A general question to everyone who reads a lot of
books – what is the first thing you look whenever you read a book from a new
author? There are going to be a lot of answers – plot outline, genre, etc etc.
For me, it always was and it will always be the
author's command over language. And that is why I loved Nachi's debut novel
"Death of a District Magistrate".
PLOT
It is a murder mystery just as the synopsis promises. There
has been the death of a renowned district magistrate and it most likely appears
to be a suicide. Or is it?
As the story unfolds, we realize that things are
murkier than what they appear. Watch how the protagonist "DSP Arjun Iyer"
solves the case.
WRITING STYLE
Narasimhan Eswar chooses to use the pseudonym "Nachi".
I still remember that time when this author known as Chetan Bhagat made his
debut. And everyone was gaga over the fact that he wrote a book so relatable,
he was an investment banker who quit his job and became a writer, and so on.
So far, so good.
However, Chetan opened up a Pandora's box with there
emerging a plethora of writers who were brimming with ideas but hardly knew the
ABC of english grammar. And so we started having shitty books from shittier
authors who had glaring and jarring grammatical errors right from page 1. There
were times when I would stop reading or reviewing a novel out of sheer
frustration, wondering how the hell did this thing get published.
The key word here is "BASICS" – of your
English grammar. And that is where Nachi scores. I was so impressed with his
writing style, his impeccable command over the language, his ability to
effortlessly be witty and his ability to make the novel nail biting and
interesting.
He infuses dallops of humour in the proceedings. I especially
loved the chemistry between DSP Arjun & Munnuswamy. It is awesome. Also,
Nachi presents both their point of view, which is interesting. The analogies
which Arjun keeps on inserting are superb. I noticed how Nachi has smartly used
many such analogies at various other instances, thus displaying his prowess at
that – indirectly making me believe that this particular trait of cracking
analogies is present in the nature of both the author and his fictional
character.
I had identified the killer long time back, somewhere
around when I was halfway. So it wasn't a big surprise to me. Even the motive
was easily obvious. Nachi does give a "Prestige-like" Nolan twist to
the climax which was well done.
OVERALL, I thoroughly
enjoyed this novel. It gives me kind of a kick when I find the author to be so
well-versed with the English language and grammar. I hope Nachi writes more. I don't
care what genre he chooses – he can easily continue with DSP Arjun Iyer's
character and make a series out of it. He can write something else. Whatever he
writes, I will read it, because I know it would be definitely good. Call me a
grammar nazi, but I loved that thing the most about the entire book.
Do give this book a read if you are in the mood for a
murder mystery with some great subtle humour.
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