The Blue Monsoon by Damyanti Biswas (Review By Danielle Urban)

Rating: 5/5

The Blue Monsoon by Damyanti Biwas is a thrilling tale. This thriller features India and its culture. The characters are all Indians. Readers get a different experience from the usual thrillers. I love how the setting and characters were from a different location and culture than what is normally featured in most books. It also teaches us readers, words used in India. I thoroughly enjoy learning while following an entertaining crime fiction story. A series that teaches words from another language is similar to those about the Amish faith. Some Pennsylvania Dutch is used throughout those books. Since this book series is in India, I’m learning pieces of the Indian language. This makes the book stand out even more so. In that, readers get more than just entertainment from Damyanti Biwas’ novel. This tale is the second novel in the Blue Mumbai series. 

Damyanti Biwas quickly introduces readers to the crime scenes. I arrive as the detectives investigate the murder scene which has a crowd on a rainy day. The writer creates an atmosphere that matches the scenes ahead. The tone and mood is set with dark and morbid feelings. As a reader, I can tell the plot will be complicated, complex, and suspenseful. A murder at a temple, evidence is posted online, the lead detective has a seriously injured wife…one can see that there will be a bumpy road ahead. The writer has carefully let us readers into the villain’s head. This only adds to the intense story. Guessing who the perpetrator is a constant guessing game. I knew what the villain had done but didn’t know who the villain was. I like that I am kept in the dark. Also, the mystery of who is killing and why, keeps readers, like me, hooked until the ending where all the details are neatly tied. So many plot twists are in this exciting read, that it is hard to put down. For fans of Sandra Brown, Heather Graham, and Sharon Sala, this is a must read thriller.