Kiriti Omnibus Vol II

The introduction by Shri Gajendrakumar Mitra is the best in this volume of Kiriti. Sketching a compact to the extreme history of detective fiction till that time, the introducer did not miss to acknowledge the premieres of the trade yet criticizing the authors where they are due. But in this regard it seems he was a bit biased to the Kiriti genre as his analysis of appeal seemed a bit far fetched. Following this is Duti Katha by the author where he justifies the marriage of his sleuth. Then the volume starts with Holud Shaitan that takes the sleuth with his associate overseas on a hunt for a sinister assassin, continues with Dainir B(n)ashi aka Ishkaboner Bibi Harataner Saheb which could have been the best of the fictions had it not been for the unnecessary lengthening in the closing chapters. After this is Dragon which bridges two sets of incidents by the murderer but it seems a bit forced that both murderers are the same along with the fact that the sleuth enjoys holidays while on the scent of criminal without trying to wrap it quickly. The next piece is Momer Alo where a wife is killed with the father-in-law accusing his son for the crime. This is followed by Basanta Rajani where an old acquaintance of the sleuth is found dead that starts a trail of queer revelations and Kalo Pakhi links a murder with theft but fails to justify the link clearly.

Kiriti Omnibus Vol I

The readers will find the detective, mysteries, adventures, strategies everything but what makes them apart from others is the superhuman ability of the sleuth and the mysterious ways that clues are obtained which actually steals away the delicacy of true mystery tales. The volume introduces the arch enemy Kalobhramar in Kiritir Abirbhab but the major problem is sometimes intuition seems to play a major role than actual intelligence. Also the characters are far too romantic and seems only too ideal to be true. But this was not the case in Chokri and Bouranir Beel where the pace is very sluggish at the beginning but they converge at enjoyably fast pace in the later part with thrilling consequences. The short stories Rahasyabhedi and Harer Paasha are also quite nice but several queries remain unanswered though the mystery unravels in each case and villains unmasked.

Kiriti Omnibus Vol IX

Dr. Shri Naneelal Sen’s Introduction is by no way less mysterious as the other selections in the volume as the web of words that is woven will cause much suspense to the reader’s mind and is best kept for the last as spoilers might act obvious spoilsport to the stories.

Of the four stories that it contains, both the novels Kaalohaat and Chayakuheli are no doubt sincere novels in their own right. Including them as mystery stories will do grave injustice to the plot as well as unfortunately to the genre too. Reminiscent of Kalobhramar, the 1^st one is a mystery where people related by their past gets killed one by one but a curious turn of events and chanced acquaintances help the sleuth to catch the perpetrator. Actually there are two plots in one which is cleverly unraveled by Kiriti, thanks to his hand getting the right clue at the right moment. So though some disappointment is in store but its absoluteness makes it a nice thriller in its own right. The 2^nd one starts with a curious will and an even curious case of false identities that make the police dumbfounded and the law at a stalemate. It again remains on Kiriti to solve but though a fantastic mystery was woven but the solution with an even more fantastic coincidence makes it a touch unrealistic and quite definitely robs it away of its charm. The short story Mrityubish, on the other hand, is a regular mystery story which starts with a tragedy of death of twin children. Written from the perspective of Subrata, the deaths are though confirmed to be case of poisoning but there seemed to be no clue to the perpetrator and the mode of poisonings. The case was presented long after the last rites of the body and so armed with only the police snaps of the deadbodies, the clues are unearthed and criminals apprehended. The other story Padmini again starts with a promise of mystery but its final pages actually do not complete to solve the mystery but only to close the story.

Recommended for its thriller like plots the mystery lovers may feel a bit disappointed though the classic edge of the stories will have to be acknowledged.