Book: Here Falls the Shadow
Author: Bhaskar Chattopadhyay
Pages: 223
Publisher: Hachette India
Read on: Kindle
Read in: 3 hours
Plot Summary: THINK OF YOUR SINS. PREPARE TO DIE.
On the edge of the forests of Deoghar, in the sleepy little town of Nimdeora, novelist Sangram Talukdar’s peaceful life is unexpectedly shattered when he receives an anonymous death threat.
At first, he dismisses it as a cruel joke. But when two of the family’s beloved dogs, guardians of the estate, are found killed with a clean, swift arrow to each of their throats, Talukdar calls in the astute detective Janardan Maity to investigate.
To uncover the dark secrets of this quiet town, Maity must dig deep into the past – into the Talukdar family’s bloody history, and a dreaded curse that has haunted the family for generations. But he must act quickly, because someone, or something, is lurking in the shadows of the forest, watching, waiting to claim their prey.
General Thoughts: This is the third book by Bhaskar Chattopadhyay that we've read this year. I am happy to report that the author has gotten better with each book and this one's clearly his best work so far! You can read our reviews here: Penumbra and Patang.
Things I Liked:
1. The premise of the book is so interesting. Death threats, two dogs being killed and a mysterious family history and the story being set in a small town in Jharkhand, surrounded by forests and mountains- all perfect ingredients for an amazing whodunnit!
2. This book is such a gorgeously atmospheric read. Almost akin to the kind of lovely world-building done by Agatha Christie in her books. Without wasting any pages on unnecessary details, Chattopadhyay brings the little town of Nimdeora to life in vivid details. The Talukdars' family home, the hills, forests and other sights around the town are richly portrayed in the book. In a story such as this, where the killer sneaks around woods and ruins, the atmosphere plays such a crucial role!
3. The characters are all so interesting and as each Nimdeora resident's backstory unfolds, the mystery gets more and and more interesting because the motive remains really elusive and you can't really guess why the events are unfolding the way they are- always, always a good thing in crime fiction!
4. The book also has loads of good, solid red herrings! I love nicely done red herrings and there are some good ones in this book- they could all be suspects and a few times, you find yourself thinking one or more of them are guilty.
5. The final twist is a good one! It is such a simple device that the author has used in this book but it is a brilliant one and it is nicely done! I didn't see it coming and I (not to brag) can predict who the killer is in most books!
6. The writing is very good and you'll breeze through this page-turner feeling very satisfied indeed!
Rating: 5/5
Highly recommend this book. Go, read it!
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