The All Bengali Crime Detectives II The Mysterious Death of Probhat Sanyal

When I had read the first in the series, or what would promise to be the first in a series beyond the expectation of the writer as acknowledged at the closing pages, it was a real entertainment. But as it happened this one is a bit short on the expectations of the readers. As a case is presented to the ABCD by one of the collegemates of a member of the club, of a reported eerie happening in the past and followed by unexpected death of a Kolkata based businessman, the sole witness to the creepy event, the energy of the senior citizens are boosted to solve the mystery. Soon arrests follows and the events take some unexpected turns. But here the thrill is marred by a host of side events and coincidences that does not do justice to the central plot. Compromising the suspense to some extent at the cost of the size of the novel I think the side plot of the roadside Romeo could have been itself a wonderful Barogolpo but when clubbed with a mystery loses both its fun, barring its climax after the actual mystery is solved, and tries in vain to breath relief to the already relaxed mood of the mystery. Also using the Bengali lingo to its colloquial extremity including the spelling of several characters and references to the story it does not do justice to the ‘Rasik Bangali’ culture and it makes it even more improbable for a club in Golf Garden organizing a jatra instead of a play that is too much far fetched in my view. Also after going thru the story I will comment that don’t be its judge by its cover as contrary to the expectation that most of the story might be in the backdrop of the hills and forests, it is only a minute part that references the hills. So though a wonderful mystery with a final twist quite unique it is not as gripping and compact as its predecessor which maintained the balance of the central plot with the right blend of refreshing anecdotes.