Book Review #106: The Perfect Murder Collected and Compiled By Ruskin Bond

Title: The Perfect Murder

Collected & Authored by: Ruskin Bond

Publishers: Rupa Publications India

Genre: Thriller/Murder Mystery

Pages: 132 (Paperback)

Source: Advanced review copy from the publishers

Ruskin Bond, the name is enough to go and grab the book. The stories that he chooses or writes are pleasant always. Since my childhood, I’ve always been a big fan of Ruskin Bond. Being a thriller fan, I adore each and every story told by Ruskin Bond. It is always a special feeling to read his books.

The Perfect Murder is a short story in the book also the title of the book. The book also contains several short stories from various acclaimed authors like Arthur Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, Edgar Allen Poe and WW Jacobs. There is also a story written by Ruskin Bond. The book consists of eight different stories.

The very first story is the Perfect Murder, where two brothers Paul and Henry would wait for an opportunity to kill their aunt, so that they can inherit the property left by their uncle, but only on the condition that, the property would reach these brothers only after their aunt has passed away. Given the financial condition of the Paul and Henry, they were not in a position to wait that longer. Henry, a married man with four children, wasn’t able to meet the demands of his family, and he often finds himself borrowing money from his brother and his close friends. Whereas, Paul, unmarried, and wasted himself by drinking and roaming around. One fine day, Paul decides to meet his aunt and pretends to fall sick in her home. A generous, well behaved aunt takes Paul in and provides him the necessary food and medicines time to time. This hasn’t gone well with Henry and he decides to meet his brother Paul and take matters in to his hand. Paul agrees to his brother’s demands and asks him to get fine grained glass powder so that he can poison his aged fragile aunt. Henry does the needful and waits anxiously for the following day. But what followed is a shell shock experience for Henry, as he learns that, instead of his aunt, his brother Paul was found dead in his aunt’s house by consuming the glass mixed food. This story will surely keep the readers hooked to the book till it gets completed.

The other story which I liked and enjoyed is the Red Headed League by Arthur Conan Doyle. This particular story involves an investigation by the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his doctor friend Watson. The story is epic in its own accord. The sharp observational skills of Sherlock Holmes and how he helped a distressed pawn broker who was cheated by his employer. The quick wit displayed by Holmes is a well known phenomenon of Arthur Conan Doyle. For sure, this is the story where you will be reading again and again to appreciate the intelligence of Sherlock Holmes.

One more story written by Ruskin Bond himself was about his uncle that murdered a person by poisoning. This story captures the ill motives of his uncle even after he got released from Jail. His uncle tried to poison Ruskin when he visited him. This story was repeated in Ruskin Bond’s other collected stories in other books. But, quite a good story to read.

This book is a nice collection of the light thriller genre stories. The book is an easy read and you can finish reading this in a few hours or a day to the most. You will certainly appreciate the taste of Ruskin Bond that made this collection of some of the interesting stories in this book. Though it is not a recommending read, but to re-live your childhood by reading some epic stories collected and penned by Ruskin Bond.

My Rating:

4/5

Note: I received this book from the Publishers in exchange for an unbiased review.

Book Review #52: Puppeteers of Palem By Sharath Komarraju

Pic Courtesy: Internet

I read a completely new style of paranormal action based novel. The sheer brilliance of the author Sharath Komarraju is exceptional. I believe this book "Puppeteers of Palem" is a class apart. It carries all those spookiness, creepiness, horrifying scenes, mad people, dreaded killers and what not. Certainly, this novel is a much needed break for the readers who are reading the same old love stories, or some kind of regular thrillers.

Right from the beginning of the book, the story takes the grip of its readers making them not to put down the book. The plot of the novel is what makes it as a must read.

5 friends that grown up in the same village, Rudrakshapalem, in short called as Palem will head back to their village after receiving a mysterious letter. What makes more interesting is all 5 of them receive similar letters, but, they will realize it when they met each other in the village.

The story takes its twist in the opening scene of the novel. There is a murder in the village. The victim is one of the 5 friends that came back to village. The Police were investigating the case and soon the police will realize that, 2 crippled boys with wounds and bruises were somehow responsible for this assault on the dead man. By questioning the local villagers about these boys, the police will take these boys into their custody for little verification. A news reporter cum journalist called Sonali was covering this murder incident. She questions every person in the village, she also questions the parents and guardians of the victims and also she questions those 2 boys about this murder incident. Sonali feels something is not going right in this investigation and she decides to stay in the village for some more time to cover this in greater details.

The author introduces us to the younger days of these 5 friends that grew up in this village. There is an old man in that village who was narrating stories to the kids almost every evening. Expectedly, these 5 kids are regular attendants of this story sessions. Here, the author introduces us to a very important story through the old man’s narration. This story is a true incident happened in their village few years ago.

One day, this old man narrates a story of a woman or we can call as a mad woman, Lacchi and her drunkard husband Sangadu. He described the story in greater detail, to which, all the kids listened to him in great intent. He concluded the story saying, the woman had murdered her husband with a stone. And, she kept her husband’s dead body on her lap throughout the night singing a chilling song. The old man also told the kids that, she is still living in the outskirts of the village, near the shivalayam (Shiva Temple). 

The kids who grew up listening to this story was curious enough to check out this old temple, so all these 5 friends will head out to this temple one day and decides to spend the night there. Once they returned to their homes, they were not the same, something has happened to them and nobody knew what it was. They were feeling strange throughout the week and felt someone is watching them from behind. After few years, they left their village for their higher studies and soon forgot this temple and the madwoman story.

This point sets the stage for the novel. As the book progresses further, these 5 friends that returned to their village Palem will find it very difficult to come to terms. They will behave as if each other have written the letters to each other asking them to come to village. Slowly one after the other will die in a suspicious way. Nobody knew who had killed the other one. This has brought the rift among them. Who is the puppet here? Who is the puppeteer here? Who has written those letters to them asking them to come back to village? Was the old man responsible for all these miseries? Was he the actual puppeteer? What might be the conclusion to this killing spree? Was the mad woman Lacchi that killed her husband is taking any revenge by taking the form of a ghost? These are the questions that pop up regularly as we read through the novel.

As we approach the climax to the novel. There is only 1 friend left among the 5 friends. Of course, the old man is still alive. And the journalist cum reporter Sonali who stayed back in the village is still in the village. She wrote too many notes in her diary addressing her sister Shilpi. She explained everything that was happening in this sleepy village. But she never posted those notes neither she was aware of writing those notes. So, was Sonali responsible for these murders? Did Lacchi has crept into Sonali’s mind and making all these things? The million dollar answer lies in the book. One must read this book to understand who the puppet is and who the puppeteer is.

Overall, I find this book very interesting and refreshing. It is certainly a break from the regular thriller. Combined with the paranormal activity and keeping the village as a backdrop makes this book even more awesome. The cover image of the book looks very promising and at the same time brings that curiousness among the readers. I recommend this book to everyone. You won't regret reading it. You’ll enjoy each and every page of it.

I said there is a chilling song that Lacchi sings holding her husband’s dead body. What is that song is all about? Well, read it in the book.

My Rating:

5/5

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