This book comes with a whiff of fresh mountain air. A very welcome change in today’s polluted Delhi scenario 
Every page of this intriguing murder mystery takes one deeper into forests and higher into mountains. This is one of the reasons that I loved reading it as much as l did.
This is also the first introduction by author Udayan Mukherjee to a rather elegant detective, Neville Wadia. Who I definitely want to see more of!
Wadia, an ex- supercop, has chosen a quiet, idyllic life in a small hamlet in the Himalayas called Birtola. But his peaceful existence comes to an abrupt end with the gruesome murder of a friend and activist, Clare, near a bubbling mountain brook,forcing him to don the mantle of being a detective once again.
This event brings the sleepy village of Birtola to a rude awakening and becomes a perfect setting for an unputdownable ‘whodunit’.
What rings true for this book is the love of the author for his beloved mountains. Through his depiction of them, he ensnares us into imagining us being there, walking those narrow mountain paths, making our acquaintance with simple hill people and becoming a part of their life.
The murder itself and the varied characters introduced within the story as possible suspects keeps one turning the pages and second-guessing the writer.
Like Udayan’s previous book, Dark Circles, which was family centric, I found this book, well written though simple in language and vocabulary. It’s almost like he’s testing his writing chops before really plunging into the writer in him.
Personally, I can’t wait for his next book and see where he takes us with his imaginative forays!
