Book: Whispers of the Buried Past (Book 4 of Haveli Series)
Author: Harshali Singh
Publisher: Readomania
I was provided a media copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Do you believe that our past life can influence our present?
In the heart of Old Delhi stands Anwar—the Haveli with a hundred
doors—its walls heavy with secrets, its air thick with loss and longing. During
its renovation, a buried body surfaces—and with it, the nightmares begin.
Dheeraj, the reluctant heir to the Haveli’s fading glory, finds himself haunted
by a ghost that speaks his forgotten name. Each whisper draws him closer to the
truth: a curse that never ended. It merely waited for him. To silence the dead
and reclaim his life, he must confront the blood-soaked secrets of his lineage,
his father’s past sins and atone for the wrongs that destroyed generations
before him. But every step towards redemption draws him deeper into madness.
With a reclusive medium and her fierce daughter Naina as his only allies, Dheeraj
races through the Haveli’s endless doors—each one leading to vengeance,
forbidden love, and a past that refuses to die. Will Dheeraj rewrite his
family’s fate or become its final sacrifice?
In Book 4 of the Haveli series, the author tells us the story of the fourth child of the Sharma family, and the only son, Dheeraj. The book explores how Dheeraj is haunted by nightmares and haunted by a ghost that speaks of a name long in the past. Harshali’s writing is engaging and you are drawn into the world of Anwar and its residents almost immediately. The book opens with a peek into the past, however the perpetrators are not immediately shown to you, and thus begins the journey of a soul in search for peace. What I loved about the book was that it keeps you on-the-edge with the ghostly appearances, and at the same time the hauntings are not over the top. The author manages to keep the focus of the story on the reincarnations and the repentance for the past deeds, rather than make the book about the hauntings itself. The apparitions are very well placed, and everytime the ghost appears, a chill does run down the readers spine. Another aspect that I liked was the part that author reveals the reincarnations and the appearances slowly so the mystery elements remain in place as to what really happened in the Haveli all those years ago. The climax is very well written. The visuals are quite powerful and you can easily visualize the events as they unfold, right till the very end. The way Harshali closes the story was a nice touch to the idea of circle that she puts in the book.
Coming to the characters, Dheeraj’s character is very well written. The
only male child in a family of daughters, he is stuck with the expectations of
the family, and does not get the chance to pursue his dreams. His angst and
frustrations are very well captured in the book and the way his character arc
develops was quite fun to read, specially post the climax of the book where he
starts having doubts on his abilities. Coming to Naina, I loved the feisty character
that the author introduces in the book. the balance in her actions, equal parts
vulnerable and fiery, she adds a wonderful favour to the storytelling. Her
ability to cuss ghosts was something I truly liked, and I think I would love to
see more of her in the coming books. Arun’s character, honestly, was a surprise
and I did not expect to see two sides of him in the same book.
Overall, the book is a wonderfully penned story that will keep you
hooked, give you goosebumps, and maybe encourage you to look closely at your
dreams. The book scores a 5/5 for me.
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