Book Review- Chief Minister's Mistress

I devour crime fiction. There are not many Indian authors who attempt this genre. So when I got an the opportunity, by Tales Pensieve to read this crime fiction by Joygopal, I immediately took it up. Joygopal had written 5 novels in 9 months in 2012. Also 10 novels in 21 months. Alarmed by his speed, I was pretty excited to read Chief Minister’s Mistress.

The story starts off with the obvious death of Priyanka Singhal. She was a beautiful damsel – the mistress of the dynamic Chief Minister – Mr.Ravindra Pratap Singh. She also has an ex lover – Rajat Verma. A lawyer by profession, Rajat looks at solving the murder mystery of the girl who he is still in love with. How he connects the dots and unravels the mystery is the story of Chief Minster’s Mistress.

Firstly I think the cover page is fantastic. Though I got a free copy, this is one of those cover pages that compel you to pick the book up immediately, from the book shelf. It has an element of sensual appeal (rightly so, for its title) and also evidently comes across as a mystery novel, which is commendable.There are not many characters in the book. But whoever are there, have all been well defined. They all occupy their own space and do not confuse the reader at any point. Ravindra Singh’s character is etched very strongly. The initial pages of his action are a delight to read. His confidantes – Sudhir Mishra and Dinesh Singh – have also been etched out fairly well. The trio develops a fair amount of interest in the reader’s mind. Chandan Kumar – also another important character does his job well, but sometimes gets on your nerves. Priyanka truly comes across as a damsel in distress. I loved her friend – Dipali. It was very intriguing to read about her life story. But all in all my most favourite character was Rajat Verma. He has been carved out almost flawlessly. His honesty was the most striking feature as not many murder mysteries have this. The characters are always playing games. But Rajat Verma solves the entire mystery with his sheer honesty and sincerity.

Although the characters have been etched well, there are few things that put you off completely. Ravindra Singh’s presence is felt so strongly in the initial chapters that you almost miss him because he is absolutely not there till the very end, when he makes a reappearance. The conversation between Rajat Verma and his boss was completely scrap-able. Those 2-3 pages could have been summed to 1-2 paragraphs. The most disappointing part was the climax. Though I had already guessed the killer (Blame all the terrific crime fiction authors that I have read!!), the way it unfolded and the reason for the murder, left me a little annoyed. Closing all open ends is very important in a thriller but here a few questions were unanswered….

It is definitely a good attempt by Joygopal. But I wish it was edited a little better. It would have been an excellent read if the author would have maintained the pace towards the end chapters as well and the suspense created would have got its fair due.

A there but still not there read...

Stars- 2.5

This review was first published on thetalespensieve.com.