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Sunday, May 2, 2021

Book Review: Red-Rum muR-deR by Sourish Roy | Murder Mystery and Detective Fiction Novella

    

Book Review

Red-Rum muR-deR by Sourish Roy


Book Review: Red-Rum muR-deR by Sourish Roy | Murder Mystery and Detective Fiction Novella | Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger
Red-Rum muR-deR by Sourish Roy

AuthorSourish Roy

ISBN978-8195039234

GenreMurder Mystery, Thriller & Detective Fiction

Length: 70 Pages

Publication Date23rd February 2021

PublisherBigfoot Publications

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Order your copy right now: https://amzn.to/3t9RiRl


About the author:

Recipient of the Best Short Story Collection Award at Konark Literature Festival 2019 and ICMDR Awards Mumbai 2020 respectively along with many other medallions of honor and felicitation all across India for his debut book TALES FROM BENGAL, Sourish Roy, has already earned the renown of being dedicated to the daily life problems of the underprivileged class. His stories have been regularly published in English and Bangla dailies and magazines. His critical essays have also been provided space in some academic books. Now with Red-Rum muR-deR he looks to embark on a new journey into the realms of thrill and mystery.


Book Review: Red-Rum muR-deR by Sourish Roy | Murder Mystery and Detective Fiction Novella | Dhiraj Sindhi | Indian Book Blogger
Sourish Roy


Facebook: @sourishjal

Instagram: @sourish_roy_author

Twitter: @sourishjal


REVIEW

Summary

Red-Rum muR-deR by Sourish Roy, primarily, a murder mystery and thriller can also be put into the subcategory – detective fiction; set in the college campus premises located at the outskirts of Jalpaiguri, a suburban town in West Bengal, where a detective-aide duo of college professors embark on the journey of unearthing the innermost secrets and deciphering the conundrum in order to unravel the murder mystery that hides behind it the grim downside of dissipation and debauchery; this is a perfect conglomeration of whodunit and howcatchem bringing about a unique sensation to mystery element; while the book imitates modern-day classic literature through the author’s flowery language, it also opens a discussion on the elephant in the room, a subject that is mostly avoided; this cleverly plotted mystery novella empowered with enticing writing style, shrewd detective, sensuality, and a compelling riddle will keep you pondering even after it ends.


Review

Now, I’ll briefly take you through a few elements of this murder mystery.

Setting: In any detective fiction, setting plays an important role; the story and its setting are inseparable elements. Here, the setting can be defined as the college campus and specifically, the crime scene inside the boys’ hostel. The story takes place during the Durga Puja—an annual socio-cultural and religious festival marking the victory of goddess Durga in her battle against the shape-shifting asura, Mahishasura; popular in and celebrated by Bengalis, Odia, Maithils, and Assamese communities. 

The story also starts with this quick-witted and splendid conversation between two college professors on the subject regarding the splendor of the puja festivities. This sets the tone and the theme right for the upcoming events. Apart from the puja, the story focuses on the squalid condition of the hostel and the disordered room in particular, around which most of the sleuthing occurs. These all elements permit the deadly event and the investigation as well.


 A murder: The murder is the catalyst and center of the novella. This crime as it should be is a seemingly unsolvable mystery at first. However, the story is a combination of whodunit and howcatchem. You know the series of events that led to the murder, yet it remains as suspenseful as ever because you are still on the lookout for ‘who’ and ‘how’. Here, the victim is a student who is found dead in the hostel room on the day of shoshthi.


Detective-aide duo: Sourish Roy has done a commendable job at developing these two complementary characters—Saranya and Sankhajit. Saranya is a highly skilled problem solver, who possesses traits of being objective, logical, pensive, and observant. Yes, pretty conventional. Sankhajit is that intellectually inferior sidekick that most popular detective fiction novels happen to have. Here, Sankhajit is a narrator for the most part of the story. The dialogues and tones in the book are compelling and often incorporate allegories, symbolism, and metaphors, further intensifying the mystery.


Suspects and the antagonist: The most remarkable part of the book is the subject that brings together suspects, the victim, and the antagonist. The book, for most of the part, contains mystery-solving by Saranya, Sankhajit, and the Officer-in-Charge Dibyendu Lahiri. There is almost everything that you can expect from average detective fiction when it comes to uncovering the mystery and the duo does a fabulous job. There are multiple people involved in the act and because the book is a novella, you come to know ‘who’, ‘why’, and ‘how’ at the very end during the climax and it’s all done just like that. It is quite impressive how the author has managed to accommodate such details in the minimal word count. There is a morally depraved antagonist. There are suspects having more or less the same virtue as the victim and the antagonist.


Theme: I would personally prefer Red-Rum muR-deR as detective fiction, having murder mystery for the central theme. Five out of eight chapters are dedicated to the quest for the truth. Two out of the remaining three chapters are narrated in the third-person POV narrating the story in a different timeline that eventually leads to the crime. This blend of two different styles of writing detective fiction proves to be crucial for this particular short book. The pre-eminent subject which the author has deftly tackled is – adultery. I loved how conveniently it has been established as an inseparable part of the story. In the end, the author draws a line between being liberated and being promiscuous, which is a very subjective matter and thus opens an unending debate on the addressed subject. The author has fitted in literal riddles and incoherently so, although it only encourages you to interact with the story.

 

All in all, this extremely short book, which you can finish reading in the span of a couple of hours has in store for you a completely unique and a classic experience emerging through exuberant writing style and the unification of mystery with sensuality.


Happy Reading!

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DisclaimerThis article is intended for review purposes only. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful.

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Will see you in the next post. Till then buh-bye. Take Care. Peace. ☮

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