09 September, 2017

#BookReview :: Here Falls The Shadow by Bhaskar Chattopadhyay

Think of your sins. Prepare to die.

On the edge of the forests of Deoghar, in the sleepy little town of Nimdeora, novelist Sangram Talukdar’s peaceful life is unexpectedly shattered when he receives an anonymous death threat.

At first, he dismisses it as a cruel joke. But when two of the family’s beloved dogs, guardians of the estate, are found killed with a clean, swift arrow to each of their throats, Talukdar calls in the astute detective Janardan Maity to investigate.

To uncover the dark secrets of this quiet town, Maity must dig deep into the past – into the Talukdar family’s bloody history, and a dreaded curse that has haunted the family for generations. But he must act quickly, because someone, or something, is lurking in the shadows of the forest, watching, waiting to claim their prey… 

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Sangram Talukdar is a novelist who has moved into his family’s estate at Nimdeora, near Deoghar with hopes of leading a peaceful life. But what he assumes is a practical joke leads to something much deadlier. A death threat note followed by the murder of the two watch dogs of the estate prompts Sangram to hire a detective. Detective Janardan arrives at Nimdeora accompanied by another author by the name of Prakash. As they delve into the threat to Sangram, they discover that there may be more to the fabled curse on the family. Will Janardan and Prakash be able to suss out the perpetrator before it is too late?

I enjoyed this book thoroughly. Set in a quaint little town, this mystery required exercising the ‘grey cells’ quite a bit. Janardan is an interesting character to follow even with his similarities to Feluda. He is a calculative person whose investigative methods keep the readers engaged. Prakash on the other hand seemed like an extra; an afterthought. He did not have much to contribute to the core plot. I guess the author wanted to provide Janardan an assistant of sorts; like Topshe or Watson or Hastings. Only the character was not developed well enough to make an impact on the readers. The plot plays out brilliantly as secrets are slowly revealed. Well-paced with just enough information being revealed at regular intervals made the book engaging. The author’s attention to details while setting up the plot really made a difference to the story telling.

Overall, this book is an interesting and fetching read for a mysterious afternoon.


Review Copy received from Hachette India


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