My rating: 4/5 stars
I picked this book up as a light read in between
two heavy research kind of books I’m reading, and thoroughly enjoyed
it. Set in 403 CE, the book is a historical murder mystery fiction,
what’s not to love?
The events in the book take place in
Nandivardhana, in modern day Maharashtra, and there are mentions of
Pataliputra, Kashi, etc., throughout the book. I loved reading the
author’s imagination of what common people’s life would have been like,
and especially the real words that are used throughout the book. There
is no business of “clarified butter” in place of ghee, if you know what I
mean. The conversations feel genuine, the incidents and events feel not
forced. The progress of the mystery slowly unfolding kept me wanting to
read more. 4 stars from me, because I thought a few things in the book
felt disjointed and could have been tied together in a better way.
If you’re an Indian history lover and a mystery lover, definitely pick it up!