What is a universal passion that our country shares? First there’s Cricket & then maybe Bollywood. Add to it a dash of suspense and page turning mystery and you have a story that hooks you in from the start. That’s what I felt about this tale spun by the author Madhav Nayak. ‘A Murder is Fixed’ succeeds in conjuring up an evocative narrative that has the edge of seat excitement of a cricket match, the hair raising mystery of a criminal story and the ease of a comforting bunch of characters that soften the riddle of a whodunnit! I enjoyed Nayak’s debut novel and here is my review of it.

The story starts with the ramblings of the soon to turn into a detective, Russi Batliwala. We see Russi pottering about his very Parsi home and in his very Parsi language. It takes the reader to the dazzling streets of Marine Drive in the evening, glittering quite literally like the Queen’s Necklace. He is headed to an evening soiree at the Pavilion Club where the who’s who of the cricket club is going to be present. This is also where we meet the central characters of the story – Justice Sundaram Shankar who along with a team, is heading an enquiry commission into the match fixing scandals that have gripped the Mega Cricket League. We meet his team comprising DSP Khan and are introduced to Shreya Ved, who is toiling away at the lab, and is on the brink of a major breakthrough in the case.

Soon enough the story is engulfed in its central plot – the gruesome murder of Shreya Ved. Enter the police machinery and its characters Inspector Vinayak Vichare and his team Constable Neil Lobo from the Dhobi Talao police station. It’s interesting to see how Russi, with his interest in detective work gets himself involved in the case and unwittingly becomes a close ally for the police, working closely with them to explore leads, examine clues and do some sleuthing.

Shreya Ved’s murder mystery grows with us the reader as we meet newer characters – her unemployed husband Jayesh Acharya, her friend Kajal Banerjee the journalist who recently ran a scoop article on the booking saga, the owners of clubs in the MCL – Brajesh Choksi and Navika Mahadevia, the man of the moment Rishi Girhotra who is the cream of the MCL that year. Then there is Vasu Langda the local crook who is prime suspect in the murder until he is found murdered soon enough. Some one wants voices silenced and the story line gets murkier thereon.

Russi seems to learn detective work on the go as he comes face to face with clues, studies the science behind them and then applies his learning to the case. He gains the trust of Inspector Vichare and Constable Lobo and soon enough they begin playing good cop – bad cop to narrow down the suspect list in order to expose the truth. It is a delight to be a part of the trio’s vadapav and cutting chai breaks where they discuss the case, plot their next move and inspect suspects. In the backdrop we have MCL matches, high profile meetings, some threats and cover ups that keep us glued to the pages. Cricketing lingo is used abundantly by characters especially Russi and his allies. For a person like me for who is not an avid cricket fan, I thought I would get lost in the technicality and jargon. But this book succeeds in keeping it simple and in the flow of the story line. A more passionate cricket fan may find the need for deeper cricket stories, and technical terms.

The mystery is close to unravelling and every reader I am sure has a prime suspect in mind. But as with all good stories, the ending is the one you least expected. Yet you realize it was there before your eyes the whole time. A simple clue which you overlooked right at the beginning of the book. In fact, the story starts with an introduction – a scene which seems to be disconnected from the core story and which you obviously overlook. No one could have guessed that the killer was in fact the one person who everyone least suspected it to be.

Nayak’s story telling is evocative. It whisks you in into a world of chor-police amidst the high profile drama of a big betting scam. His character development of Russi Batliwala, our dear detective who solves the puzzle, is so well done that I think it would be injustice not to have a series of murder mysteries with Russi as the central character. Are you listening Mr Nayak? There is definitely scope for more ‘Russi’ mystery books.

I would rate this book a 4-star. It’s well written, kept me hooked and managed to surprise me by the verdict. However I also found some of the narratives and conversations confusing. I had to read them twice-over to understand them. Also a cricket afficionado may want to read more about cricket, the game, the winning strategies or even read about a match happening in words.

I received a copy of Madhav Nayak’s A Murder is Fixed as part of Blogchatter’s Book Review program.

Read my other book reviews – Under the Influence by Miss Malini.