There are few novels in Mystery or suspense genre in Indian writing in English. Rupali Rotti ventures into this less trodden path for her debut novel The Valentine's Day Clue. It is the coming of age story of two college going youngsters who want to be detectives. They are presented with a real world case when one of their friends is bashed up a day after the valentine's day. So the novel is not only about how they solve the case by gathering help from friends but also learn tricks of the trade in the process.
What I liked about the book is Ms. Rupali has a casual style of writing and is mostly successful in holding the suspense throughout. Book left me wanting go on a trek to Sinhagad and explore the caves. Chapters are crisp and language is simple. She took care not to complicate the plot there by making it a very nice and easy read. I read it in a single day, partly because I wanted to send feedback to Rupali and partly because it was such an easy read.
At times there is too much detailing and that seems to be deliberate to make it easy for international readers. I felt she could have used more depth in emotional conflicts to add more drama. Before reading the book 'Nayak brothers' struck me as mature sleuths, going into the book I had to set my expectations right. It had been a long time I had read about young amateur detectives on trail and somehow after reading, it reminded me of Doordarshan's 'ek do teen chaar', which still is one of my favorite teen detective serials.
On the whole it is a decent first novel. Choosing a young detective genre and engage the reader is quite a challenge and author must be commended for her honest efforts. Rupali and Nayak brothers are here for the long haul and hope they keep enthralling the readers in their subsequent adventures.
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