[First published in YouthKiAwaaz]
The 1920s and 1930s were considered the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, and the murder mysteries written during that period followed certain conventions that are used in “classic whodunits” even today. These were murder mysteries where there was a limited pool of suspects, and the detective had to establish motive, means and opportunity.
The murderer(s) had to be introduced early in the story, and while the writer was expected to misdirect the reader, the golden rule for crime fiction required that there should be enough clues to enable the reader to deduce the villains. The book almost always ended with the (often amateur) detective confronting all the suspects in an intimate setting, where s/he described the steps that led to finding the killer(s).
Samyukta Bhowmick’s debut novel, A Fatal Distraction, is a classic murder mystery set in the publishing industry of Delhi. The much loved editor of a popular Delhi tabloid drops dead at a glittering after party following a book launch. The media circus begins, and after a second dead body is discovered, a pair of slightly mismatched journalists join up and decide to solve the mystery. The people are representative of a certain circle in Delhi.
There are people with inherited property residing in large, crumbling mansions, and there are people who new money who probably renovate their sparkling houses every couple of years. Some are residents of swanky apartments in Gurgaon, and others live amidst potted plants in a barsati which would provide a stunning view of historical monuments if the AQI is favorable. This is an aspirational Delhi, which most people do not inhabit, but almost all people would like to be a part of in some way or the other.
The book is littered with one liners that are so true that they make you smile. Though parts of the book are cynical in tone, there affection behind the cynicism which takes the edge off. The cast of characters is relatable- almost all of us know people who look, speak and behave similar to the protagonists. At times some of them seem almost cliched, but cliches exist only because they are based on real people. The book, like most classical murder mysteries is divided into three parts- The Tangling, The Untangling and The Reckoning, the two amateur detectives team up, conduct interviews together, and then the main detective puts it all together.
The middle aged journalist, Mridula Mukherjee is neither a Miss Marple nor a Hercule Poirot, but she is able to connect dots and arrive at the complete picture before anyone else. Her sidekick, Monami, is addicted to crime fiction, and plays the role of Hastings to perfection. It is hard to get a handle on the policemen assigned to the case- they are neither bumbling detectives who are happy to leave the detection to the amateurs as long as they get to take the credit in the end, nor are they unhelpful to the point of being jeopardising the case- perhaps they will be developed further in subsequent books.
As in all murder mysteries, in the end you are left with a sense of sadness at the futility and brevity of life. At the same time, you are satisfied that the guilty have been caught and that they will not go unpunished. I love reading the book because it made me think, it made me smile, and I had the satisfaction of not overlooking the critical clues and being able to solve the case well before the end. I look forward to the subsequent books in the series.
[I received a review copy from Juggernaut, and this is my unbiased review.]
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