A Killer Among Us by Ushasi Sen Basu

When a title like this leaps out at you, with a cover that sends a chill down the spine, an expectation arises that the story be as compelling. What a wonderful premise – an old, run-down set of flats in Kolkata, Panorama Apartments, with a murder and a whole pool of suspects, each replete with their own quirks.

The characterisation of these suspects is deft – Ira Dutta, a young and feisty journalist; Nandana Roy, middle-aged and “an unsung martyr to the altar of domesticity”; Deepa, a single mother, disciplined and taciturn; the old lady, Mrs. Ghoshal, almost akin to an Indian Ms. Marple, twittering and birdlike, addicted to her television serials and her aromatic fish chops; the voluble Pallabi and her secrets; and the gentle Kedarnath, knuckling under his old mother’s thumb.

The mystery is reminiscent of an Agatha Christie novel, as red herrings are strewn around and the suspense mounts, leaving the readers racking their brains to hunt for clues that will unravel the devious plot. 

Ushasi Sen Basu writes a taut tale, bringing in inept security guards, a haunted flat, an irate house owner with a patriarchal mindset, anonymous letters and myriad mysterious forays at night by the residents.

The questions keep piling up as the minds of the readers shuttle between suspects, like the to-and-fro movement of the lift that contained the victim. The dead man’s account is a piquant device added by the author to help move the story forward. 

The book deals with modern day dilemmas as well – the frustration over mundane careers, lives being ruined through past misdeeds, the suffocation of not being allowed to follow one’s choices and the like.

Ushasi Sen Basu’s instinct for the right word shines through. For example, she describes how death changes people.

“They spoke their minds, revealing themselves as the small and toxic things they were; instead of dealing in the usual discreet sugar-coated sniping and innuendo.”

‘A Killer Among Us’, an offering from Readomania, lives up to the promise of its title, a must-read especially for aficionados of mystery and suspense.