A detective novel of Narayan Sanyal down in the line of the famous 'Kanta' series with the detection family of Prasannya Kumar Basu, his wife Rani Devi and their nephew Kaushik & his spouse Sujata solving itriguing cases.
At the introduction, the author has acknowledged Agatha Christie's 'Dead Man's Mirror' and 'Murder in the Mews' and truly the main plot and the later half of the story matches the 1st of the acknowledged stories quite remarkably.
But as is the case for Mr. Sanyal's work he had carried out his researches fine and had presented the plot with a historical background celebrating the brave Maharaja Mohanlal's heroism in the battle of Plassey in which he, along with Mir Madan went against Mir Jafar's direct orders to protect the motherland from the lusty clutches of East India Company.
It is really a tribute to this unsung hero of India's war for freedom as the storyline is quite old and as I mention, the ditto of a Christie classic.
As the ex-barrister, Mr. Basu reaches the mansion of Raibahadur Jagadindranaryan Seth Roy, in answer to his telegram he finds there an ensemble of Seth Roy's associates and family members, who were invited to dinner by the master of the house. But within moments it is discovered that Seth Roy lies dead in his library room with a bullet wound in his temples. As the local police tries to gather evidence of a suicide, Mr. Basu thinks otherwise and ultimately proves it to be a case of homicide amid a tensed situation, that follows the same dramatic ploy as sketched by Christie.
I have to admit that the case is intriguing and even more interesting is the way the murder is proved but since the model is from a Christie story can't give credit to the author for it.
Setting aside the actual theme, if we just concentrate on the historical background, Mr. Sanyal again outshines himself. Also his signature style of dropping down a bit of personal justifications at places make this a collector's item for Narayan Sanyal fans and I will recommend this for its literary value.
At the introduction, the author has acknowledged Agatha Christie's 'Dead Man's Mirror' and 'Murder in the Mews' and truly the main plot and the later half of the story matches the 1st of the acknowledged stories quite remarkably.
But as is the case for Mr. Sanyal's work he had carried out his researches fine and had presented the plot with a historical background celebrating the brave Maharaja Mohanlal's heroism in the battle of Plassey in which he, along with Mir Madan went against Mir Jafar's direct orders to protect the motherland from the lusty clutches of East India Company.
It is really a tribute to this unsung hero of India's war for freedom as the storyline is quite old and as I mention, the ditto of a Christie classic.
As the ex-barrister, Mr. Basu reaches the mansion of Raibahadur Jagadindranaryan Seth Roy, in answer to his telegram he finds there an ensemble of Seth Roy's associates and family members, who were invited to dinner by the master of the house. But within moments it is discovered that Seth Roy lies dead in his library room with a bullet wound in his temples. As the local police tries to gather evidence of a suicide, Mr. Basu thinks otherwise and ultimately proves it to be a case of homicide amid a tensed situation, that follows the same dramatic ploy as sketched by Christie.
I have to admit that the case is intriguing and even more interesting is the way the murder is proved but since the model is from a Christie story can't give credit to the author for it.
Setting aside the actual theme, if we just concentrate on the historical background, Mr. Sanyal again outshines himself. Also his signature style of dropping down a bit of personal justifications at places make this a collector's item for Narayan Sanyal fans and I will recommend this for its literary value.
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