Wow!! Ten X Murders for the Mind is my first Amitav Ganguly book. Indeed a wonderful book on murder mysteries. I was hooked by its cover – it conveyed what could lie inside the book. It was simple yet engaging. Overall, the book is a fast read, though it has 10 stories, running over 300 pages. What I noticed that all stories’ length is almost equal. In fact, all stories are lengthy and sound like a short novella that I often read on Kindle.
The author has maintained a fixed kind of pattern for storytelling. He used sweeps and back stories very rarely. The stories chug ahead with amazing twists and turns, keeping the predictability at bay. In most of the stories, the crime takes place at the beginning. Thus, making ground for the Inspector Samsher Brahma. He is the lead character in all stories. All murders and crimes are solved by him and his team. All stories are Indian.
It is a collection of murder mystery stories. Each story is different from its previous theme and characters. However, the guy solving these mysteries is Inspector Samsher Brahma of the Homicide Squad. Thus, I can conclude that the stories are set against one particular city. But it never occurred to me that. I always felt the difference in all aspects. Or possibly, the author didn’t open himself with nature or city workarounds, he kept many things secret and silenced. It was done to instill a sense of suspense in each story.
Some stories are spiced since the beginning, while a few takes time midway, and some of the stories sound totally unpredictable but the end clears the fog from everything. There is discipline and dedication in the book. Nothing is random or ill planned. Mr Ganguly shines with his brilliant narration of crime events and then unfolds them on the basis of logic and evidences. At any point, none of the stories sounded ‘open and shut’ cases, however as the investigation proceeds it reveals more secrets than one could possibly think.
By all means, the author did his best to keep the identity of the killer hidden. A fantastic crime thriller! To some extent, a classic book with good stuff and all. I will read more books by the same author!
If you liked my review and found the book interesting, you can buy the book from Amazon/Kindle.
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