Fyatarur Kumbheepak

The hilarious magic realism contains the exploits

• Arthabhabe Fyataru
• IPLe Fyataru
• Basanta Utsabe Fyataru
• Susheel Samaje Fyataru 
• TVr Gyanjame Fyataru
• Fyatarur RDX
• 200 Bachar Pore Fyataru

It started from where it ended in Byombachak. I don’t know whether it is the fact now that I’ve been acquainted with the flying Fyatarus and their curious cases or whether it is really a bit unlike its predecessor but this compilation is less humorous. Concerning more recent events like IPL, terrorism, publicity stunts, atmospheric threats, the Fyatarus again makes the public gape in wonder at their presence and their capabilities. DS’ dim-wit and raw emotions, Purandar’s frustrations and his poems guided by Madan’s will and cunning makes the team a force to reckon with creating nuisance for the force and the so called intelligentsia. DS’ leg-pulling by Purandar gives some enjoyable moments in the book. The recurrent character Nabani Dhar and Meghuboudi reappears in the most hilarious situations as do Bajra Ghosh with his infamous novels and stories. With these again the depictions are grimly funny and immensely enjoyable.

Dongri to Dubai Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia

A sensational insight into the underworld that evolved in Bombay and gradually raced to the international arena as been put in words by S. Hussain Zaidi, a veteran in investigative journalism in the Mumbai media. Starting with excerpt of the thrilling telephonic interview of Dawood, the book is filled with more startling revelations of the Mumbai underworld interspersing politics and entertainment. In this extensive compilation, not always followed chronologically, the chapters detail out the background of the gangs leading to the formation of the infamous D company. Not only this but the Bombay police heroics and some courageous journalism, in the midst of the maximum heat, are also being portrayed. The smuggling business etched on a path of unavoidable bloodshed, leading to terrorism at large, intertwined with international affairs has been clearly portrayed in this serious yet fast paced narrative. Augmented by several snaps of the crime lords and assassins the narrative has been made even more gripping. Personally my particular observation was the peculiar resemblance of the life in crime as detailed in this book to that depicted in Mario Puzo’s fictional Sicilian mafia novels and Francis Ford Coppola’s rendering of the Godfather saga made decades earlier, which seem to emphasize the point that beneath the glory and glamour of the underworld, their lives are always predictable. Some very clear parallel can be drawn as in Khalid Pehelwan’s inhuman revenge that can be compared with Luca Brasis’s torturous killings of assassins deployed to kill Vito Corleone. Another was the attempt at Dawood’s life with the climax of Copolla’s Godfather III.

The All Bengali Crime Detectives

The author Suparna Chatterjee, in her first endeavour in writing mystery story, has excelled herself in the sense that she has brought more than mere mystery in the novel. Heightening the charm of Calcuttans, the novel is equally a story of the people of the city as it is of crime and detection. Akhil Banerjee, a Calcutta High Court retired judge of late, finds himself entangled in a puzzling mystery of a stolen gem that was reportedly stolen under his very nose. He forms a secret club comprising of himself and three other senior citizens - the adventurous at heart, delightedly forgetful yet responsible Bibhuti Bose, the avid smoker and a good friend Chandan Mukherjee, a veteran geologist and a serious teacher Debdas Guha Ray - all determined to solve the crime that undermined their prestige. As the plot evolves, so evolves the personal lives of these four in front of the reader and it is in this stage that you will fall in love with all the characters of the story.

Realistic to the very end, the story never tries anything heroic, yet the heroism in the simple actions makes the story one of the collector's edition. Chatterjee has published the book two years back and I for one want more from her pen. The ABCD or Akhil, Bibhuti, Chandan, Debdas of the All Bengali Crime Detectives not only brings back cherished memories of the intellectual detective stories, devoid of unnecessary heroics but is also a pleasant yet clear reminder of Feluda, Topshe and Jatayu. I can also draw a parallel with Alexander McCall Smith, the way he described Botswana, in the same way Chatterjee has described, no not the city, but the citizens of the mystery capital of India. As she thoroughly completes the mystery clearing all the elements of suspicion from the reader's mind, she keeps the immediate future of several characters untold. I think this is another point where she has proved modern enough. The central plot is complete but the incompleteness of the rest nowhere keeps the story open ended but provides food for thought that makes it both enjoyable and realistic.

The Fourth K

This isn’t the familiar Mafia routine with treachery and deception at every turn of the page where, presided by the silent but sure law of Omerta, the stories revolve around revenge and the sense of honour that binds syndicates. But this time the story is of politics and dictators.

When the terrorists assassinates the Pope and holds a plane full of travelers including the first daughter of the United States as hostage, it depends on one man and his staff to thwart the ploys of the terror group. Parallel to that is the threat of a mini atom bomb in the heart of the city. With all these difficulties along with the opposition and the influential Socrates club trying to oversee his every move, President Francis Xavier Kennedy finds it the ultimate challenge of his career. To know how the crisis is managed you have to go through the book but two things I can promise, one, the story is superbly orchestrated devoid of undue heroism that makes it more realistic. And two, though this is not about the underworld, but Puzo draws a clear parallel with political maneuvers that shapes nations and creates dictators. With exciting revelations of fictitious political machinery, the only disappointing is occasional lengthy introductions to characters and the subtlety of the multiple climaxes that decelerates the pace a bit.

Harano Diaryr Khonje

Bimal Kar’s detective other than Kikira, used to bore me with maybe his only appearance in the novel Harano Diaryr Khonje but for the fact that I was somewhat optimistically biased about Bimal Kar in recent days that I again took up the ebook to refresh my memory about the story which I’d once read in Anandamela. To say that it felt excellent would be not true but the adventure or the slow evolution of the plot seemed now to be so akin to traditional detective novels which I’m sure I was not matured to appreciate at my younger days. But the slowness of the pace seemed to get the better of the story and the climactic revelations that ought to be more splendid seemed not so astounding. It is more of a standard adventure story than detective but for the last two pages, where suspense was created very rapidly and there too detection never seemed a prime motive and so the readers can enjoy Kar’s easy paced storytelling but for the fans of stories involving true investigators this may not be so much of an enthusiastic choice.

Ghari Rahasya

Syed Mustafa Siraj's detective story, once read in Anandamela and now preserved in digital form, brought some more nostalgic memories and along with it a thrill for the suspense that seemed promising at first. But it was too quick in the finale and doesn't do justice for a bit old readers. Infact the ridiculous coincidence seemed too much in the story but seemed to be kept just for the sake of justification which I think may have been very well crafted in a different manner. All the same the story will be an addition to my prize collection just for bringing with it the fortnightly that I was once fan of.

Guptadhaner Gujab

As Mitin starts to investigate the rumour of a hidden treasure, albeit Partha's doubt in it, she seems to get more and more interested as the investigations progressed in the semi-dilapidated mansions of the Bagchi's at Nurpur. Amidst the treasure seekers haunting the house quite often, ghostly sounds disturb the residents at night. But what actually is happening behind all these? Mitin is intrigued  by the case and asks Partha to do some research that reveals an ancient crime hidden in the dark chambers of the basement. But is it enough? Is the past crime threatening some revenge? Or is some sinister forces of the present trying to take hold of the mansions? All these the readers may find out once they accompanby Mitin, Tupur and sometimes Partha, in their adventure in the novel set at semi-rural Bengal.

Though Suchitra Bhattacharya's detective novels are quite appealing but for one very disturbing point that lies in the names of the characters. By choosing very unique and sometimes quite extraodrinary names for the characters, Mrs. Bhattacharya seems to make fiction more fictional that is quite undue. Prajnyaparamita (Mitin) is ok and it definitely sets her detective aside the others but starting from Anishchoy Majumdar, the recurring IG character, whose name she now cannot change but can definitely offer some good excuse as to exactly what uncertainty the officer's parents were thinking of while naming him, to the client, her naming standard seems very unreal and this, if not anything else, tries to focus on characters rather than the central mystery.

N or M?

The story of espionage and counter-espionage, Tommy and Tuppence with Albert in tow appears in yet another breath taking novel wrapped up in mystery with a thrilling culmination waiting for them and the readers alike. Always on the look out of an exciting adventure, in their middle ages, the couple seemed to get bored devoid of any action during the war times. But their friend, the ever mysterious Mr. Carter seems to have a surprise for them. When conspiracy of the enemy camp successfully generates corrupt Government officials, the duo are called on to find the rot and to get clues leading to the next attack. Camouflaged under false identities they are directed to a remote location and a apparently harmless habitat called Sans Souci where they are excepted to find two of the most daring spies for the enemy camps. There in the midst of the seemingly retired army personnels, inquisitive old ladies, refugees, harmless family persons, they must unmask the enemy. Exciting at every turn of the page, though this may not be the best spy story, but will be as exciting a story of detection as any other.

The Sicilian

The literary sequel to The Godfather, the tale is of romance and betrayal and treachery and bravery that depicts the true Sicily. Set in the years of his exile from America, the story at parts, is set from the perspective of Michael Corleone but the major share goes to the author's romantic narration of the legend of Turi Guiliano. Considered by many as the Sicilian Robinhood, Turi Guiliano's rise to infamy had been through a path of cruelty, deception, betrayal and love. Categorized in various volumes, the story narrates Guiliano life in the hills of Sicily with his band of bandits. Puzo brings the legend to life and narrates the story with his signature style that is devoid of emotions but filled with sentiments so Sicilian that the reader is always on the lookout of treachery within treachery whose final twist comes at the very last chapters. As history is brought to life with fiction mingling with it, the novel becomes unlike Godfather yet so like it in the same way as Guiliano was so unlike Mafiosi but became so like them.

Ayena

A short detective story by Ananda Bagchi, found from a digital collection of old Anandamela stories. The story serves as a short representation of classic detection that, in the short span was logically correct and complete. The added appeal was personal as it brought back the nostalgic moments that I used to derive from the pages of the old magazine that I was so fond of.

Partners in Crime

The happily married sleuths are back, now under the guise of what they really like to be - brilliant detectives, literally so as Blunt's Brillinat Detectives have been replaced by the Beresfords. While Tommy poses as the brilliant Mr. Blunt, Tuppence takes up the stance of the inconscupious secretary Ms. Robinson but in now way less inquisitive than him. As the pair tries to play the parts of master detectives of classics it is always that their super intelligence and sometimes few stroke of luck that they solve the problems posed to them while laying out the trap superbly for the ultimate villain for whom this elaborate hoax is played to the minutest detail. So the partners in crime or more correctly the partners in foiling the criminal activities takes us thru an exciting path strewn with intrguing plots solved by their master intelligence.