Book: The Girl in the Glass Case
Author: Devashish Sardana
Pages: 344
Read: The paperback pictured above
Read in: ~3.5 hours
Plot Summary: Simone Singh is a feisty IPS officer who would rather spend her days locking up criminals than apologizing for her lack of social skills. Freshly back from an unjust suspension, Simone is forced to team up with DSP Zoya Bharucha, an empathetic officer who's as loved in the police force as Simone is shunned.
Tasked with hunting the Doll Maker-who dresses up her victims as pretty Barbie dolls and displays them in glass cases-both must set aside their differences and work together as one team. But Simone and Zoya know that time is running out to piece together the clues as the Doll Maker has made it clear that she has just begun.
Things I Liked:
1. This book had an interesting premise- two active serial killers in a small town (Bhopal), who have left the local cops overwhelmed. What is not to like, eh? As everyone, who has read this blog for longer than a week will know, we love a good serial killer story! :)
2. The book is fast-paced and competently written, which is always a good thing. The writing in Indian books in English can range from being sublime (Amitav Ghosh, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Jhumpa Lahiri and many others) to be complete garbage (Chetan Bhagat et al). So, it is always a nice thing to find an Indian author with a competent command over the English language.
3. The build-up of the two mysteries- the two serial killers The Doll Maker (kills and dresses up kids as Barbie Dolls) and The Clipper (kills trans women and sends their privates to the cops)- is very intense and interesting. The author pulls you into this world where these two killers kill with impunity. We get to see chapters from the perspective of the killers as well as of the cops and this keeps the tempo of the narrative fast-paced and interesting.
4. The ending is satisfactory and has a few ups-and-downs and dramatic moments before the story ends- always a nice thing.
Things I Didn't Like:
1. Being an avid reader and consumer of crime fiction and true crime, I guessed each and every 'reveal'/ 'twist' a mile off! In fact, in the very first chapter, I turned to my sister and guessed one of the big reveals in the book very accurately. At the ~30% mark, I accurately guessed another 'twist' in the identities of the two serial killers. So, this book is kind of predictable and it uses tropes that are very common in international crime fiction books and series and can be spotted a mile off by anyone who is an avid follower of the genre.
2. There is little to no character development or even explanations of characters' motivations in this book. The hero cop - Simone Singh- is described as someone, who is angry and has "poor people skills" and that's that. There is no exploration on what makes her that way and we have to put up with chapters and chapters of her 'rage' and 'anger' without any context.
Similarly, the killers suffer from severe psychological issues and apart from some bare bones mentions of the triggers for it, we don't have any satisfying explanations on why the killers have these issues. Did they always have a certain crisis of identity or was it something imposed on them by their mother?
The lack of depth in all characters was very disappointing.
Rating: 3.5/5
Worth one read. If you are not an avid crime fiction reader, then you may find this book's twists enjoyable.
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