Murder in the Chowdhury Palace – Sharmishtha Shenoy

First Sentence:

There was scratching sound outside the door.

Story:

Durga was wealthy once. But after the death of her parents her wealth was taken away by her maternal uncle. Since then, she has always wanted to be rich and famous.

So, when Durga meets Debnarayan Chowdhury in her college and they fell in love, she thinks her wish has come true. Debnarayan is a heir to the rich Chowdhury family.  His grand-father was a big businessman who had accumulated a lot of wealth and left a huge estate.

But Chowdhury family has a dark past. They have been cursed and the elder son of the family has always died young. Durga doesn’t belives in curse but Debu does.

When Debu’s father Birendranath dies unexpectedly Debnarayan and Durga have to come to the ancestoral home at Kakdihi, a small village near Kolkata.
Soon Debnarayan also dies. People believe it’s the curse but something doesn’t feels right to Durga.

Soon, Durga finds herself in between the strangers. She is a widow, she is alone and though everyone seems to be loving her outwardly, she knows something is amiss. They don’t like her.

And then things start happening. Bad things.

Was it really the curse that took Debnarayan’s life? 
Will Durga be next? 
Who is trying to harm her?

Major Characters:

Durga – Narrator of the Story
Debnarayan Chowdhury – Durga’s husband
Nagendranath-  Durga’s friend
Birendranath Chowdhury – Debnarayan’s father
Totona- Debnarayan’s mother
Somendranath- Birendranath’s sister Jagdamba Devi’s son
Dola – A bengali actress and Somendranath’s mother
Madhu – Somendranath’s son and he used to take care of the estate
Ellora – Somendranath’s daughter
Debendranth – A famous musician and Birendranath’s elder brother
Rajshekhar – Debnarayan’s younger brother
Bhupati mohan Chowdhury – Debnarayan’s grand father
Kanaklata – Debnaraya’s grand mother
Ram Sanyal – A local politician whose son was engaged to Ellora
Rajiv Sanyal – Ram’s son
Dinu – Guard at Chowdhury Palace
Paritosh – Neighbour of Chowdhury’s . He was the architect who had built Chowdhury  Palace
Manoj – Paritosh’s son. He was a painter
Kumud – Paritosh’s daughter and Ellora’s friend
Professor Amol Bannerjee and Rita Bannerjee – Another Neighbour of Chowdhury ‘s

My View:

Murder in the Chowdhury  Palace is the newest book by Sharmishtha Shenoy. I came across her Vikram Rana Series a while back and wanted to read her since. So, when an opportunity was presented to me to read this newest book by her i took it without thinking twice.

I also didn’t like Durga’s character and hence couldn’t feel sorry for her when her life was in danger and didn’t feel joy when she was saved. Yes, as the story progressed she changes her ways but she still felt like an opportunist to me. If the narrator would have been more likeable then i think i would have been more invested in the story.

Conclusion:
Murder in the Chowdhury Palace is a good mystery. It does start slow and author does takes a lot of time to set it up but once it picks up pace it just grabs you by the throat and makes it impossible for the reader to leave the book before finishing it. I was not able to find out who the murderer was and for me that means it’s a good mystery.

Though, I also think that if the novel would have been structured more properly then it would have had much more impact on me. Right now the reader has to wait for a long long time before something exciting happens. This waiting time could have been reduced. This waiting time is something which many readers could find irksome.

Rating: 3/5

Full Disclosure: I received this copy of the book by Book Review Tours in lieu of my honest opinion.

Some questions for the readers:

Question 1: Do you believe in Curses? Have you ever witnessed one?

Question 2: If you have to choose one, what would you choose: love or lots and lots of money? Why?

You can get the book from the following link:

Kindle

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