Book Review : ‘Dead in a Mumbai Minute' by Madhumita Bhattacharya

‘Dead in Mumbai Minute’ is a part to what I hope is not a trilogy. I do not want it to end, with a third book itself. That being said, I should also add, that it is the second part to the series, the first of which was called ‘The Masala Murder’. 

Called a Reema Ray mystery was a good start to the novel. It gives you an extra thrill when you start off from the cover itself. Not to mention the cover page with a woman and a gun.

Reema Ray is the pretty and clever detective of this book. She was working in Kolkata, prior to this. She has just joined Titanium in Mumbai. Titanium, headed by Shayak Gupta is probably the best detective agency in the country, and with their hi-tech gadgets and their equally competent people, they are expected to find the culprits. Shayak is pretty well-connected considering his previous army background, and is in touch with top cops in Mumbai’s police force. 

The story begins with a murder on a private island, owned by Bollywood superstar, Kimaya. Kimaya, who was married to Shayak (a secret to the public), has hired him for managing her private security detail. He is now hands on and is expected to find the murderer of the victim, Ashutosh Dingre, who was Kimaya’s agent. He was a kindly, old guy and a thorough gentleman.

Reema and Shayak set out to find the murderer, before Shayak and Kimaya’s relationship comes out in the open. Shayak, who has a few secrets to keep, now wants to stay out of the whole fiasco, due to which he pushes Reema into the spotlight. I might also add about Reema and Shayak’s on and off romantic twists.

How she finds the murderer, and manages to save Shayak from the undue embarrassment leads to the end of this story. I think this book is good, in spite of the slight extra masala of Shayak’s agency, despite his connections. It is a good book, and I would like to read the future novels. The action in the novel proves equal to an Akshay Kumar movie, something which I surprisingly, enjoyed.

Also, there wasn’t a single grammatical error and I could not put down the book, which are definite points in her favour. Though of course, I did find a few problems with the flow of the story. But, ‘Dead in a Mumbai Minute’ looks to move on to greener pastures in the next novel by Madhumita Bhattacharya.

BTW, you can catch Madhumita Bhattacharya's Interview right here.

Author: Madhumita Bhattacharya

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Pan Macmillan India

ISBN: 978-93-82616-17-7

Price: Rs 299 /-