You pick up some books because they have an interesting summary at the back page. Some, because you have heard a lot about them. I picked up "Murder in Amaravati" for a totally new reason. I knew the author -- personally! Hence, the first few pages were read with a "judgement" of "lets see hows the writing like".
But after a few pages, I forgot I knew Sharath and was completely involved in the story and characters. Here is , thus, an unbiased review of Murder in Amravati.
Sharath has done a brilliant job in setting up the village Amravati and its characters in the reader's mind. He goes about slowly describing first Amravati and then its residents with minute details. The plot begins from the second chapter and thankfully not much time is wasted here. Like a typical murder mystery, every character has the opportunity and motive to kill Padmavati , the village hostess. The night when she is killed, all suspects meet her in unusual circumstances making the story rich in twists and turns.
I will not give away anything about the story except for the fact that it is definitely gripping. After learning the story of every villager, your mind goes, "Hmmm, it can be him/her ...but ..." so in a way, you start becoming Venkat Reddy, the "detective" of the story. The details come across slowly and logically. Every little detail mentioned in the story comes up and joins in the end. The characters are pretty real. Venkat Reddy who takes up a case more because of a moral obligation than a duty commits and realizes his mistakes in the course of the case which makes him and also the fact that this is his first case more believable. The story sticks to its rural roots and so does the sensibilities and (the conservative) thinking of the characters.
On the down side, there were a few too many characters and I found myself a little puzzled with questions like ..which one was Laxmi?? (Or maybe it was my fallout). I also thought that Sharath was trying deliberately to make the language a tad bit more sophisticated. Now this can be controversial point. Some may say that it is necessary to keep the level a notch above the rest to cater to the real "appreciating" audience and some may argue that to increase the fanbase, one has to go a little easy on the synonyms and "pretty" words.
My opinion: This book is surely worth a read. Go grab it! And you can always ask Sharath to sign a copy for you. I am sure he will be happy to oblige. :)
