I feel as if I owe RV Raman an apology. If I had read A Will to Kill last year when I actually received it, it probably would have gone on my favorites list for 2020. This mystery, set in India, written by an Indian author, is the closest I’ve seen any author come to Agatha Christie’s books.
When Manu Fernandez visits Harith Athreya, he brings an invitation from his father, Bhaskar. Bhaskar Fernandez asks Athreya to attend a house party at the family mansion, Greybrooke Manor in Nilgiris in southern India. There are family issues, and someone has already attacked Bhaskar. After that incident, he changed his will. In fact, he wrote two wills. One will takes effect if Bhaskar dies of natural causes. The other takes effect if his death is not of natural causes. If his death is not natural, Bhaskar wants to commission Athreya to discover the person behind his death.
Harith Athreya travels to Greybrooke Manor where he’ll meet Bhaskar, his family, and several invited neighbors. Manu and his cousin, Dora, pick Athreya up after his train trip, but on the way to the estate, they just beat a landslide caused by the heavy rains earlier in the week. The manor is now cut off from the roads, and the house is running on generators because of downed power lines. Even before Athreya meets Bhaskar’s family and friends, he realizes there’s danger to his client. Once he meets them, including his host, a large man in an electric wheelchair, he recognizes the tension amongst the group.
After dinner that first night, Athreya walks on the misty grounds, where he can only hear conversations. He needs all those snippets of conversation to confront the family and guests when there’s a murder in the middle of the night.
A Will to Kill is a timeless mystery. Although it’s set now, without the cell phones, it could be set at any time. In Christie’s tradition, there’s a group of suspects that includes a retired military man and his wife, a priest, an artist, assorted servants, and family members with various reasons to want the family patriarch’s money. Harith Athreye gathers the group together several times to talk about alibis and the reasons for murder.
Fan of Agatha Christie? Try RV Raman’s A Will to Kill. I’ll be waiting for the next one in this series.
RV Raman’s website is http://www.rvraman.com
A Will to Kill by RV Raman. Agora Books, 2020. ISBN 9781951709075 (hardcover), 320p.
FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent a copy of the book on my request.
That’s the nature of the beast with people like us. At least 3 times a year, I pick up a book in my to be read pile that’s been sitting around for a while, and wish I’d picked it up sooner.
It is, Glen. I guess we just can’t read everything, as much as we try.
Always.
So true, Kevin.
Bought this last year as I saw a review from someone and it intrigued me. Of course it is sitting in the pile of yet to be read. Based on your review it will come to the top. And now I am even more intrigued.
My copy was on that kind of pile, too, Jeannette, until a friend asked me about it. I hope you like it!
This sounds like something I would really like! I am glad you got to it and were able to share with us. Checking the library now, and since it is from last year, little wait time.
Oh, good, Holdenj. I hope you can get it. Let us know what you think if you read it.
The link to the author’s website has a typo
Thanks! I’ll go back and look.