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A Madras Mystery
A Madras Mystery opens with two young men exchanging a cryptic code about a location, in Chennai, to carry out their ‘operation.’ A string of abductions from various parts of the city sends tremors amongst the ruling class in Tamil Nadu. The State is embroiled in caste clashes and only a few months are left for the general elections. Power battle hots up within the ruling party as various heavyweights jostle for cabinet berths. As Ashwin IPS begins his investigations into the kidnappings, he is stumped by the unpredictable turns that await him. Who are the real forces behind the kidnappings? Are they to settle political scores? Or are there larger conspiracies behind the captures? Will Archana, Ashwin’s friend, help him solve the case?
- GenresFiction
201 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 11, 2021
6 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 2, 2021
An absolute page turner. I chanced upon this book on social media and I’m glad I did. A riveting, racy novel that beautifully captures madras heritage while taking you through the metropolis as it stands today. There is a lot of political satire, some good humour and interesting romance too. Would highly recommend!
May 28, 2021
I have mixed thoughts on this one. So going with a middling 3/3.5 stars. It's the author's first attempt at writing a novel and hence I want to cut him some slack. He seems to have been heavily influenced and inspired by Dan Brown's Professor Langdon adventure/thriller series. Worthy intent and attempt for sure, but disappointingly, a mediocre result, I would say.
This is an excellent choice for readers who want to have a quick, entertaining, and educative (about Madras City) read. My beloved city "Madras" is a huge character in the story and just for that one reason, I am willing to give brownie points to the novel. Spots in Madras find mention throughout the novel. I enjoyed detailed descriptions of historical as well as popular places in Madras (now Chennai) and parts of Tamilnadu.
Ashwin, ACP Chennai is busy dealing with caste clashes in the city. The politicians in the ruling party are plotting to become the next CM. Two youth are kidnapping the sons and daughters of these politicians for ransom. Ashwin is in love with his neighbor, the smart anthropologist Archana. These the various plots that make up the story.
The suspense is maintained pretty well for the most part with alternating plots being fed to the reader. The romance portions are good, mature, and realistic. The overall pacing of the story is slow given the context on which it is built. I found some of the chapters and dialogues quite dragging. The climax, I was hoping would be a big bang in the end but that turned out to be very plain. Could have been more dramatic and engaging. And the way the dots were connected in the end kind of felt like "just have to tie up the ends somehow and end the story".
This is an excellent choice for readers who want to have a quick, entertaining, and educative (about Madras City) read. My beloved city "Madras" is a huge character in the story and just for that one reason, I am willing to give brownie points to the novel. Spots in Madras find mention throughout the novel. I enjoyed detailed descriptions of historical as well as popular places in Madras (now Chennai) and parts of Tamilnadu.
Ashwin, ACP Chennai is busy dealing with caste clashes in the city. The politicians in the ruling party are plotting to become the next CM. Two youth are kidnapping the sons and daughters of these politicians for ransom. Ashwin is in love with his neighbor, the smart anthropologist Archana. These the various plots that make up the story.
The suspense is maintained pretty well for the most part with alternating plots being fed to the reader. The romance portions are good, mature, and realistic. The overall pacing of the story is slow given the context on which it is built. I found some of the chapters and dialogues quite dragging. The climax, I was hoping would be a big bang in the end but that turned out to be very plain. Could have been more dramatic and engaging. And the way the dots were connected in the end kind of felt like "just have to tie up the ends somehow and end the story".
February 3, 2021
I started reading this book on 29/01/21 and finished this book on 02/02/2021 .. This is my fastest till date and one reason is because this book was a gripping thriller! A Madras Mystery, a book written by my uncle has been the most interesting book I’ve read ever! I could never keep my hands off this book.. This book had a variety of genres included.. But the primary ones were Romance and thrill! A bit of both maybe:-)! This book infact, taught me a lot! There were so many words included (which I’ve never even heard of before).. It improved my vocabulary.. And I got to know so much about my city (Chennai) and many more stuff about my birthplace (Tiruvottiyur)! Each page had some or the other type of info. one had to know about! If it was someone else’s book, one could have concluded the story after reading half of it.. But this book was unique.. I tried so many times to guess what the ending of the story would be.. But I simply couldn’t! The ending was a complete shock for me! This story was a roller-coaster! (Contained so many emotions, LOL!) I generally am not a person who gets involved in stories, but few books do make me get emotional! Kite Runner was the first book that made me cry, and this book made me cry even more! I’ve always known my uncle as a jolly person , But today I got to know how a person changes as an author.. I would recommend people aged 10 and older to read this book atleast once in their lifetime!
Best wishes!
Your loving niece,
Vidhyashree Vijayakannan
Best wishes!
Your loving niece,
Vidhyashree Vijayakannan
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February 2, 2021This is one of those books that you stay up overnight to finish where you are running along the characters with an urge to sneak a peek at the last page.
An intense read, with storytelling at it's peak, A Madras Mystery is more than just an engrossing mystery. The story has all elements of a brisk thriller - secret codes, political mafia, adolescent romances, exploitation of power, history and debauchery.
Based out of Chennai, the author Rangarajan is an academic and a political advisor. The book is rich in the cultural, political and social dynamics of it's narrative and snippets of the author's extensive knowledge on history and politics can be witnessed at various stages of the book.
The main highlight of the book is the subtle dystopian outlook of the educated class of the society.
An intense read, with storytelling at it's peak, A Madras Mystery is more than just an engrossing mystery. The story has all elements of a brisk thriller - secret codes, political mafia, adolescent romances, exploitation of power, history and debauchery.
Based out of Chennai, the author Rangarajan is an academic and a political advisor. The book is rich in the cultural, political and social dynamics of it's narrative and snippets of the author's extensive knowledge on history and politics can be witnessed at various stages of the book.
The main highlight of the book is the subtle dystopian outlook of the educated class of the society.
February 6, 2021
A Madras Mystery is a thoroughly entertaining novel. The suspense is carried till the end keeping the reader engaged. The socio-economic ramblings and description of current state of affairs of the country brings out the angst and humaneness in the reader. What I however loved the most was the delightful insights about the city of Madras that has been woven into the story seamlessly. Part-anthropology, part-mystery and part-romance, the book is a please-all maiden attempt by the author! A Big thumbs up!
August 16, 2021
One time read....The plots were little predictable...But a good book to know about the olden days madras better.
January 17, 2021
Very gripping and has a smooth flow to keep you engaged.
February 15, 2021
Yet another tantalizing mystery with a blend of South Indian (esp Chennai) culture. This page turner is a complete package of politics, history, familism, romance and mystery.
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Plot- With numerous tremors and caste-clashes around major towns of Tamil Nadu especially Madras, the city seems to be still in suffrage post COVID situation. Plus with reinstatement of a new Cheif Minister, the political environment is quite in an internal imbalance.
Alex and Yousuf are on a mission of deciphering intense codes and carrying out kidnaps of wasted children of big and possibly corrupted politicians to procure an amount in crores. Ashwin an IPS, joint commissioner of police is head over heels for Archana, his neighbour, a good friend and a history lover. Her brother Arun and brother's friend Satish, are scientists working on a grand engrossing project. With ongoing riots in the city, a series of kidnaps and deaths, the state sounds to be in a peril. Ashwin is on a task to unveil the person behind these activities.
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The character building was in accuracy, I completely adored the bitter-sweet chemistry between Ashwin and Archana. The politics stuff, that normally doesn't interest me, got me engrossed too. The mentions of ancient structures in Chennai were a great treat. The unravelling part was quite a surprise for me.
.
Plot- With numerous tremors and caste-clashes around major towns of Tamil Nadu especially Madras, the city seems to be still in suffrage post COVID situation. Plus with reinstatement of a new Cheif Minister, the political environment is quite in an internal imbalance.
Alex and Yousuf are on a mission of deciphering intense codes and carrying out kidnaps of wasted children of big and possibly corrupted politicians to procure an amount in crores. Ashwin an IPS, joint commissioner of police is head over heels for Archana, his neighbour, a good friend and a history lover. Her brother Arun and brother's friend Satish, are scientists working on a grand engrossing project. With ongoing riots in the city, a series of kidnaps and deaths, the state sounds to be in a peril. Ashwin is on a task to unveil the person behind these activities.
.
The character building was in accuracy, I completely adored the bitter-sweet chemistry between Ashwin and Archana. The politics stuff, that normally doesn't interest me, got me engrossed too. The mentions of ancient structures in Chennai were a great treat. The unravelling part was quite a surprise for me.
April 14, 2021
A really nice attempt and the narrative was just fascinating. The way the story revolves around Chennai and the trivia are amazing. Author keeps you gripped till the end and has a knack for writing not cringy romances.
If the ending hadn't been so over the top, incredulous and clichéd (especially since the book was released just a few years after Endgame), it could have been one of the best contemporary stories.
If the ending hadn't been so over the top, incredulous and clichéd (especially since the book was released just a few years after Endgame), it could have been one of the best contemporary stories.
March 27, 2021
This book has so much Trivia about Madras (Chennai). Good fictional work by author...like Danbrown guided us to Vatican in his works , here we revolve around good old Chennai ...
May 21, 2021
very dragged down chapters but ended with a debatable good twist.
August 12, 2023
A short novel with a heavy message. The story revolves around a few politicians; Ashwin, a police officer, his girlfriend Archana and her brother Arun. There’s a twist in the decisions made in the ruling party which changes a lot of internal dynamics. Parallel to this, there is continuous kidnappings of the notorious sons and daughter of the ruling party ministers, asking for a crore as ransom. Ashwin sets out in search for an answer. Arun is out making a research in Javadu hills along with his friend. Who’s doing these kidnaps? What does Arun’s research have to do with any of this? Why are these kidnaps happening?
The author gives authentic informations about the beautiful places in Chennai. He brings out the beautiful flavour of a Brahmin household. Simultaneously he also talks about the truth in the politics happening here in #chennai . The author brings out a really great message in the story.
“No matter how much our society improves, no matter how much we go forward in technology, no matter how forward we move as a country, only the rich gets benefitted out of all this. The poor keeps getting more poor”. A strong message in a short story.
The author gives authentic informations about the beautiful places in Chennai. He brings out the beautiful flavour of a Brahmin household. Simultaneously he also talks about the truth in the politics happening here in #chennai . The author brings out a really great message in the story.
“No matter how much our society improves, no matter how much we go forward in technology, no matter how forward we move as a country, only the rich gets benefitted out of all this. The poor keeps getting more poor”. A strong message in a short story.
February 18, 2022
Engaging thriller. The author has beautifully written about Madras which made me imagine that I am at the location while reading the book.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews