Looking for an M & B with a good storyline, intrigue and Indian protagonists? Pick up Metro Reads’ latest offering: Love on the Rocks by Ismita Tandon Dhankher. With all the ingredients of a “timepass read” this novel does full justice to Metro Reads’ tagline – ‘fun, fast and fiesty reads.’

Life promises to be a lot of fun for newly wed Sancha when she joins her husband Chief Officer Aaron Andrews on his merchant navy vessel, Sea Hyena. However less than 24 hours on the High seas she realizes that all is not well aboard the ship. Confronted with a series of disturbing occurences, including a theft and a murder, the inquisitive bride sets about unravelling the multiple mysteries. She soon realizes that nothing is as it seems and no one, including her husband or his best friend First Engineer Harsh Castillo, can be trusted. What does a woman in love do under such circumstances?Disclose her suspicions to the investigationg officer or give her hubby the benefit of doubt? And who is the murderer?

After the first few chapters you will begin to have your suspicions, but Dhankher manages to successfully keep you guessing till almost the end. The needle of suspicion keeps pointing to different characters; each time you pat yourself on the back for playing Sherlock , there is a new development. A die hard mystery lover might be able to nail the culprit way before he is revealed, but most readers will enjoy the little twist in the end; not Sheldonesque but nonetheless interesting.

The real strength of this debut novel is the voice that Dhankher provides to virtually all her characters. The story is told not from the point of view of a single person – Sancha. Harsh, Aaron, Raghav (the investigating officer), Popeye (the Captain) – everyone gets their say. This refreshing style provides the reader with an interesting insight into the mind and emotions of human beings, particularly of those who have to stayed away from land and their loved ones for long periods of time.

Dhankher’s writing is engaging, the language colloquial and humour, refreshing. The setting – a merchant navy ship – is new and interesting and the plot reasonably well developed. The book may not qualify as the best mystery novel of the year but it definitely does full justice to the “new genre” that Penguin has sought to introduce. A genre of books that “don’t weigh you down with complicated stories, don’t ask for much time and don’t have to be lugged around.”

It is a book for the youth of today who have neither the time nor the patience to indulge in “heavier” reads. Love on the Rocks may not give you an adrenaline rush and it doesn’t exactly compel you to burn the midnight oil just to get to the end, but that was never the intention of the series. Love on the Rocks sets a comfortable pace; it allows you to pick it up in between your chores and enjoy slices of it. No compulsions, no information…pure, simple entertainment. And it definitely qualifies as a good candidate for a Bollywood potboiler.

All in all a laudable debut novel and a great “light” read. Pick it up the next time you plan to catch a flight or want to unwind after a crazy workday.

“Abandon” by Meg Cabot

Meg Cabot symbolizes with light novels, but her latest novel “Abandon” seems to be in a different league than the Princess Diaries that brought her fame and adulation. In the novel, the main protagonist Pierce is seen engrossed in the battle with the underworld. When she first encounters a dark stranger, she is convinced that he takes life but his methodology in doing so was devoid of any figment of imagination. As Pierce tries to uncover the truth surrounding the shocking death of someone close to her, unexpected secrets spurt up and pose several questions in her heart.

Chick lit, Romance, Mystery and Science Fiction are her preferred genre of writing.

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“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear”   – Meg Cabot`

Phyllis A. Whitney

(September 9, 1903 – February 8, 2008)

Source: www.phyllisawhitney.com

Born in Yokohama, Japan to American parents, Phyllis Ayame Whitney is often regarded as the Grand Master of Suspense novels. In a writing career spanning over 80 years, she wrote 70 novels, both for adults and young adults. Though Whitney started writing her first stories during her teenage years in the Orient, dancing was her true love and she wanted to be a dancer. Her mother encouraged her and for a time Whitney also worked as a dance instructor. At the age of 15, she went to America and she wrote and printed several short stories. It was only after her graduation in 1924  that Whitney began to take her writing more seriously. In 1941 she published her first book for young adults and in 1943, her first suspense novel. In 1961 and in 1964 she won the Edgar Award for the Best Children’s Mystery and in 1975 she became the President of the Mystery Writers’ of America. After recieving many Lifetime Achievement Awards, Whitney passed away in 2008 at the age of 104. Some of her popular works include:

Amethyst Dreams

Spindrift

Star Flight

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Mary Higgins Clark could very well be described as the American equivalent of Agatha Christie. While she hasn’t come up with instantly recognizable characters like Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, Clark has certainly cranked out a vast number of best-selling mysteries. Some of them later adapted into TV movies and even a couple of films.

In The Second Time Around, Clark explores the mind of a mass killer with her usual grace and compassion. This time we are introduced to Carly DeCarlo, a financial advice columnist turned investigative reporter, and her quest for the truth about the suspicious disappearance of Nicholas Spencer, the head of medical research company “Gen-stone.” As the facts unravel in what seems to be a predictable con game, Carly slowly finds out that she has become the target of a dangerous group involved in a sinister scheme.

Although the story is based around some questionable medical assumptions, once you have gotten past those ‘glitches’, this book is sure to leave any reader thoroughly entertained. The pace is breath takingly fast, and it passes off as a light, but worthwhile read. Clark is a skilled writer and her books never fail to entertain. Intermingling a well-crafted first-person narrative with sporadic chapters of 3rd-person narrative, she offers readers a fine treat of mystery and suspense which will keep them on their toes throughout the book. In terms of content, there is a lot of juicy stuff about corporate sabotage and medical research which contribute a fair amount to the plot’s believability.

In between the clever twists and turns, there are enough clues to keep the reader guessing and follow hunches without giving too much of the plot away. It’s easy to see how her ability to create believable characters (both likable and not so) has made her books so successful. Each of the characters has been very well defined throughout, and a few are so well described, its easy to get the creeps whenever they re-emerge in the story.

If you’re looking for a nice change of pace after more challenging reads, then this one won’t disappoint. A lot of enjoyable plot twists, some thought involved, but overall, quick and painless to read.

To get yourself a copy of The Second Time Around visit INDIAreads.com, India’s fastest growing online book rental library and bookstore. If you would like to rent a copy, click here.

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Set in London and cast with young, modern people whose desires and consumptions get the better of them, Sparkling Cyanide is a novel that could easily make a decent TV Movie of the Week.Toying with a favorite theme, Agatha Christie once again wraps a delightful mystery around a curious death in the past, that arouses suspicion and erupts into the present tense.

Rosemary was planning a birthday dinner for her younger sister, Iris. The Guest list was set -a small intimate party of seven friends. When they raise their glasses in a toast to Iris; it would be a toast they would never forget, and for one of them, they would never survive. Rosemary took a sip of her champagne, turned blue, and collapsed, dead. Suicide they said, caused by post-flu depression. But not everyone was convinced.

With the passage of time, her surviving husband becomes suspicious after he starts to receive anonymous letters which help him uncover a few secrets. He determines to restage the dinner party with an eye toward uncovering the truth. The result is yet another death–and once more cyanide in the champagne glass, just like it happened at Rosemary’s party. Narrated from different points of view, starting with Iris, Rosemary’s younger sister, and then shifting to the other members of the ill-fated dinner party, the question remains if the killer will be given away, or if death be once again on the menu.

As in many of her novels, Christie carefully limits the field of suspects to those actually at the table, and it soon transpires that virtually every one present had a motive for Rosemary’s murder–and would have a motive to kill again. When the plan to find out the killer’s identity starts to fall apart, detective Col. Race is called in to help solve the crime.

On the whole, the plot, and especially the murder method, seem a bit farfetched to readily accept for ant reader. But in classic Christie fashion, the narration style makes use of her favorite device of having the murdered become an overlooked person. Instead, each character we are introduced to adds another bit of strength to the novel, and by their interior monologues, Christie is able to make readers suspect each one in turn and believe each of them capable of murder under the right circumstances.

As the plot gains momentum, readers will also discover that this is yet another Christie book which has a slight romantic leaning in the storyline. Even without the second death occurring in the story, this would have made a great story. The characters are developed beautifully and the background is perfectly set by the author. The descriptions of upper- and upper-middle-class England between the wars are those that regular readers of her books would have come to expect from Christie by now. A great read, whether one is looking for a book to stay indoors with or indulge in a gripping mystery that is un-put-down-able.

Sparkling Cyanide is available for rent and purchase at the INDIAreads Online Library.

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While Agatha Christie is best-known for her sleuths like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, there are also some hidden gems among her “standalone” novels. Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? Is a thoroughly enjoyable read, anchored by the terrific chemistry between the protagonists – lifelong friends Bobby Jones, son of the local vicar, and Lady Frances Derwent.

The mystery begins when, Bobby Jones, while playing golf with a Dr. Thomas, discovers a man who has fallen over a cliff below one of the holes. While Dr. Thomas runs to get help, the dying man looks at Bobby ,suddenly opens his eyes and mutters “Why didn’t they ask Evans?” he then falls into the chains of death. Soon, the fun loving, adventurous duo of Bobby and Frankie are on a trail to find out the answers. Unfortunately, asking the wrong people sends the amateur sleuths running for their lives.

The first forty pages might leave a few readers a little underwhelmed. But once the storyline gets going, it is sure to leave anyone hooked with the quick pace that rapidly follows. One thing that shows quite clearly is how much of her style JK Rowling got from Agatha Christie. In terms of characters, Christie offers a lot for any contemporary writer to learn from. In fact, the duo of Bobby and Frankie complement each other quite well and their relationship, particularly the way they constantly spar and view their case, portrays Christie’s mastery at creating characters that are well-rounded and deep.

Leaving aside the romance, even the mystery is intriguing and original. The twists and turns are sure to keep readers guessing until the very last page. Unlike some of her other novels, Christie drops little clues here and there in between chapters regarding the villain’s inconsistency in his story. This makes the reader feel that they are on the trail along with the characters, sleuthing along with Frankie and Bobbie.

However, keeping up with how the large cast of characters is related can be a bit confusing if you’re not focused on the story. Though the story takes a bizarre turn three-quarters of the way through, it’s fast-paced and quite humorous throughout. By the end of the novel, the guilty parties have become apparent, but that doesn’t detract from one’s enjoyment of the tale in the least – watching Bobby and Frankie survive their excursion into the detective world is far too entertaining.

This is a novel that promises to keep on the edge of their seats. A pleasant read that doesn’t end up taking too much time to finish, this is one of Christie’s finest.

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie is available for rent and purchase at  www.INDIAreads.com, India’s fastest growing online book rental library and bookstore.

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There’s something about the way Peter Straub describes everyday things but makes them sound special and interesting. All of his characters, no matter how strange their background, are believable as people, and even when his protagonists do something stupid or unlikeable, you’re still rooting for them to succeed. He never fails to deliver with his extensive and skillful use of atmosphere. In fact, famed musician Nick Cave was such a fan of Straub’s books, he wrote an album, Murder Ballads, using many of the characters within his lyrics.

Mystery is the second book of Straub’s Blue Rose Trilogy. After having successfully establishing himself as a horror writer and using the conventions of the supernatural, Straub evokes a similar feel by examining the distorted reality of nightmares, psychosis, and the horrors of war.

Set in the 1950s and ’60s, the story revolves around the life of Tom Pasmore, the young protagonist, who suffers a nearly fatal auto accident. With a new respect for his life and a fascination with death, Tom begins a journey into his small town’s past (as well as his own), to solve two murders; one committed in the present and another, which took place 3 decades ago. He is fueled by a wonderful, reclusive neighbor who was once a “detective” himself. What follows from here on, is a young man’s journey into adulthood and the hard truths about life. Since Tom is from the wrong side of the tracks – i.e., “not rich” – his sleuthing around the upper crust earns him the resentment of imminently less noble characters with larger bank accounts and trust funds. Soon he starts to realize that secrets and untold truths swirl around people every day, and that sometimes finding them out can be satisfying and other times dreadful.

What makes this one work is the characters, especially amateur sleuth Tom Pasmore and his mentor, Heilitz. The girlfriend Pasmore picks up along the way livens things up considerably as well. Straub has a true detective’s sense of crime and its motivations – namely, sex and money – and he presents them very credibly. Something prevalent in all Straub’s work, and especially so here, is status consciousness and the American caste system of money. More importantly, he convincingly portrays the strata of corruption that money breeds, and the way it maintains itself.

Making up for its rather slow start and great length, the novel offers a lot of suspense and heartache as the storyline progresses. A gripping plot with some great twists, Straub doesn’t “simply narrate”. He lets the reader tag along and observe, making their own judgments, as his characters experience love, pain, confusion, and longing. This isn’t a fantasy or a ghost story. It is a tale that focuses on hope. And Straub deserves a lot of credit for successfully crossing genre lines.

Mystery is available for rent and purchase at the INDIAreads Online Book Rental Library cum Bookstore.

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Last Man Standing is the ‘extra testosterone packed’ version of a John Grisham novel. None of the mushy, sensitive stuff here. Its all guns and hardcore action. Web London, the tough but tender-hearted hero life has to cope with the dirty dealings in the nation’s bureaucracy while going through difficult times of learning of his own life. A member of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team, London froze up on a drug raid and becomes the sole survivor of a remote-controlled ambush that killed six of his compatriots. Now the only witness has disappeared and the inside man on the botched raid has gone underground.

As London tries to unravel why he is the only member of his close-knit team to survive, a pretty psychiatrist puzzles over the corners of his brain that kept him alive. And while he’s certain that the ambush is connected to the prison escape of a neo fascist leader whom he helped arrest five years earlier, a series of new murders leads him to a Virginia horse farm and the driving force behind all the carnage.

Though the book starts out slow, once you get to the part where the main character is discharged from the hospital, Baldacci starts right in the line of fire and the pacing never lets go. Many readers who are searching for heart pounding action are sure to like this fact paced style of writing. Its explicit, raw and takes care of the need to mentally edit while following from one chapter to the next. However those favoring a bit more structure in their reading might find the story excellent, but the writing a bit scattered to follow.

The characters are well developed and Baldacci has put in a lot of research to make his book as realistic as possible.  For example, there’s in-depth detail on sniper tactics such as always closing one eye when using night vision goggles to avoid blurred vision when taking them off or warming up the barrel of a rifle with your breath to avoid condensation vapor, which can easily be spotted by a trained eye.

To go with all the action, the book also has a lot of twists and turns. Though ‘a lot’, would mean that some of the twists in the plot are fairly predictable, there are also a few which keep you guessing and waiting to turn the pages. Even readers who wouldn’t find themselves a fan of most of the character base in this book, are sure to find it a thrilling read and keep going until the end.

All in all, this a good book which allows the reader to escape into the characters’ lives and accompany them on their adventures. With lots of information on guns and the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team, readers will have a blast of an adventure shooting guns, drinking beer, solving crimes and hanging out with a beautiful woman.

Last Man Standing is available for rent or purchase at the INDIAreads Online Book Rental Library cum Bookstore. You can also gift a library membership or browse through the other related titles in our collection.

A follow up to Daphne du Maurier’s classic, Rebecca. Mrs. deWinter tells us what happened to Maxim deWinter and his wife years into the future after the events at Manderley.

The story begins 10 years after Rebecca ended–Manderley has burned, and Maxim deWinter and his much-younger second wife have been traveling in Europe for the past decade. With no children and no place to really call home, the second Mrs. deWinter feels the urge to put down some roots and raise a family. But the old ghosts of the past seem still to possess and control Maxim. The question remains whether the couple will finally be able to settle down and be happy or if the bad karma that still seems to dog Maxim take control of everything again. Whereas the title of the first book referred to Maxim DeWinter’s conniving late wife, the sequel’s title refers to the naive second Mrs. deWinter. The fact that she is still unnamed in this continuation of her story is a commentary on the vapid nature of her character.

Though there is a lapse of several decades between the first book and Susan Hill’s sequel, the book is still reflective of the spirit of the original. Preserving the dark and moody aspects of the original novel, the amorality of the second Mrs. deWinter in Rebecca is astounding and has been captured perfectly by Hill. She brings out the total lack of communication between Maxim and his unnamed wife while keeping to a plot which makes basic sense within the larger context of the original novel. The changes in the characters are well-explained and Hill does a great job at catching du Maurier’s voice as an author. However, though her love and respect for the original novel Rebecca is apparent, the new protagonist spends too much time thinking throughout the book than actually doing something. As a sequel, the book still lacks the intrigue that readers were treated to in the original. Though she succeeds in places, Hill seems to overdo her impression of Daphne du Maurier’s style. Perhaps it would not meet the expectations of die hard du Maurier fans, and the original book is a tough act to follow, but Hill has made the best attempt at what some people may deem the impossible.

You can rent, purchase or gift a copy of Mrs. deWinter or browse through related titles at the INDIAreads Online Library cum Bookstore.

The Private Patient is the fourteenth Dalgliesh mystery from author P.D. James. This time the whodunit revolves around the murder of journalist Rhonda Gradwyn who is found dead after she books into an exclusive cosmetic surgery clinic. Being an investigative reporter whose job is to leak secrets to the ‘yellow press’, Gradwyn wouldn’t have had a dearth of enemies happy to get rid of her. However, the baffling question is that when the clinic is locked and kept under tight security, there is no chance that the murder could have been committed by an outsider. So who among the staff, nurses or other patients holed up in quaint little Dorset would have a motive to kill a famous reporter?

What unravels is a gripping old fashioned English detective story. Reasons why many members of the household may have wanted the victim dead are soon unraveled. Each of the residents has something to hide, the unceremonious history of the clinic and its current owner brings new facts to light and a second murder deepens the mystery. This is where the artistry of James becomes clearly visible. In her hands this classic set-up is given darker shadings and a fairly deep psychological inquiry. Fans of Agatha Christie novels will definitely find this a delightful and interesting read. While weaving in beautiful descriptions of the English countryside, James reveals the dark and threatening side to the picturesque backdrop.

The characterization is extremely captivating with revelations of weaknesses, desires and dysfunctions which make the characters seem most human. The elaborate depth of their different personalities will make readers truly connected to each character and leave them wondering whether the roles are those of a suspect or a victim. Intricate and well formulated,readers will be left guessing each time a new plot is revealed in the story. The beauty of the storyline is that even with all the questions which come up in each chapter; everything falls into place perfectly timed and meshes well with the characters, revealing hidden depths.

James even touches on the grand themes that seem to have always interested her: Why do people often behave so irrationally? Is there an unshakeable moral code that applies in all circumstances? Are we ever justified in taking the law into our own hands? In fact, by the end the story veers from a whodunit to a how-was –it-possible to do it? As the story goes on a bit after the murderer is revealed, the novel presents an exploration of the many mysteries that are revealed even as that one is solved. It’s a nice meditation on what “closure” and “solved” can even mean.

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