Review of The Colours of Passion

Title : The Colours of Passion

Author : Sourabh Mukherjee

Blurb : "Who killed Tollywood heart-throb Hiya Sen?

Within days of her fairy-tale wedding with Manav Chauhan, the dashing young entrepreneur, Hiya Sen, the reigning queen of Tollywood, is brutally raped and murdered by three men. As ACP Agni Mitra investigates into the high-profile murder, he meets Neha Awasthi, with whom Manav broke his engagement to marry Hiya, Neha’s father Deepak Awasthi, who was eyeing business benefits through the alliance, Mayank Kapoor, an alcoholic model, and Rituja Bose, the diva who had reigned over Tollywood over the past decade. When two more murders connected with the case make headlines, it’s time for Agni to find answers to perplexing questions and unveil shocking truths.

The Colours of Passion breezes through Kolkata’s glamorous world of industrialists, movie stars, models and fashion designers laced with drug addiction and illicit liaisons, with a heart-wrenching tragedy at its core.

My View: Detective Agni and Rituja Bose, Oh my gosh! The aroma surrounded by these two names made me excited about the book.Those who have read Sourabh' s debut book 'In the Shadows of Death', can relate to the excitement I had when I read their names again in this book.Don't be afraid readers, if you've picked up this book, and missed his debut one. There's no such dependency of the previous story on this one. It's just that some characters are same, and the most likely ones!

Chapters are just a journey of few minutes and I just couldn't hold myself to turn off my reading journey. I was just flipping through the pages and I came close towards the end unexpectedly in a very short span of time. Short chapters proved beneficiary in this book because one could just feel that let's just finish this chapter, just a matter of 3-4 minutes and then can continue with another work. But, the same thought repeatedly occurred to me when I finished one and all set to hop on to the next one.

 
There was one thing that was revolving in my head during the read: There were constant reminders of festivities of Durga Pooja in Kolkata (where the plot is set). I felt unsure about its presence, whether they are presented to create a benefitted ambiance for the story or it has some link with the murder. Well, if it is the former one, then I didn't find it much of a use, but if it is the latter one, then I was more than interested to know it's game. I was trying to find its significance until the end, but couldn't found any.

Mysteries are fun when you walk the path created by the author and then at the end he twists the path in such an unexpected way that you suddenly realize the creator is surely way ahead of you.Before Agni could solve the mystery behind one murder, other queues up in the list. And that's where the reader couldn't leave his hands and forced to walk along with him.

What is there in the thriller when there aren't so many suspects?From husband to ex-lover, co-star to in-laws and a lot more, the list of suspects will keep on rolling.I wouldn't say that this is one of the best Indian thrillers I've read, but it put me engaged no matter what.The twist came when another murder happened, and it came with lots of possibilities, and more suspects.

Rating: 3.7/5

Reviewer: Shweta Kesari