Book Review-Happily Murdered

HAPPILY MURDERED-RASLEEN SYAL

“I have no will to weep or sing,

No least desire to pray or curse;

The loss of love is a terrible thing;

They lie who say that death is worse.”

The above lines are quoted from “The Loss of Love” by Countee Cullen. Well not a connoisseur of poems, these were the lines quoted in the book “Happily Murdered”. What I loved about the author is that she has acknowledged Agatha Christie at the start of the book. (You are going to hear a lot of love and praise for Rasleen-shes not paid me to do so but this book has made me an absolute sucker for her work) Well ma’am if Agatha Christie would be alive she would have devoured her ardent reader’s work.

“Happily Murdered” is a story about the murder of the intelligent and vivacious Gulab Sarin. There are two families involved-The Mehtas and The Dullas. Gulab Sarin’s murder involved an insider albeit one member from the Mehta’s or the Dullas. Somewhere everyone had a motive to get her killed due to the manner in which Gulab’s character is entwined with everyone. How the mystery unfolds and the real murderer is revealed is the story of Rasleen Syal’s murder mystery.

It gets a tad bit confusing in the very beginning with the plethora of characters and the elaborate descriptions, which is the only hiccup I felt in the entire book. Ofcourse later on everything falls in place and you are clear with the events and proceedings. The story also has a version where Gulab is unfolding her own story right from the beginning. Those chapters are attention grabbing and completely stimulating. To hear the story from the horse’s mouth was a masterstroke by the author. You almost linger to hear her side of the story. So in normal circumstances you get to hear one side of the story and then towards the end you get to know what is in the mind of the protagonist. But in this book you read from one angle and then immediately Gulab narrates her side of the story. I think this is the USP of the book. It keeps the reader engaged and urging for more. There are instances when you actually crib (in a good way) that the chapter is over, cause you want to know more and the chapter has concluded. All the chapters have page spinner ends which do not allow you to put the book down even for a minute.

The author has this brilliant capability of keeping you engaged and making you a part of the The Royal Hill in Ratnagiri. (Mehta’s Palace). You almost feel each and every character as your very own and the urge to be a part of the brain storming investigation. Each and every character is pertinent to the narrative. Everyone has a role to play including the servants. Towards the end you realise that none of the characters are futile and everybody and every description mentioned in the chapters are of utmost importance including the title of the book. But above all it is Gulab Sarin’s character that gets engraved in your heart forever. Her vulnerability and simplicity aches your heart. It’s only after you finish reading the book, do you actually understand the multifarious Gulab Sarin.”Love has many definitions” -the deep meaning of this statement and the understanding of this statement in Gulab’s Narrative is my most absolute favorite part in the book.

There are so many quotes that almost instantly get imprinted deep in your heart-a place where you can never forget them from. This book is a journey-a passage of understanding convoluted emotions in a very naive manner. A book in which the characters will endure long after the story has concluded.

I just absolutely love the book,love Gulab and the mother of them-Rasleen. A splendid job done. You almost make me feel guilty for not picking up a mystery tale since so long and you have made me fall in “love” with the genre all over again.

So grab a copy now!!! “Happily Murdered” by Rasleen Syal.

Stars-4/5

             

Book Review- I too had a love story- Ravinder Singh

“I too had a love story”- A heartbreaking true love tale-Ravinder Singh

This is what the cover page reads like. This is the book I picked up on my librarian's insistence. Initially when I started reading the book it felt asif it was the wrong choice but it started picking up slowly.

“I too had a love story” is a true encounter of the author who pens it down for readers to share his true love with “millions” of us, well the cover says “National Bestseller”.It starts with the author meeting his three closest friends and how something in between conversations gives him a passage to meet the love of his life-Khushi.

The camaraderie between all the four friends is written well. Their easy flow of conversations, descriptions of present life, is written beautifully. You almost instantly wish to have close friends such as these. The introduction of Khushi is well written. The initial excitement when you start liking someone, the enthusiasm that both the characters show is relatable. The implausible part according to me was being head in heels in love with each other inspite of not meeting at all and the marriage discussions that go on inspite of not seeing each other practically in person. On comprehending the entire passage you realise that the charaters have met only twice and the third time they would have met was to be their engagement day. On one hand you are trying to show the modernity of India where we meet our prospective better halves over internet and choose our partners without blindly getting married to our parent's choice and then something such as not meeting the opposite person and taking a big decision such as marriage, is preposterous. To think that it is a true love story I feel the author is great to have fallen in love this way but according to me its a little too far fetched. Setup in a contemporary era some things are still left conservative. The book starts picking up in the latter stages when they meet and towards the climax. The climax is heartfelt. You feel Ravinder's emotions exactly. After reading the synopsis, you almost know what to expect but still enjoy the touching and poignant flow of the story. The sentiments are captured brilliantly in this phase.

This is a book you would want to read only if you are really interested in knowing the true life of a person. A person who is brave enough to engrave it in the form of a book. I cannot wish for any add ons as it is a true narrative and things could not have been any other way. All I can wish for the author is to be blessed with true love once again!!

STARS-2/5