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'A Season for Dying', by Sharmishtha Shenoy



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A Season for Dying

Note from a killer 
“This is Prakash writing. I am the murderer of Padma Manepally. I am attaching photos of her dead body taken in her apartment today to prove that I am indeed the killer. Old ladies make nice soft targets. I think I will wipe off an old lady next. …Catch me if you can.”

1st April, 11:30 am Charminar: A housewife is strangled to death.
15th April 5:30 am Begumpet: A reputed doctor is bludgeoned to death near Begumpet Station while out on her morning walk.

A ruthless killer is on the loose. He has openly challenged the police to catch him. The reputation of the Hyderabad Police is in tatters. The psychopath is roaming freely across Hyderabad killing indiscriminately. Or is there a method in this madness? Who are these victims and why they have been selected by the murderer? ACP Gopi Reddy ropes in good friend Vikram Rana to help him. As Gopi Reddy admits, 'Random killers are the hardest criminals to catch.' But to Vikram Rana something about these brutal incidences does not ring true and these crimes seem to be related…. Will Vikram and ACP Reddy be able to prevent another murder in this race against time before this monster strikes again? 


MY REVIEW


I had read Sharmishtha Shenoy's earlier book, 'Vikram Rana Investigates', and quite liked her style of writing. So, when she approached me to read and review her latest in the series, 'A Season for Dying', I immediately agreed; and I'm glad that I did.

While the first book saw the protagonist, Vikram Rana, investigate a high-profile murder, this one sees him trying to catch a serial killer on the loose in the city of Hyderabad.

The author clearly loves reading crime fiction, and that is evident in her writing too. Like any good student, she grasps and liberally uses various forensic nuances in her writing that she gathers from her favorite authors like Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. As a result, she is growing and improving in her writing with each book. I must say, I shall eagerly look forward to reading her future work.

'A Season for Dying' is a crisp, sharp, fast-paced, and gripping read; and I recommend it to all those who like reading the genre.

My only complaint, if any, with the book is that it has some glaring typos and grammatical errors that could have been easily avoided. Except for the proofreading, or the lack thereof, I loved the book.

I give 'A Season for Dying', four and a half out of five stars.


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Sharmishtha Shenoy is the author of the book Vikram Rana Investigates. She has won the first prize for a short story writing competition by Typotic. Her short stories have been published in efiction magazine and Woman’s era. She also 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 reach her at enquiries@sharmishthashenoy.com

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