The first ever books I must have read, apart from the academic ones, were Sherlock Holmes and Nancy Drew. Since then, I have been hooked on mystery thrillers for life. I would even play Sleuths with my brothers once in a while. So, mysteries are a soothing genre for me, and I read mysteries to take a break from the stressful life and chores. Though I do not have a preference, I enjoy detective fiction more, especially female detective fiction.
Readers prefer to read international fiction more, though now the trend is shifting back to Indian thrillers with the increase in writers exploring different trends in the genre. As I mentioned in my previous blog on female sleuths, very few thrillers bring out dynamic female detectives solving mysteries and confronting criminals with confidence. So, when I find any such opportunity to read a female sleuth fiction with an Indian setting, I jump on the opportunity. One such latest fiction I got is ‘I Never Knew It Was You’ by Kalpana Swaminathan.
Overview
A Lalli mystery, it is a crime thriller centred around Mumbai and revolving around serial killings of people known to Lalli and her friends. The book is an interesting read with so many layers and sub-plots that cross paths with each other. It keeps you hooked on the developments and events happening. Lalli, who is a retired police officer, has an odd mixture of friends who are like family to her. Sita, her niece and a failed author is the narrator; Inspector Savio, a victim of trauma, is a non-adopted son of Lalli; Shukla, also an inspector, is an outcast from his family; and Dr Qureshi, a friend and forensic doctor, all assist Lalli in her cases.
Characters and Dialogues
The characters in the book offer a consistent pattern of behaviour and are at ease in their environment. The disciplined ones behave very systematically, whereas the fidgety ones are impulsive in their reactions and prone to making mistakes. But one thing I feel certain about is that the character of Lalli is written along the lines of Sherlock Holmes. She is able to read unsaid things and relies on the right questions to be asked in any situation, which would unravel the mystery for them. She keeps insisting on Sita for her perspective as if she is training Sita to be a sleuth. The character of Savio is of a dashing and cool man who likes the company of Sita, and Shukla is the total opposite of him. Sita and Savio function as the Watson for our Holmes. There are other minor characters that add to the plot, sometimes in significant ways.
But the main issue I personally found with the characters is that they are too involved with themselves, and sometimes the reader is left feeling out of place. This restricts the reader from entering their world and being a part of the squad to solve the mystery. Also, there seem to be books written prior to this one so it became a bit difficult for a new reader like me to follow the story and dialogues initially. I also felt that, in places, dialogues are also either too vague or too deep to comprehend and disturb the track of events. The part I liked the most in the book is Lalli’s dialogues as they carry the wisdom of a woman who has experienced society deeply.
Plot and narration
The events are narrated through the point of view of Sita, who comes across as a little self-absorbed and so becomes an unreliable companion for story-telling. Though the plot is very intriguing, I felt that its writing decreases the charm in places. The readers are deliberately confused at some points in the plot to keep them away from solving the mystery themselves. Thus, I feel that the narration weakens the plot in a way. Also, the back stories of the lead characters are not completely explained, which added to my confusion.
The only plus point of the narration is the part where Lalli is the narrator. Lalli takes the plot in a flashback of her experiences and constructs a new mystery for everyone to solve. The connection between the flashback and the current plot is very obvious, but the characters take a long time to figure it out as they are busy with the technicalities of it. The dates of the murders and the discovery of dead bodies are mentioned not to disturb the chronologies.
Mystery
The story begins with the murder of a girl who is acquainted with Sita, with the same MO of the serial killer or the nemesis of Lalli. The mystery element in the book creates a wavy graph with ups and downs. The mystery heightens the most when Lalli talks about the past case she had worked on, the case of the Perieras. In the book’s first half, Lalli and Savio behave discreetly to keep the readers wanting to know what they have understood of the case. But like Sita, they are kept waiting for a really long time. The mystery is about finding two murderers, the serial killer and the murderer of Sita’s school friend. It also seems to be dragged with vague inferences and descriptions in a few places. The most disappointing part I found about the book is that it does not have a good conclusion, which I crave in detective fiction. But everyone has a different taste and so it may differ for people.
I also found the writing and editing to be a solemn weakness throughout. The story and even the characters are quite interesting and logically placed, but the writing style does not suit the structure of the book. I found it difficult to become a part of the story and feel the emotions of the characters. I personally also found a lot of proofing errors in the book that seriously hamper the reading process.
Beyond the Plot:
A very interesting aspect of the plot I found is the comment on the family system in India and how Indian families would rather be unhappy but be together than to break social norms and be satisfied and happy. The difference between the chosen family of Lalli and the distorted Periera family brings out the hierarchy of control and hypocrisy of the concept in the society. Lalli through observations make beautiful and realistic comments to highlight this in the book.
I would like to go with an average rating for the book as it has some really good parts and some not so good. But the readers can be a better judge and decide on that. Which is the best female detective fiction you have read?
The book has been published by Speaking Tiger Books. You can follow them on YKA here.