BOOK REVIEW : THE COLOURS OF PASSION

Murder suspenses are always a tricky genre. The writer has to have the ability to hold the readers till the end and then pull an ace up his sleeve in the form of a shocking suspense revelation. Sourabh Mukherjee’s latest novel “The Colours of Passion” is one such novel which just about manages to tick all these boxes.

PLOT

Hiya Sen was the current heart throb of the Tollywood film industry until one day when she was physically assaulted and then murdered, just few days after her marriage.

As ACP Agni Mitra starts investigating, we are taken into the lives of the usual suspects – Hiya’s husband Manav, Manav’s ex – fiancée, an ageing and fading actress, etc.

WRITING

I have previously read Mukherjee’s small book titled “Romance Shorts” and I had pretty much liked it. So naturally I was looking forward to this book.

The novel starts of in kickass thriller style. The way the story progresses is perfect material for an unputdownable book. It had me hooked in no time.

Sourabh’s writing is fluent and mature. He knows his readers well. He never lets the pace sag, nor does he veer into other useless subplots. He stays faithful to the genre and focuses on that.

POSITIVES

As I said, the writing makes all the difference here. It is never about the story but how you present it. I personally loved Agni Mitra’s character. He is good detective type material. You root for him, and that is a victory for the author.

Secondly, the addition of two more murders further adds to the intrigue level of the book. By the time the book reaches its last act, we are genuinely curious to know who the killer is.

NEGATIVES

As long as the final act is remaining, this is a superb book. However, things go bizarre in the climax and the suspense is a huge letdown. I would refrain from elaborating but I personally didn’t like the suspense even a bit. It was as if “Khoda pahaad, nikla chooha.”

However advanced and forward our society becomes, there are few things which well, will not be easy to digest. The climax in this book and the killer both seem unreal. Look, you are targeting an Indian audience here. You have to make sure you seem logical. The same story with the same setup and killer in USA would seem perfectly alright, but our country is different. These things aren’t that simple. I am not saying I am backward or regressive. All I am saying is that a majority of the readers, especially the slightly elder ones will dislike the climax of the book.

OVERALL, I liked almost all parts of this book. In other words, I liked the parts more than the whole. It is a decent one time read provided you brace yourself for an underwhelming climax.

P.S - I received this book from Writersmelon in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.