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                                                Image Courtesy : Amazon Linnet Ridgeway has inherited a vast fortune from her parents and is constructing a house in England. Jacqueline De Bellfort, close friend of Linnet, is deeply in love with Simon Doyle. Jacqueline asks Linnet to consider Simon for the job of land agent. Linnet agrees and hires Simon. Linnet is smitten about Simon and marries him. The pair goes on a honeymoon to Egypt. They are surprised to find Jacqueline everywhere they go. Jacqueline derives pleasure by making the Doyle’s uncomfortable in her presence. Jacqueline considers that stalking is the best revenge to the pairs betrayal. Poirot, who is on a vacation , is approached by Linnet seeking help to end the trouble of Jacqueline. Poirot rejects Linnet’s proposal to act on her behalf as he feels that Linnet is at significant fault for...

                                                                                                                 Image Courtesy : Amazon A group of women gather at a book club and discuss about books. In one such meeting, there were altercations between couple of members of the club.   After the meeting, 2 of the members of the group were found dead in quick succession. Who has committed the murder? Does the murder has anything to do with the book club at all?   There is no protagonist in this book as all the characters have equal footing. If you have grown up reading detective novels featuring Poirot or Sherlock Holmes, be prepared well in advance, as this book is not a larger th...

                         Image Courtesy : Amazon Richard Abernethie, a wealthy man, dies at home. All the relatives of Richard gather together to discuss the will during which, Richard’s sister, Cora says Richard is actually murdered. Cora is found dead the next day. Mr Entwhistle, the family solicitor, calls up Poirot and requests him to investigate both the murders. Poirot, as usual, using his little grey cells resolves the murderer. A typical Christie - Poirot murder mystery would be like, a murder is committed and there are 4 to 5 primary suspects. Each suspect has a motive to commit the murder and each of them has something to hide from the investigators. At the end, Poirot dramatically   reveals the murderer (who generally is the least suspect) by gathering all the participants in a room. After the funeral follows the exact typical, tried and tested formula of Agatha. Christie’s love for dysfu...

                                                Image Courtesy : Amazon The Fisher Queen's Dynasty narrates the series of incidents that lead up to Mahabharata from the perspective Satyavati, the grand matriarch of Kuru Family. Ever since the stupendous success of Shiva trilogy, mythology has become a favorite genre for many of the Indian writers to attract audience. I don’t mind reading them as long as these books bring in some fresh perspective or a refreshing retake on the incidents that could have happened centuries ago. Having said that, people like me, who have read and watched Mahabharata zillion times since childhood, this book does not bring in anything new to the tables.   Satyavati is generally considered as strong women in Mahabharata. Kavita Kane does nothing to bring this trait to the readers. Inspired by Palace of illusions (wh...

                          Image Courtesy : Film Affinity Mrs Argyle was brutally murdered one night and police began to question all the inmates of Mr Argyle house. All the circumstances point to Mr Jacko Argyle, the youngest son of Argyle’s, as the potential murderer. The police filed a case against Mr Jacko who claims that he had a alibi of a person who provided a lift to him in a car. The investigative team tried searching for the person whose resemblance matches the description that Mr. Jacko provided. Since, they could not find any one with such characteristics, the court decides that he is making up the entire alibi and imprisons him for about 10 years. Jacko dies in prison due to pneumonia. 2 Years later, Arthur Calgary visits Mr Jacko’s house and informs them that he was an alibi that Jacko was searching upon. Calgary informs them that he was suffering from concussion and couldn’t recollect his lost memor...

                                                  Image courtesy : Amazon Strangers on a Train is a psychological thriller about 2 men who accidentally meet each other in a train and how their lives change after that meeting. Guy Haines, an architect, is on a train to meet his unfaithful wife, Miriam, to discuss about his impending divorce with her so that he can marry Anne. He meets Bruno in the train who is completely drunk. Bruno suggests that he would kill Guy’s wife and Guy should kill his father in turn. Guy laughed off his suggestion and proceeds with his life. However, Bruno takes this seriously and kills Guy’s wife and he forces Bruno to honor his commitments of killing his father. Did Guy kill Bruno’s father and what happens after forms the crux of the story. The narrative is dark and the writing ensures that the readers are transpor...

                                                  Image courtesy : Amazon Spike Fortune is a millionaire whose only worry in life is whether he will die before spending all his money. As a result, he calls up his doctor at odd hours complaining that he is about to die. Tired of Spike's tantrums, his doctor advises him to start business to spend all his money. Spike agrees to the doctors advise and asks Jerry Fortune to find a business for him. Jerry suggests Spike to start a business that will sell exclusive foods to dog. Spike starts a business and what happens afterwards is a hilarious take on marketing and humans around us. The entire book is a satire on contemporary marketing techniques and pseudo history of marketing management. This book might have been a product if PG Wodehouse had chosen to write about marketing. Most of the line...