Review of 'Happily Murdered' by 'Rasleen Syal'

Blurb: ‘Who killed GulabSarin?’

The radiant new daughter-in-law of the influential Mehta family dies mysteriously on the very next night of her wedding. The murder is an inside job, the police are certain. It could be anyone – the adulterous husband, convincing in-laws, jealous friend or the love struck ex-fiancé.

With an aim to save themselves and incriminate other, it is not long before these suspects turn into armature detectives, hunting for clues and delving into hidden secrets only they can unearth. They coerce, pry and blackmail in an attempt to get the bottom of the mystery.

Will one of these nine unlikely sleuths finally unravel the mystery behind Gulab’s death and avenge it? Or will the truth die as viciously as Gulab?

Verdict: ‘Happily murdered’ is the debut work of Rasleen Syal. Happily and Murdered, both are so different that even Microsoft word can’t bear them sitting back to back but here the debut author has chosen this as the title for her crime thriller.

Not only the name but the cover will also give a hard time to the reader’s brain cells. Bridal attire drenched in blood, how interesting is that and after reading the blurb readers are bound to pick the book.

The book is written in a well-crafted manner. The narrating style perfectly matches the need for this piece of story line. As the author says I can very much relate her style of storytelling with the veteran thriller writer Agatha Christie. I appreciate the author for framing the chapters in such a beautiful way by putting Gulab’s version too.

The story starts with Gulab Sarin, the new bride of Sid Mehta, found dead in the Ratnagiri Palace of Uttaranchal. After the initial investigation police declare, this murder is work of an insider from the renowned Mehta Family. As the story moves on and the family members starts to find clues to save their own back, readers will witness a breath-taking journey. This story is full of surprise elements and the thrilling story line will hook the readers till the very end. I personally feel the success of a crime thriller is, if the author can distract the mind of the reader from the main culprit and in the book I can easily say that Rasleen Syal has been able to do that. As all effective crime thrillers, this book’s end will also make the readers smile at the efficiency of the author.

At the middle of the book I felt the author was getting distracted from the main course. But soon the author made up for this by introducing another twist in the tale. Few printing errors are also spotted. But overall these errors can easily be ignored and this book can be called one great thrilling read.

Final Words: The smooth narrating style and the efficiently framed plot will keep readers hooked until the mystery solves and when it solves, readers will smile with teary eyes.

Title: Happily Murdered…
Author: Rasleen Syal
Publisher: Srishti Publisher &Dristributors
Page Count: 246
My Rating: 4.5/5

Available at -

Flipkart - http://www.flipkart.com/happily-murdered-english/p/itmdwuhbmsud4cvf?q=Happily+Murdered....+%28English%29&as=on&as-show=on&otracker=start&as-pos=p_1&pid=9789382665182

Amazon - http://www.amazon.in/Happily-Murdered-Rasleen-Syal/dp/9382665188/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408192263&sr=1-1&keywords=happily+murdered