Why did I pick up the book- because I cut my milk teeth on Holmes and if someone somewhere is talking about his missing years, I want in.
Interest zones- the various Holmisms, including ‘Elementary My Dear- replace Watson with his Desi counterpart, the seemingly wild observations that end being uncannily true which remain a little fuzzy to us even after the detailed observations, the few Holmsian incidents. The glimpses of the familiar landmarks of Bombay in early nineteenth century make me sit up and let out an ‘aaaahhh’ of curiosity.
And the book- has some good crimes. The narrative is not superb but does not grate that it takes away from the story. The Indian Watson is interesting.
But- the story has too many melodramatic moments, the villain is almost Bollywood like near the end- perhaps you can’t escape the Bollywood experience if you belong to the subcontinent and the interest wanes in the middle.
Pick it up- if you are Holmes fan or if you want a non-demanding reasonably well written crime read.
©Maya
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