18 November, 2014

#BookReview :: Seduced by Murder by Saurbh Katyal


When detective Vishal Bajaj receives a call from his old flame Aditi, he is seduced into a vortex of family lies and a murder. Vishal sets out to catch the murderer, while dealing with the resurgence of an irresistible desire for Aditi that he had buried years ago. Vishal is a witty, hard drinking, tough private detective who doesn't mind getting his hands dirty as he races against time to catch a meticulous killer. Seduced by Murder weaves a web of noir and suspense that keeps the reader riveted and guessing till the end. 






When Vishal leaves the corporate world and takes up his seat in a one room office, that formerly belonged to an uncle, he aspires to become a good detective. Dealing with small time cases, mostly that of cheating spouses, he gets a real break when Aditi, an old flame, gives him a call to help her with the murder in her family. As Vishal gears up to solve the case with the help of Pranay, his side-kick, and Babu, a police officer, the clues and hints take him up close and personal with the whole family…

The backbone of any mystery or thriller is its protagonist and the core of the plot. Vishal is a character we can believe in. He is smart and intelligent. His corporate background gives him an edge to work against the tide of time, the ability to handle large amount of information and the building pressure of solving the case. At the same time we also see a vulnerable side of him in the story. I, personally, liked Pranay more though and wished the author had included him more often and given him a bigger role to play.

He plot is neither very dramatic nor ingenious. However, it contains all the elements of a thriller – from questionable motives to dark secrets to multiple viable suspects, the book has it all. The author has dealt us a reasonable amount of twists and action to keep the storyline moving forward. This book is also just perfect to play a game of whodunit as the author leaves around considerable amount of hints for the readers to pick up. With his beautiful narration and simplistic language complimenting the story, this book was practically unputdownable from the beginning.



No comments:

Post a Comment