachel tries to figure out what happened, going back in her mind to the night when all the three women were supposed to have been in the same area. The police contact her when Anna, her ex-husbands wife sees a chance to throw her name out there and thus follows the rest of the plot.

The author emphasizes a lot on the train journey too and develops the story based on this spanning a number of days. She also describes, with intricate details, the events from the past that affected the psyche of her characters. With Megan, it is always dates in the past when compared to Rachel’s timeline. Though a little confusing, the author consistently maintains this trend and this lends some more intrigue to the plot. We are also treated to a dose of domesticity and how relationships are tested when things don’t go the way we expect them to. Can you trust your eyes and the things you saw? Is it possible to imagine a whole existence and life? These are just a few of the questions that reading this book will raise in the readers mind.

An overall thrilling and compelling read, this is another book in the style of Gone Girl that will have the reader hooked until the very end with an ending to shock. The starting may seem strange, the finish line stranger and in the middle, the reader is sure to get lost on the never ending journey of life much like that of the train.

Click the link below to get the book on Amazon.

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Book Review: Rule Number One by Rory Goodwin

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About the Book:

Rule Number One (An Oswald Metzger Novella Series Book 1)

Set in Brisbane Australia, a disgraced Australian Football League Star is found dead on the day of his sentencing at the Brisbane District Courts in an apparent suicide.
Detective Baxter knows things aren’t always as they seem and decides to follow a hunch one last time before he retires. But before he can do that he also has one more score to settle.
Family man, Oswald ‘Ozzy’ Metzger is a regular bloke, loving father and committed husband driven by duty, love and honour. Following his heart and driven by what he believes in, being vegan, he doesn’t believe in violence but does believe in justice for the innocent.
Monica runs a crisis centre for women and children, when Detective Baxter comes asking questions she is faced with the confronting reality that all may not be as it seems.

My Thoughts:

This story is a novella, short and fast paced. When a Football player is found dead in the bathrooms of the courthouse, the day of his sentencing, an investigation is opened into the same. Speculation on whether it is a suicide or a murder are rife and in the midst of it all is Detective Baxter, whose aim is to wrap up this one last case before he retires.

In the course of the same, we meet Monica, who runs a crisis centre to help women and who knew the football player’s ex-girlfriend. What happens when you set out to investigate one thing, but while asking questions, you discover something more? The same happens as Detective Baxter follows up on a hunch. In parallel, we are introduced to Oswald, Monica’s husband. As a series of events unfold, the reader is taken on a journey with our very own serial killer with a conscience.

The story ends in quite a different way and this is one of the things that I enjoyed immensely about the book. The author went ahead with an unusual end. Of course some parts of the climax are cliche and expected, but for the most of it, the end was a good turn of events, making it worth the read.

As all the ends come together, the author gives us enough bait to keep us hooked on and waiting in the hopes that there may be another novella or novel to tell us what happens to Ozzy and Monica. The novella is good for a quick read and for those who enjoy the genre!