Kanpur Khoofiya Pvt. Ltd.-Richa S Mukherjee

Book: Kanpur Khoofiya Pvt. Ltd.

Author: Richa S Mukherjee

Publisher: Black Ink Publishers & HarperCollins India

Each of us is amazed by mysteries and have a craze for the unknown. Detectives have always featured as one of the most interesting and riveting literary characters. Be it Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes or Karamchand close to home, there are such characters that have made a place in our minds.

Kanpur Khoofiya Pvt. Ltd is the story of Prachand Tripathi, a private investigator and the owner of the firm Kanpur Khoofiya Pvt. Ltd. Being a small-town PI, he handled cases like missing cats and the occasional tailing of an unfaithful spouse. Coming from a large Kanpuriya family, we meet the eccentric family that has all the hallmarks of a traditional Indian family. His luck turns when he gets a case to tail the actress Shailaja Kapoor. Thinking of it as a simple assignment with a good payout, he accepts the assignment and embarks upon it with his wife, Vidya and his close friend Yatish. What ensues next is almost out of a movie itself. The actress gets kidnapped on his watch and thus the owner of Kanpur Khoofiya Pvt. Ltd becomes a fugitive of the law. How the famed investigator of Gwaltoli solves the case forms the plot of the book.

Kanpur Khoofiya Pvt. Ltd is a wonderful book and has a very crisp plot structure. The author has taken her time to build the plot and lets the reader soak in the happenings in the story. None of the critical events in the book is hurried and has a decent pace. The storyline does not let the climax out until the very end and that is something that this book deserves a special mention for. The setting of the book is primarily in Kanpur, though it branches out to Banda and Mumbai for a part. The locations are very vividly described, and some very typical words are used that give an authentic flavor to the story as well. The plot has a perfect balance of humor, thrill and mystery.

Coming to the characters, Richa has created the characters in detail. Be it the character of Prachand or his Bieber-loving brother, Bhushan or for that matter any family member, each of them has a distinct personality and they have their contribution to the plot. I was impressed by the character of Vidya and the grandmother of Prachand as they have shown some unexpected moments in the book. The character of Yatish and its shades were a wonderful addition to the plot.

A special mention to the tidbits of Kanpuriya language scattered through out the book which was really amazing to see.

Kanpur Khoofiya Pvt. Ltd manages to investigate and reveal my rating of 4.5/5.