Title : The
Case of the Secretive Sister
Author :
Nilanjan P. Choudhury
No. of Pages
: 162
ISBN : 978-9383098552
Mr.
Chatterjee is a middle aged man whose long experience in claims settlement for
an insurance company has made him a confident candidate to open his own
detective agency. His investigation skills do not get tested appropriately
as the cases that he gets to work on range from lost documents, missing pets or
runaway drivers. Not just that, the number of clients requiring his services
have been 'as elusive as Dr. Manmohan Singh in a chatty mood'.
One fine
day, Mr. Chatterjee gets a new client in an over-zealous mother, Mrs. Pammi
Chaddha who does not want to give up after her four year old daughter
Aisharadhya aka Pinky Chaddha (her 'home' name) has been denied admission
in one of the most sought-after schools of Bangalore. She wants Mr. Chatterjee
to make this daunting task of securing admission for Pinky in the same school, possible.
Though Mr.
Chatterjee does not see any hope of succeeding in this case, he wants to give
it a fair try. In order to do that he would have to confront the no-nonsense Sister
D'Souza who is at the helm of her school as the headmistress. He devices his
plans methodically which his smart secretary interprets as his approach
to rectify his piles problem. What follow are, action packed pages high on
cat and mouse, stalking, drama, comedy and much more. Well, what is a
detective novel without any of these elements?
'The Case of
the Secretive Sister' is the second book by the author Nilanjan Choudhury but
he comes across as a seasoned author especially when it comes to the tautness
of the narrative and the finesse in the language. Once the narrative takes a
fast-paced turn, at no moment does the tempo slacken. His choice of characters is
commendable, whether it is Mr. Chatterjee's secretary Ms. Jolly or Inspector
Gowda. From the accented voices of characters, one can actually hear their
respective 'native' (place) speaking. A true Kannadiga and Bangalorean,
Inspector Gowda takes it personally upon himself to sanitize his beloved city
of all - Chatterjees, Choudhurys, Chaddhas and Chaturvedis.
When we are
witnessing almost a dearth of true-to-genre books in the market, this book
comes as a whiff of fresh air where intelligent comedy is served in its full
glory. We are fast becoming a society where we seek maximum value for money
which is exactly the case with books as well. We are being offered medley -
comprising of various elements all together - comedy,
romance, adventure, et al. 'The Case of the Secretive Sister' reminds one of
the humour of the order that is penned by Bill Cosby, Bill Bryson and
P.G.Wodehouse. It is a pleasant change from the comedies that have inundated
the mainstream television and movies these days. If you are looking for a
small, light and a hilarious read, don't miss this one.
