Skip to main content

‘Vikram Rana Investigates’, by Sharmishtha Shenoy




VIKRAM RANA INVESTIGATES
BY
SHARMISHTHA SHENOY



BLURB

Vikram Rana Murder Mysteries set in Hyderabad…… 

The Mysterious Affair of the Lohia Mansion 

When the glamourous socialite Richa Lohia is poisoned in her mansion in Jubilee Hills, her brother-in-law hires his mate, ex-cop Vikram Rana, to solve this murder. This is Vikram’s first case and he, along with Inspector Gopi Reddy, must solve the case even if they face opposition from the richest and powerful family in Hyderabad, who would stop at nothing to defend themselves. 

The Sonia Sinha Case 

When property developer Krishna Dhavala is stabbed to death in Necklace Road, everyone suspects Mrs. Dhavala to be the murderer of her alcoholic and abusive husband. But is that really the case? Vikram Rana and Inspector Reddy have a tough time uncovering the murderer and Vikram himself almost dies trying to solve this case. Experience the mystery along with the duo as they fight their way through the maze of lies, deceit and greed. 

MY REVIEW


Being a die-hard mystery aficionado, I knew I have to take up this book to read and review the moment I saw the title. Thank you for not disappointing me, Ms. Shenoy.

Only to give you a quick and dirty gist of the protagonist; take one portion each of Karamchand, Agatha Christie, Byomkesh Bakshi, and a half measure of Sherlock Holmes. Put them all in a blender and churn them good. Pour out the mix in a tall, chilled glass and garnish with a big dollop of desi Hyderabadi tomato chutney. What you have in your hand is Vikram Rana.

The author has done a good job with maintaining the twists and turns all throughout the novel; which consists of two independent cases. The moment the reader tries to think ahead of the story and thinks s/he knows the killer, there comes another twist in the tale. This is exactly what forces the reader to ignore the wife calling out, the ringing phone, the email alerts, and keep on turning page after page.

WHAT I LIKED: The intrigue value is well maintained throughout, as is the plot twists. The language is simple and relatable. The necessary lure of the setting and the backdrop is well utilized.

WHAT I DISLIKED: I really wish the author would have taken care of the event timeline. There are a couple of instances where the sequence of events contradict each other. For example, the car breaks down today and won’t start, the next day it’s OK and the protagonist takes it to work, while it’s taken to the garage the day after. The speed, although fast, reads like rushed at a few places. If it weren’t for a few typos here and some avoidable repetition of past events there, I would have given the book a higher ranking.

Overall, ‘Vikram Rana Investigates’ is a nice, quick read for the lovers of mystery and suspense.

I give this book, a 4 out of 5 stars.

Disclaimer: I had received a paperback version of the book from the author via 'The Book Club', in return of my honest and unbiased review.


Read an excerpt...

From "The Mysterious Affair of the Lohia Mansion"
"Kinshuk sprang out of bed and followed his uncle, Rohan along the passage to his mother Richa’s bedroom.
Rohan’s wife, Kiara joined them along with Richa’s personal maid Lakshmi and two more servants. Everyone seemed to be in a state of awestricken fear.
Kinshuk turned to his uncle, ‘What should we do? Father is not here.’
Never had Kinshuk’s weak nature been more apparent, Rohan thought in distaste. Rohan rattled the handle of his sister-in-law Richa’s door violently, but with no effect. The whole household was aroused by now. The most alarming sounds were audible from the interior of the locked bedroom. Clearly something must be done."
What could have been going on the room? What triggered it?
Mrs Lohia was lying in her bed having seizures. In her agony she must have overturned the bedside table. As they entered, her limbs relaxed and she fell back on her pillow.
"I cannot see properly" she complained. Rohan and Kinshuk looked at each other helplessly. A strangled cry from the bed startled them. A fresh bout of pain had seized Richa. The seizures were terrible to behold. At that moment dr Agnihotri pushed his way into the room authoritatively. At the same instant, Richa cried "Rohan.... Rohan" then she fell back on the pillows motionless. 
Why was Richa killed? Why did she take Rohan's name?
From the Sonia Sinha case:
"He reached the meeting place at 8 pm sharp. The headlights of his car revealed a woman in a burqa waiting by the roadside. She waved her hand. Krishna stopped the car and she got in. As she removed her veil, Krishna started in surprise. At the same time another man got into the back of his car. Confused, Krishna looked at the man. Then his eyes widened in fear."
Whom did Krishna see? Who was the woman in burqa?



Grab your copy @


About the author


Sharmishtha Shenoy

Sharmishtha Shenoy loves writing murder mysteries, the kind of books that she herself likes to read. Her favorite authors are Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. She also likes the work of Satyajit Ray – especially the Feluda Series. She was born in Calcutta and has done her post-graduation from University of Reading, Great Britain. She lives in Hyderabad.

You can stalk her @

                   

Follow Us  @ Pinterest 


   This Tour is Hosted by 



We Promote So That You Can Write 


Comments

  1. Thanks for your very kind review. I will ensure that you are not dissapointed in your next one

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

'Behind The Scenes' by Sharmishtha Shenoy ~ Review

BLURB Fading superstar of the Bengali film industry Ryan Gomez is poisoned to death while shooting for a film in the pretty hill town of Darjeeling. Sheila Dhar, the film’s beautiful female lead with whom Ryan had recently broken his engagement is the chief suspect. Sheila attempts suicide and is shifted to a hospital in Kolkata for treatment. The CID, Kolkata, takes over the investigation and the film crew is allowed to move back to the “City of Joy”. Though revenge for the broken engagement seems the obvious motive for the murder, there are several others who had reason to wish Ryan dead. Powerful film producer Rustom, the love of whose life ended up becoming Ryan’s first wife. Screenplay writer Allan, who was in danger of being fired from the production house thanks to a public tiff with Ryan. Acclaimed film director Paddy, who was in love with Sheila. Sheila’s mother, Jaya, who was strongly opposed to her marrying Ryan. The family of Ryan’s first wife, who beer a deep g...

Vengeance- A sting in every tale. (A WRIMO India anthology)

At the onset, I’d like to thank Neelesh Inamdar- a contributing author in the anthology, ‘Vengeance’- for giving me an opportunity to read it and review it on my blog. Confession- Not being a fan of anthologies, this was only the second one I got down to read; and I didn’t much enjoy the first. Having said that, Vengeance came as a surprise and a pleasant one at that. One of the reasons I can think of is that each story is bound around a common theme of revenge and vengeance (but then, you had already guessed that, didn’t you?) I would not be doing justice to the book, if I don’t talk about each story separately. So, here goes: 1)       ‘The beautiful ratio’, by Shweta Rao Garg : I liked her choice of words and her use of Syntax. What also stands out is her keen observation of the real life around; right from the weirdly spelled local sign boards (Manchuri rais and Oneon Garlik), to the cinematographic description of a middle class Muslim neig...

'And We Remained' by Asad Ali Junaid

And We Remained  by  Asad Ali Junaid The Blurb It is Bangalore in the late 1990’s. There are tremendous socio-economic and cultural transformations taking place as a result of liberalization. How would these changes impact a group of friends in their late teens? How would they cope, find opportunities and what of their original identities would they be left with, after western ideologies are brought in and bombarded into their awareness by cable TV and new media?  Told through emails and first person account of events, And We Remained is a light and entertaining read of these friends as they experience love, heartbreak, prison, politics, drunken binges, strip clubs, sexcapades, US and Europe during their journey into adulthood Buy @ Amazon.com  | Amazon . in | Flipkart Watch It  MY REVIEW: ‘And We Remained’ is yet another book on the life of a few college students. The...