Tuesday 16 September 2014

Review of 'Seduced By Murder' by 'Saurbh Katyal'

Blurb: When detective Vishal Bajaj receives a call from his old flame Aditi, he is seduced into a vortex of family lies and a murder. Vishal sets out to catch the murderer, while dealing with the resurgence of an irresistible desire for Aditi that he had buried years ago.

Vishal is a witty, hard drinking, tough private detective who doesn't mind getting his hands dirty as he races against time to catch a meticulous killer. Seduced by Murder weaves a web of noir and suspense that keeps the reader riveted and guessing till the end.

Verdict:
‘Seduced by Murder’ is the debut novel of Saurbh Katyal. When we read a detective story we often see the whole scene with the eyes of a detective and try to solve the case before the original detective does, but in this book the author has proper command over the plot and very effortlessly have kept the suspense till the end.

The name is so intriguing that the readers are bound to take a look at the blurb. ‘Seduce’ and ‘Murder’ are two different words and are a pure mismatch together but why the word seduce is so important in this murder mystery, one can find the answer only while reading it. The cover looks dull comparing to other books in the market of this genre and I would say this is not the best from the designer.

Debut author Saurbh Katyal has chosen a very simple yet gripping narrating style which will increase the reader’s reading speed. I appreciate the author for the witty one-liners he has added in those scenes which make them more entertaining. Each and every scene was described with such details that any reader can easily find the clue with the detective. There are few authors who gain respect by their writing style but this author will make readers his friend by his narrating style.

The characters are perfect for a story like this. Each and every time you start to believe that this guy/girl has nothing to do with the crime and in the next chapter the author somehow manages to shift the attention towards him/her. From our earlier experience of reading detective novels we always watch the detective with envy in our eyes but the main protagonist, the detective is different and unique in his own way. 

The story line is quite good but not excellent. The author has very efficiently framed his plot and maintained the guessing game till the end but the speed of the story was a bit slow comparing to be a murder mystery or a thriller. But as the story heads towards the end, it becomes unputdownable. The end will definitely shock the readers because like almost all other detective novels, here also the main culprit is the one least expected. Kudos to the author; for etching the end in such a wonderful way.

Talking about flaws, I do witness a few editing errors and few printing errors like punctuation errors or missing letters. These errors can easily be ignored if the speed was bit faster but that was not and a few times where the main protagonist was travelling through his past memories, the speed dropped to an average. Keeping in mind these flaws and the wonderful and witty narrating style of the author I would recommend this book to all the thriller lovers.


Final Words: A nice attempt by Saurbh Katyal of framing a detective novel and the humor of the author makes this book a must read. A fresh read in the genre of thrillers and murder mysteries.

Title: Seduce By Murder
Author: Saurbh Katyal
Publisher: Blue Jay
Page Count: 268
My Rating: 4/5

Available at –

Flipkart - http://www.flipkart.com/seduced-murder-english/p/itmdyzdfqggr8auq?pid=9789382891192&otracker=from-search&srno=t_1&query=Seduce+by+Murder&ref=6ee22e8e-62e6-4245-b389-c912f00e72f4

Amazon - http://www.amazon.in/Seduced-Murder-Saurbh-Katyal/dp/9382891196/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410067993&sr=1-1&keywords=saurbh+katyal


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