Review of Happily Murdered

Author- Rasleen Syal

‘In love and revenge a woman is more barbaric than a man can ever be.’
‘Happily Murdered’ ,debut novel by Rasleen Syal is one such novel that proves this statement true through a witty,mysterious and romantic tale of Gulab Sareen,the exemplar of the story, in a humorous and delightful way.From the title and cover one could easily guess that it is a mysterious novel,but this book is also drenched with the scent of love.

As the back cover says-‘
Who killed Gulab Sarin?
The radiant new daughter-in-law of the
influential Mehta family dies mysteriously on the
very next night of her wedding. The murder is an
inside job, the police are certain. It could be
anyone-the adulterous husband, conniving in-
laws, jealous friend and the love struck ex-
fiance.

With an aim to save themselves and incriminate
others, it is not long before these suspects turn
into amateur detectives, hunting for clues and
delving into hidden secrets only they can
unearth. They coerce, pry and blackmail in an
attempt to get to the bottom of this mystery.
Will one of these nine unlikely sleuths finally
unravel the mystery behind Gulabs death and
avenge it? Or will the truth die as viciously as
Gulab?’

Beguiling ,eye-catching and bright cover gives a radiant add to the charm of this book.Also the title,’Happily Murdered’,Murdered that too happily! It itself speaks of a strange story and made me to ponder about it and I was keep on pondering during whole reading journey as how to co-relate it with the story and reach to the culprit.Shattered pieces of riddle is thrown at the very beginning and it was really a surprise that it would end on such an unexpected note and the whole mystery would open like this .Not so many characters in the book,but those who are involved in the story are well characterized in the second chapter itself which helped in creating no confusion.

Portraying present life’s story of Gulab’s relatives after her death to the way how Gulab’s narrated her story with everyone in the family,the story seems so well crafted and amazingly portrayed. At one moment,I thought that now I got the clue and he/she could have definitely done this.But at the next moment,everything flips and ball seems to be in another court.

It was an exquisite and thrill-full ride to solve the riddle and locate the pieces at their desired place with the clues on hand along with the story.A good book for mystery lovers and romantic -story lovers.These two flavors are nicely mingled and will serve you a new tale.Also,author’s writing style is impressing and gripping along with the tale.All in all, a new mystery tale has arrived in the literary world which ends on a very rare note and is able to cuddle you in its arms till the end.

Rating- 4.5/5

Reviewer : Shweta Kesari