Book Review – Deal of Death by Sonia Chatterjee

Book Review – Deal of Death by Sonia Chatterjee

Phew! So the action-packed month has come to an end and we are at the last leg of the challenge. I am glad I took the plunge and despite a hectic schedule,with no time to even breathe, I pulled it off till the end. In the last 3 weeks, I wrote 7 posts on a mixed bag of topics – parenting, food, my blogging journey, and today, I decided to write a book review as my last post. This review was long overdue as I read this book quite sometime back but could not share my thoughts. So, here goes my review:

Book Name: Deal of Death

Author: Sonia Chatterjee

Genre: Detective Thriller/Mystery/Fiction

Rating: 4.5/5

Plot:

Deal of Death is an intriguing thriller detective fiction. The protagonist of the story is a female who quits her lucrative job as a banker (same as the author of this book) to pursue her passion as a detective. The story is fast-paced and has an intricate plot. The language used is crisp and the twists and turns make the readers hooked till the end.

Summary:

As a debut author, Sonia has done a commendable job writing this book in just 7 days. It was hard to beleive for me, at first, that a thriller can be written barely in a week but Sonia, with her exceptional writing skills, made it possible. Deal of Death is a crime detective fiction where the protagonist Raya Ray is the show-stealer. Throughout the story, I saw the author’s reflection in her. Her character has been very well portrayed as a strong lady, with a doting husband by her side, who quits her banking job and while fighting her health issues and grieving a personal loss, jumps into a new venture which she had always dreamt of – being a detective.

While she was getting only fidelity cases to solve, an opportunity knocks at her door to which she could not say no. This drives her to the quaint city of Munshiganj, a small yet enigmatic city in North Bengal. The author has described the town so vividly that one can actually picturise the entire set up. There is a temple and mosque flanking on the sides of the Nawab’s tomb. A river Annapurna and a twin ghat, Diwanganj on the banks of which this city is located. The author has added a few pictures in the book to give life to the city and she has succeded in her attempt.

Mystery of Munshiganj

How peaceful as the city may sound, it has some unusual royal history and intriguing incidents happening every now and then. The sound of the ringing bell at a particular time every night, missing newborns from the city, a lot of stillbirths etc. are a few strange happenings that make Raya Ray curious to figure out what this city and people are up to. She tries to join the dots in order to solve the case. During the investigation, she was attacked and alarmed by the masked perpetrators to return to her safe haven but without worrying about her life, she chose to stay back and investigate.

The story has been well written and the plot is quite intricate and strong. The narration is smooth, the author has beautifully given life to all the scenes. There are instances that actually will give you goosebumps and leave you in a nail-biting situation thinking what next. The reader can feel so much connected to the protagonist that whenever she is the danger, they pray for her escape and safety.  The author’s excellent command over the language and storytelling skills are evident in the book.

However, at some points, I had to turn the page back to connect with the character as there are many. Also, the flow of the story is affected by the meaning of the words given in the brackets. Footnotes would have been a better choice, I felt. In some places, the description of the situation/place seems exaggerated which too affected the flow of the story. There are a few scenes which feel unreal but then, its fiction so all points for that.

This book is a page-turner and hits the right chord in the crime fiction series and will surely stay with you, like me, for a long time. I wish all the very best to the author and more power to her mighty pen.

Availability:

So, if this review sounds intruguing and you enjoy reading thriller and mystery, grab your copy now. Read it yourself to know whether Raya Ray was able to solve the case or was trapped by the perpetrators. You can thank me later. You can find the author on Goodreads

I am taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter’s #MyFriendAlexa.