Crammed together: Nine Books

My to-be-reviewed pile for 2022 is long and toppling over. Before I forget all about the books, here are just a couple of lines about nine of them. So in no particular order: Death of a Hollow Man (1987): I had enjoyed Caroline Graham's The Killings at Badger's Drift, the first in her Inspector Barnaby's …

#BlackHistoryMonth #ReadIndies Murder in G Major and Spare Room

Usually my reading depends merely on my moods but this month I made it a point to pick up books written by Black authors. Coincidently both of them turned out to be published by independent publishers. Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon This book began in a fantastic manner. Gethsemane Brown, an accomplished violinist …

New Books

I am in love with old, dusty books but sometimes am seduced by shiny new books. Here are brief notes on such books, all barring one read this year: Asylum by Madeleine Roux (2013) I must admit that this novel is not meant for somebody of my age. Had I been a young teenager, I'd …

Horror in India: As Death Stared Back by Ajinkya Bhasme (2019)

"I feared the dark until I smiled in the fire that burnt me; now the dark fears me." Sanjana and Punit are a happily married couple. However, trouble arises when their son Manu is born. A premature child, Manu is weak and frail. For the physically fit, Punit, who wants his son to be as …

Crime in India: Kiss of Salt by Smita Bhattacharya (2019)

...the notion of love endures most things, even abuse.... Heliconia Lane is a peculiar patch of heaven at Valsolem, an unexplored and pristine beach of Goa. There are only three houses on that lane: Casa De Primavera or House of Spring where the Castelino family lives: Zabel and Filip with their son, Anton. The second …