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Meticulously mysterious

Published - March 18, 2010 04:02 pm IST

This investigation drama is an irresistible read.

Flying from Fate by Sairbh Katyal

It was a normal Sunday afternoon, at least as normal as it could get in the Hunt Detective Agency. Detective Vishal Bajaj had solved another one of those extra-marital affair cases and had conveyed its outcome to his client, ready to call it a day. After all, no one calls a private detective on a Sunday afternoon. And that is what he intended to do, until the phone rings.

Murder calls

Curious, as it couldn't possibly be a credit card company he answers it, only to hear silence and then a familiar, unforgettable voice. It was her. Aditi. His old flame. The resurgence of deeply buried emotions leaves him staggering.

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Aditi married Sunil, a classmate of theirs, three years ago. Now, Sunil's older brother, Anil, has been found murdered at their farmhouse, and the first person Aditi turns to for help is Vishal.

She places the call and briefly tells him about the murder and asks him to come to the crime scene immediately. The hysteria in her voice compels him to go to her and along with him goes his second-in-command, his hopeless but faithful sidekick Pranay. Also on the case giving him company are Inspector Babu, a pompous and limelight-loving policeman and his subordinates.

They examine the crime scene and draw conclusions. They make queries and they look for the answers. The prose is furnished with absolute mystery, a little romance and a lot of family drama, albeit of the new age. Every character lies under the cloud of suspicion. Every page unearths hidden truths.

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One murder leads to another, planned in great detail very carefully like the previous one. New trouble manifests itself in the guise of a large sum of missing money. On the track of the murderer, Detective Vishal unfolds a completely unimaginable plot putting two and two together.

With consequences of the blame game, forgery, misleading evidence, nosy reporters, missing money and battling his feelings for Aditi, he closes in on the culprit, good triumphs over evil, justice is served and the case ceases to remain open.

Good read

The level of mystery is highly intoxicating and even the casual reader can't resist reading on. This meticulously planned novel, an intricate tapestry of mystery is largely a case of drama with a little dab of reality.

A must read for those who can't get enough drama from the soap operas. This one's going to have your head spinning with shocking (or maybe not so shocking) revelations.

Title: No Flying From Fate

Writer: Saurbh Katyal

Publication: Gyaana Books

Price : Rs. 295

SHWETA J. NICHANI, I Year, B.Sc. ISM, M.O.P. Vaishanv College For Women

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