3 Review(s)

Bulbul Sharma, Janice pariat, manjula Padmanabhan, Mitra Phukan, Paro Anand, pratyaksha, uddipana Goswami, venita Coelho. Eight of IndiaâÂÂs best fiction writers come together to produce a book of intrigue and murders most foul. In Mitra phukanâÂÂs story that opens this edge-of-the-seat anthology, she stoops to kill: Stories of crime and passion, A singing diva Chokes to death onstage. The weapon is a poisoned paanâÂÂbut who would want her dead? And pratyaksha follows mitraâÂÂs entrée with the murder of an equally glamorous victimâÂÂair hostess Ginny Kalra. Bulbul Sharma, in âÂÂmurder in the wedding seasonâÂÂ, creates a cosy setting for a wedding in Shimla; But the guests include a politician and a timorous widow whose past will disrupt the party in ways no one had imagined. And in uddipana GoswamiâÂÂs âÂÂbeloved of flowersâÂÂ, a folktale about a girl reborn as a Lotus leads young dino to the truth behind a mysterious disappearance. Manjula PadmanabhanâÂÂs âÂÂserial killerâ brilliantly explores what it is like to be a perfectly normal personâÂÂexcept that you enjoy the Act of murder. While Janice pariatâÂÂs Delicately nuanced âÂÂthe nurseâ shows us another side of death altogether. In the penultimate story by venita Coelho, sister, a vigilante Eunuch, helps the police solve a gruesome killing in a city slum. And Para Anand brings the collection to a grand finale with a story that begins with lust and ends with a murderer twoâÂÂthat may or may not have happened. By turns chilling, horrific and morbidly fascinating, she stoops to kill: stories of crime and passion, is a steaming witchesâ cauldron of stories that will keep you riveted, page after page.