The Tandoor Murder by Maxwell Pereira

jhsurti

The Tandoor Murder by Maxwell Pereira

Naina Sahni case shook the whole country. This book is by the then ACP who was in charge of the case. I'll not go into the outline of the case or anything for that can be found easily online. My take on the book:
It is well written in parts. It's definitely a page-turner to some extent. I'll pradon the author because he may not be a professional author. There will be passages or even pages which are repetitive. But what it did for me was to streamline the whole incident chronologically which had been difficult to keep track of in those days because of the delaying justice system. The characters were already well known to us. Overall I would rate it as 2.5/5 (Real-life stories are like that unless one spices it up like movies - case in point "Calling Sehmat").

This book surely throws light on our justice system. The cases drag on for years. The impact of punishment loses its aim to deter others to perpetrate a crime.

cynic

Nice review, @jhsurti . I would rate it a 3.5/5.

Lots had been written about the case. I still recall the media going overboard with their infamous "headlines" like Tandoori Aurat, etc. What worked for me was viewing the case from a policeman's point of view.

What did not work for me was the repetition. And it did get a bit dull with all the legal details. The book could have been edited better. I also feel he is not balanced in his views on the shortcomings. The investigative agencies were as much to blame as the medical and judicial.

Overall, it was a decent read. But definitely not one I would pick up again.