Review of In The Shadows of Death

Title : In the Shadows of Death

 

Author : Sourabh Mukherjee

 

In the Shadows of Death by Sourabh Mukherjee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blurb : Sheetal Mehra, HR executive with Crescent Technologies, is found murdered in the toilet of a Kolkata hotel after an office party. ACP Agni Mitra finds out about her adulterous ways as he starts investigating into the murder. The miffed husband, a lecherous boss, one of her many jilted admirers – anyone could have killed her.

 

The investigation is stuck in myriad perplexing questions when the murder of Meenakshi Menon, a Director with Altius Finance, hits the headlines.

 

As more murders rock the city, it is not too long before the battle of wits with his unseen adversary turns personal for Agni.

 

A ruthless killer walking the rain-washed streets of Kolkata. A detective battling storms brewing in his private life. Human relations infested with deceit. A generation struggling to cope with fast-changing ambitions and desires.

 

In the Shadows of Death is a gripping page-turner with a heart-rending emotional core.

 

My View : ‘In the Shadows of Death’; a thriller act where protagonist being the detective Agni finds the murderer behind the case he had opted, and the special thing this story involves is his own past involved in the culprit’s murder list.

 

What questions I had in my mind while reading the book is why Detective’s story (Agni) is being portrayed in the story? What significance it has in the plot?Is it a dual nature story or it has something to relate with the murder mystery? To some extent, Agni’s personal life acts as an hindrance in creating a proper flow of the mystery in the beginning. On one hand, one after another, women are being killed following the same pattern, and in between the search of the culprit, detective’s personal story is being portrayed.It felt like detective’s personal story somehow removes the fragrance of mysteries unfolded.

 

Whenever the culprit arrives to narrate his story, it gains more attention as it becomes fascinating to know his words,his thoughts and most important his identity.The parallel walk it takes with the other incidents brings out a different look to the story.From the series of incidents happening it was way easy to guess the motive of the murderer.Half past the story and it was way easy to predict what would happen next, and so the amount of thrill and excitement decreases at that point.

 

With the motive already in front of me,the spark and excitement fades to a great extent.What left behind the curtain is the identity of the culprit. With a bunch of characters involved in the plot, at some places it was a bit confusing to recognize who the person is.The coordination between the detective’s mind and the culprit’s actions doesn’t match reader’s expectations.

 

What provides a smooth sailing to the journey is author’s narrating fashion.It is well articulated,well-edited and free from unwanted details.He arranges the events in a simple fashion.The series of events offered to readers doesn’t play any game with readers’ mind.It was simple and free from any kind of tricks.

 

What reader expect from the book is a new and thrilling story.From a mystery and thrilling story, reader already expect so much from the story that his mind started to play games  even before starting the story.For me, this story is like one which one could encounter in any suspense and thriller TV serial episode.I hope his next book would bring an enthralling taste for readers.

 

A fast paced novel with quite a common plot in mind!

 

Rating : 3/5

 

Reviewer : Shweta Kesari

Leave a Comment