MURDER UNDER A RED MOON - A BANGALORE DETECTIVES CLUB MYSTERY BOOK 2 BY HARINI NAGENDRA

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BOOK NAME: MURDER UNDER A RED MOON - A BANGALORE DETECTIVES CLUB MYSTERY BOOK 2

AUTHOR NAME: HARINI NAGENDRA

GENRE: MURDER MYSTERY

PUBLISHER: HACHETTE INDIA

BOOK BUY LINK: https://www.amazon.in/Murder-Under-Red-Moon-Detectives/dp/1408715236


BOOK COVER IMAGE




BOOK REVIEW

There is no denying that cozy murder mysteries have become a part of my reading routine occasionally because of the social commentary involved and the comforts these books provide. It is safe to say that I have read quite a decent number of cozy murder mysteries and police procedural / detective stories to have certain expectations from a book and draw comparisons between them. 


This book is the second in the Bangalore Detectives Club mystery series, which involves the story of the famous detective, Kaveri Murthy, who tries to solve a murder mystery involving her distant relative. She must find Mr. Sharma's killer soon to avoid the possibility of having a murderer on the loose. Could it be his second wife Shanthi, who might've done it for his riches, or his daughter Chitra, who hates her stepmother or his daughter's fiancé Kumar? What did they do it for? Is it for money, love, or revenge Meanwhile, Kaveri is also striving to be a perfect daughter-in-law and is dealing with a scandalous Baba who might be hiding something huge in his ashram. 


I liked how the book was socially relevant despite being set in the 1920s. The author has included a chapter explaining the local terms and dedicated a chapter for recipes for local foods mentioned in the book. Small things like these make me happier for choosing the book instead of having to google every single time. It appears to be a very convincing title because the secondary characters were involved in the story as much as the protagonist. I liked how everyone was included as a part of the success story instead of just celebrating the protagonist as the heroine in the end. 


But, but, but. There were a handful of murder mysteries I have read before to point out that Kaveri Murthy isn't an intelligent detective, as said in the book. She seems to miss glaring shreds of evidence and is very dull for a detective. I don't know if it's because I haven't read her first book to understand better. The book is stretchy all over, and it would have been better if it had been 50 pages shorter. I could guess it all in the beginning, and the disclosure in the end did not affect me at all. Try it if you love cozy mysteries or trying to explore the murder mystery genre. 



MY REVIEW: 3/5

This is a part of Blogchatter’s #TBRchallenge

#penbooksandscalpel


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