BOOK REVIEW

"WHO KILLED THE MURDERER?"

   __________________________________By MOITRAYEE BHADURI

I love the books wherein every line enunciates what an ardent observer the author is. 'Who Killed the Murderer?' is just that kind of book.

A dark and spine-chilling story, 'Who Killed the Murderer?' will force the readers to ruminate how vulnerable and fragile life is. An untoward night, an irresponsibly hatched out mischief, unchecked immaturity and a moment of rage can bring us lifelong suffering. A selfish lie by a young girl against three boys (one out of the three is her twin brother) instigates two of them for revenge. And, when they have their revenge, her life changes forever. For the rest of her life, she lives with two daggers- one, pierced in her heart and another in her hand to harm others. She despises every pre-teen boy, even her son. So heart-wrenching! She turns selfish, self-centered, and wicked. No, don’t hate her. She is just sick and not responsible for her trauma. Faulty parenting and unruly schoolmates are accountable for her criminal psyche. 

An act of ghastly and cruel revenge can kill a person or turn him or her into a fearless, ruthless and deadlier survivor. No sane person would choose either even for his worst enemy.

 Though a thrilling murder mystery, this book is enlightening for the parents. The story is a testimonial of how the parents' ignorance and a casual approach can ruin the life of a child and the people associate with him or her. The unreasonable unwillingness of Shagun's mother to engage a psychologist and her excessive obsession for only one of her children (Shagun) only aggravated the ordeal she suffered with.

On page 141, one of the characters talks about “Rage disorder”. Psychologists also call it “Intermittent Explosive Disorder or IED. The sufferers show hostility, impulsivity, and burst into anger despite a lack of adequate reason. In the cases when family members are aware that the person is ill and needs to visit a psychologist but the ‘patient’ doesn’t admit that he or she is sick. They too, keep on suffering along with the person ill of IED. It is a dilemma for the people who want to help the patient but are helpless. I wish the psychologists could suggest a way to make the suffering person understand that it is a curable disorder and treatment and counselling can make life so much pleasurable and enjoyable for him or her and the other family members.

‘Once his cigarette is over, he will feel guilty and come back with an apology.’ Page 41

This is so true!

The author seems to know about everything- smokers, TV actresses, the casting couch, the police, the detectives, the beauty parlours, child psychology et al- everything is so well researched that you never feel inadequacy. Except for two moments when the private detective, Milli Ray lights smokes at wrong places- once in the living room of her super-rich clients, the Seths, and another in a hospital never did my over-analysing brain object.

I loved the way Moitrayee has pen-sketched her characters. They all are blessed-lesser-mortals- talented but have humanly vices.

Milli Ray fails to impress me. I will hail her only as a hard-working detective and expected her to be sharper and smarter than she appears. I would suggest the author to polish her character and give her a little more guile as she is likely to repeat her in another thriller. Milli Ray, the ex-cop and detective, deserves it and I am already yearning to read another adventure by her.

The portrayal of Shagun's character is the immaculate and sheer brilliance of Moitrayee’s writing. She has really worked hard on presenting her protagonist as a ruthless but suffering psycho. At times, one can feel the author's empathy for her leading lady. She is parti pris to her protagonist in her narration. I justify it.

ACP Trehan, smitten by Milli’s dynamism appears, like a Sub-Inspector and lacks the flamboyance and authority his rank and occupation warrant. May we see him  act like an ACP in future adventures. I wish!

Rik Sharma alias Rishabh Gupta and Neel Khatan appear as good as their character-traits are. The rest of the characters are mere props.

The writing style and the mature handling of such a sensitive story need a special mention. When you are an author yourself, you tend to read a book more with a writer’s frame of mind and less as a reader. Moitrayee’s writing forced me to read it more as a reader. Not many writers have done that to me. 

Yes, Shelley said, “Sometimes, the devil is a gentleman. I say, all devils are gentlemen with some behavioural dysfunctions.

And, at last, I wish to ask Moitrayee if she aspired to be a detective at some point of time in her life.

Few Things worth mentioning…

1.      A few chapters end with a one-word-sentence. They build up curiosity.

2.      There is not even one steamy scene despite so many entangled and complicated relationships. I admire.

3.      The mention of Bradley Cooper. He doesn’t have a prominent upper lip like me… You know, what I mean.

4.      This is a must-read book for the parents like Mr. and Mrs. Chopra. And, if anyone feels he or she has the slightest of characteristics as Shagun, the protagonist has, they must seek the help of a psychologist immediately. Please don’t let one bad night or an unpleasant incident deprive you of the happiness and love you deserve.

Nobody is a villain. We just need to wring our hearts to squeeze out the poison. We deserve it. We deserve a life. We deserve happiness. We deserve love.