Service Of All The Dead

Do you remember waking up in those summer vacations, and watching those old episodes of CID and Crime Petrol on a loop, and helping the team solve the crimes? I had practised investigation with CID and Crime Petrol for years, yet I couldn’t solve this one mystery until the end.

‘Service Of All The Dead’ by Colin Dexter is a crime mystery and a thriller involving investigation along with Morse as a lead inspector. Inspector Morse is a protagonist in many of Dexter’s novels. The story begins with the introduction of our characters with slow progress in paving the way for the plot, but it is when the second part begins, we have a sneak peek into the author's mind. Harry Josephs is married to a beautiful lady, Brenda Josephs, who has now developed feelings for the organ player of the church St Frideswide- Paul Morris. Paul Morris had lost his wife and lived with his only son, Peter Morris. Paul is also a teacher, and one of his pupils is into him; her name is Carole. Harry Josephs has retired and his license has been withdrawn by the county; he seems to be prone to gambling. Harry knows about his wife’s affair. Lionel Lawson, the reverend of St. Frideswide, has a brother, Philip Lawson, who is almost built like him. Part one slowly builds up the motives of certain individuals that will be clarified later in the story. Part one ends with Morris waiting for Carole but gets an unexpected emergency visit from Lionel.

The second part introduces us to our Inspector Morse, who seems to be planning for a vacation from his hectic schedule, but visits St. Frideswide, and there he learns about the death of Lionel, the reverend. Mrs Rawlinson, the help present at the church, gives him the paper cuttings of the case, which speak about the murder of Harry Joseph and Lawson, who committed suicide by jumping off the tower in the vicinity. The weapon used to kill Harry was the paper knife that belonged to Lionel. Bell, who had investigated the case, was Morse’s old friend. When Morse gets to know about the happenings of the case, he realizes that something is fishy and wants to look over those case files. He believes that his old friend had overlooked some detail. The new mystery sets in when Morse with his another old friend, Lewis, discovers a body which might belong to Paul Morris, but there is a possibility that there has been a change of clothes, to mislead the evidence to buy some time; but for what does the murderer need time? If Paul is dead, what happened with Brenda? What about Peter, who is not present in his school? What about that incident between Paul and Philip Lawson mentioned in the first part?

The story takes a slow start. Many paragraphs end abruptly in the first part, which is probably because the author didn’t want to educate us about the characters and desired to keep the suspense intact, which will guide the plot move ahead. I believe those abrupt endings could have been avoided or framed in a better way, but then after reading the climax carefully, the author offers clarity. Possibly, you might suspect that this book is not worth reading, but you should know that every author rewards that reader who keeps reading. There is always something around the corner, even if empty, it leads to something. Such is this story. Dexter has taken a hell lot of time to set in the story, and even the climax is quite lengthy, but it seems to be the demand of the plot. The time will come when you suspect the name, but you will find a twist that will lead to another twist and to confirm your doubts, you will have to read the climax where you will find your peace. The sentence formation is impeccable. The story is fascinating, but the compilation could have been better. These are solely my thoughts, and maybe you find it awesome. If compared with the thrillers of Agatha Christie, she writes smooth and better thrillers, but on the aspects of suspense, Dexter has done a remarkable job. There are more books in Inspector Morse's mystery. In this one, Morse is forty-seven and a bachelor.

Your Dreams Are Mine Now

What about the stories that are inspired by true-life events? Have you read any such lately? It's difficult to express the actual story, therefore explaining it through fiction seems viable. Your Dreams Are Mine Now by Ravinder Singh is one such story.

This story is about a young girl from Patna named Rupali Sinha, who is ready to mould her dreams in the top-ranked Delhi University. She has beaten all the odds and is ready to challenge the extremities prevailing in society. Rupali is a sincere girl who wears traditional clothes and believes in the good side of the people. Rupali is amazed at her roommate Saloni as she tells her that she is from Noida and has preferred the hostel to get privacy from the family. She realises that Saloni must be a pampered daughter. Saloni prefers western wear and has a jovial attitude. Rupali wonders if they will get along in future, and yes! They become best friends. Saloni is a bit stubborn in influencing the fashion sense of Rupali. Rupali has a soothing voice and tries to participate in the music club of the college, and there she learns about the politics prevailing in that college. There she meets a guy of college politics, Arjun, who would soon mark a difference in her life. Prof. Mahajan is her accounts head and a renowned professor of the university. She has some doubts about her paper, and when she tries to meet him, she witnesses some peculiar activity. Prof. Mahajan was abusing one of their female peons. She tries to help her anonymously and plots to prevent such activities from happening in the future. When she confronts that peon, Raheema and insists on helping her, Raheema feels ashamed but soon agrees to confront Mahajan. Mahajan had strong political support, and therefore that confrontation leads to a tight slap on Rupali's cheeks. Raheema gets scared and tries to take help from Arjun. Arjun treats Raheema as his elder sister, and then Rupali gets to know more about him. Her encounters with Arjun weren't that pleasant before. He was a member of the opposition party in that college and a victim of the reservation quota. Arjun with his friends- Prosonjeet, Madhab, Rupali and Saloni, plan their battle against Mahajan, despite his hierarchy in the college. Rupali had a video as proof against Mahajan. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Will Mahajan not reciprocate? Will their plan to upload the video without any victim's statement result in his arrest? Will social media accept this as truth? What about management? Do they have enough guts to question Mahajan and his political support? Whatever happens, Mahajan knows who is the one behind that video and will definitely exploit his power. I hope for a better ending but remember this is a rebellion against corrupt powers and disgusting minds who can stoop so low for revenge that you wouldn't want your enemy to go through.

The story is framed well. The pace of the story keeps you engaged. You might not enjoy the turn of the events but that's how it is; these stories are really inspired by true events. This is a harsh reality, and the author acquaints us with being woke about these happenings in our society. I picked this book because of the popularity of the author on social media. Ravinder Singh's novel 'I Too Had A Love Story' engraved its name on the hearts of the readers, and I will read it soon. I had really expected a lot from the writer, and it is possible that I found this like a good novel but couldn't reciprocate the hype. But I like the writing style. This was the third novel by the author, published in 2014. The author has also tried to impress us through Rupali. She can't withstand something inappropriate. When she is with Arjun watching the aeroplanes take off and land at the airport, she says something inspiring "The broader question is when a few dreams do not come true, should we stop dreaming?" I guess not. This society depends on us for the change, and I hope someday we all do something for the betterment of this society.   

And Then There Were None

I had a busy schedule this week so thought of reading 10/20 pages in a day. I started reading, And Then There Were None by AgathaChristie, which is a murder mystery. I knew this was going to be an interesting read but didn’t know that I will have to ditch my sleep to solve the mystery. If I ignore the small technical issue with the climax, this book is really a masterpiece. Not a spoiler, but there will be many deaths because the title says, ‘And Then There Were None.’

The story begins with the introduction of the characters, their different personalities with one thing in common- they all have been invited to the famous Soldier Island. It was all over the news as rumours highlighted new names for the new owner of that island. They all have been invited by their acquaintances, or Mr Owen, which we get to know is some fake name later in the story. On the island, they are received by the caretakers Mr and Mrs Rogers, who inform them that the hosts have delayed their arrival. Mrs Rogers is a great cook, but there was something about her appearance that she seemed frightened. There is a poem hanging in every suite,

Ten little Soldier boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.
Nine little Soldier boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.
Eight little Soldier boys traveling in Devon;
One said he’d stay there and then there were seven.
Seven little Soldier boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.
Six little Soldier boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.
Five little Soldier boys going in for law;
One got into Chancery and then there were four.
Four little Soldier boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.
Three little Soldier boys walking in the zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were two.
Two little Soldier boys playing with a gun;
One shot the other and then there was One.
One little Soldier boy left all alone;
He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.

Also, ten little figures, the soldiers, were present at the centre of the round table in the dining room.
Justice Wargrave, Vera Claythorne, Philip Lombard, Miss Emily Brent, General Macarthur, Dr Armstrong, Tony Marston, Mr Blore and Mr and Mrs Rogers are the ten members present at that island. Was it a coincidence, or was something going to happen? They are invited for a luscious dinner after which the gramophone placed in a different room plays a record that asserts some harsh accusations against every person present. So, they all had one more thing to share, they all were accused of murder. Mr and Mrs Rogers were accused of killing their last employer; Mrs Rogers faints on hearing this. Were those accusations reliable? Dr Armstrong urges them to let him treat her, and then they take her to bed to allow her some rest. The members realise that something is fishy and decide to disclose their respective invitations. They needed a boat to leave but the tides rose high in the night; also, there wasn't any boat available. They must wait till the morning. Tony Marston is a reckless human, accused of the murder of two kids, gets up to fill his glass and confesses that this is a thrilling adventure. Little did he know this was going to be his last drink. He chokes himself to death. The next morning, they find that Mrs Rogers had overslept and she lay dead in her bed. Remember the lyrics:

Ten little Soldier boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.
Nine little Soldier boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Every death follows what is said in those verses and after every death, one little soldier present on the table goes missing. They doubt Dr Armstrong as he had checked both the bodies. He informed them that Tony had died of Cyanide poisoning, and the sedative was given to Mrs Rogers by him. When they find no boat to leave the island, they realise that some lunatic is trying to offer them their respective fates. General Macarthur was waiting at the shore for his doomsday and is found dead there. It was lunchtime. They start analysing who amongst them could be Mr Owen. They doubt each other but stick together for they couldn’t leave this island until any help arrived. Dr Armstrong had gone to invite Macarthur for lunch, but he found him dead, is it possible that he knocked him down? Was Dr Armstrong behind this tragedy? Or was it someone else amongst them? It could be some ghost, but no, it wasn’t; I can at least spare you this confusion.

The story ends with an explanation of the events, and it is in those last pages where you meet your murderer offering his ways of executing this in such framed manner. Through her characters, the author has emphasized the recklessness and the selfishness of this society we now live in, who would go on living peacefully, comfortable with stepping on someone’s life, yet some way or the other, the doomsday is always near. No ends were left loose in the story. The suspense got build up with some spooky adventure. It is one of those thrillers that you should read sometime soon. The writing style is commendable; obviously, Agatha Christie wrote it. This story must have required a lot of thinking to maintain the mystery till the climax.

There is nothing as such that might trouble you but make sure you don’t skip anything. Do let me know your views when you are done reading it.