Book: Banquet on the Dead
Author: Sharath Komarraju
Pages: 276
How Long It Took To Read: 2 hours
Plot Summary: This book is a whodunit based in a small town in Andhra Pradesh. The story revolves around Kauveramma's family. Kauveramma was the matriarch of a large, influential family. One hot summer afternoon Kauveramma is found dead in the family's well. No one in that bustling household saw or heard anything. The only sounds heard were that of a splash and a scream and that too by the two workers working outside the gate of the house. The police almost rule her death as accidental, given her advanced age and the fact that she was found in the well without her glasses, without which she simply couldn't get around. Her grandson- Dr. Koteshwar Rao-however, is not convinced. Kauveramma was petrified of water, so much so that taking a bath everyday was a chore and washing her hair almost gave her panic attacks. Why then would she venture anywhere near the well?! Dr. Rao contacts the local police and insists on a thorough investigation. Enter Inspector Valmiki Nagarajan and his charming, and slightly unconventional, partner Hamid Pasha. Hamid is a reformed criminal with a sharp mind and sharper instincts and the two of them go about unravelling the many complicated aspects of this case to get to the culprit.
Key Characters: The two main characters in the story are Inspector Rajan and Hamid Pasha. There are, of course, several members of Kauveramma's household- her three children, her grandchildren and their spouses, servants and such like. None of these are particularly memorable. A few of them had potential, but were left half-baked. Kauveramma's daughter and granddaughter seemed promising, especially, the granddaughter who seemed angry and bitter for no good reason!
Inspector Rajan is a typical by-the-book cop but he is an honest man and he liked to leave no stone unturned to solve a case. Hamid Pasha is charming and his questions are insightful and smart. It was good to read about the two of them going about this case in two fairly different ways.
What I Liked: I liked the overall premise of the book. A woman is killed in the middle of a bustling household and no one sees anything. I also enjoyed the dynamics of this large family, especially, how there is so much animosity, resentment and ill-will lurking just under the surface. Old sins cast long shades, they say, and in a family, these old sins are never forgotten.
What I Didn't Like: I didn't like the actual investigative process. My whole reason for reading crime fiction is the investigation. I like to read those bits very carefully and look for clues and have my own list of suspects and such *geek alert* In this book, because the other characters (the suspects, so to speak) were so under-developed that it was impossible to make educated guesses about who the killer was! The most obvious person- in my opinion- who I had dismissed because it was so obvious, ended up being the killer. Oh well!
General Thoughts: I picked up this book because I really enjoyed Sharath Komarraju's debut novel- Murder in Amaravati. Murder in Amaravati was much more taut and well written. The characters in the village were brought skilfully to life. It was made easy for the reader to slip into the village like they lived there and watch the whole drama unfold. Also, I liked the fact that for a writer from an unconventional writing background (Komarraju is an IT guy), the author's command over English was more than adequate. He wrote simply but eloquently. In Banquet on the Dead, this fluidity in writing was missing- it seemed more laboured.
Will You Like It?: Let me put it this way, you'll probably like Murder in Amaravati more. You'll enjoy this book if you like reading about people in small towns and about slightly unconventional detectives.
Rating: 2.5/5
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