My Rating - 4 out of 5 stars
Publisher - Keetup PublishingGenre - Mystery
Publishing year - 2026
Language - English
ISBN - 978-1-996845-03-5
Pages - 400
At the centre of the story is Shanmugasundaram, a wealthy jewellery businessman who is found dead on the morning of his seventy-fifth birthday. His death brings his family and their complicated relationships under scrutiny, turning almost everyone around him into a potential suspect.
The family itself provides much of the drama. Shanmugasundaram has three sons: Siva, who is married to Ranee, Natesan, who is married to Kanaka, and Kumar, who is unmarried and struggles with alcoholism. His daughters are Devi, who is married to Subbu, and Vaani, who is divorced. Then there is Ratna, Shanmugasundaram's caregiver, whose presence within the household adds another dimension to the already complicated family dynamic.
What I liked about the characterisation is that the author does not make the family feel conveniently assembled just to populate a suspect list. Each person has their own personality, relationships and circumstances, and the interactions between them create a sense of a family that has accumulated years of unresolved tensions. There is a certain heaviness to the household, where personal expectations, family reputation and individual choices constantly collide.
Kumar, in particular, adds a troubled dimension to the family. His alcoholism makes him an inherently complicated character, while the relationships among the siblings and their spouses create enough friction to make the reader question what might be happening behind closed doors.
And then there is Ratna.
She was easily my least favourite character in the book. I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated with her as the story progressed. I will not explain why because that would take away from the experience for someone who has not read the book, but she was one character I had a particularly strong reaction to.
The setting is another aspect I appreciated. Mylapore gives the novel a strong sense of place rather than making the story feel like a generic murder mystery that could happen anywhere. The family home, social environment and cultural details create an atmosphere that suits the story and give the investigation a distinctly Chennai flavour.
The writing is also one of the stronger aspects of the book. Neetha Raman writes clearly and gives enough attention to the characters for the reader to understand their individual circumstances. The novel is chunky, but the prose itself is not difficult to follow. The author has also clearly put effort into establishing the family and its internal dynamics rather than rushing directly from the murder to the solution.
However, this is where my experience became more mixed.
For me, the book does not deliver enough of the suspense that I expect from a mystery novel.
A good mystery should make me question my assumptions repeatedly. I want to suspect one person, reconsider that suspicion, discover something that changes my understanding and then wonder whether I have been looking in the wrong direction all along.
Here, I felt that the motivations behind the suspects were revealed too early. Once I understood why different characters had reasons to be involved, much of the uncertainty surrounding them diminished. Instead of gradually uncovering their secrets alongside the investigation, I often felt that I was being given the information before the story had fully earned the revelation.
That affected the sense of anticipation for me.
The issue was not that there were no secrets. There were plenty. The issue was that I wanted the secrets to remain secrets for longer.
Because the motivations became clearer relatively early, some developments started feeling predictable. I could understand where certain revelations were heading instead of being genuinely surprised when they arrived. In a mystery, that can make a considerable difference because the enjoyment often comes from the process of discovering the truth rather than simply reaching it.
I also think the length of the book works against it in places. With such a large cast and so many personal complications, I expected the mystery to become increasingly intricate as the investigation progressed. Instead, I sometimes felt that the story was spending more time explaining the people involved than creating uncertainty around what had actually happened.
That said, I would not dismiss the book simply because the mystery did not work for me as strongly as I wanted it to. There is a solid foundation here. The family dynamics are interesting, the characters have enough individuality to remain distinguishable, and the setting gives the story personality. The author also demonstrates an ability to create interpersonal conflict, which is an important strength for a family-centred crime series.
For a debut, I can see the potential.
What I would like to see in the next book is a stronger emphasis on the mechanics of suspense. The author already has the characters and the conflicts. The next step would be to control the flow of information more carefully, allowing readers to remain uncertain about motives and possibilities for longer.
I also appreciate that this is not the end of the story. There is another part to come, and that gives Neetha Raman room to build on the foundation established here. I would be particularly interested in seeing how the characters evolve and whether the next mystery gives them a more challenging puzzle to solve.
Overall, it is a decent book with good writing and thoughtful character development. For readers who enjoy family dramas with a murder mystery at their centre, this could be worth exploring.
But if you are looking for a mystery that constantly keeps you guessing and makes you question every piece of evidence until the final revelation, this one may leave you wanting more.
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