A pulse-pounding Delhi-set thriller where the innocent are caught in a web of online game, psychological manipulation and deceptive ties.
In the heart of Delhi, people are being drugged. For the last two months, the Urban Crimes team under ACP Karan Singh Shekhawat has been searching high and low for the motives of these episodes. The police are baffled: the only common link is the date rape drug, yet there’s been no reported sexual assault. Who’s behind this?
Digital crimes are at all time high and author Puja Mukherjee Khattri has captured this well in her latest book, Play to Kill. The narrative moves in layers, taking us through the deep psyche of people willing to go to any length to control minds and lives.
Looking at a story that matches the contemporary world, this book becomes a mirror to what lies hidden in the dark web. And it also explores the bonds that define relationships between kin and loved ones. And how control and manipulation destroy logical abilities and freedom for everyone.
It is TV producer Anya Aulakh’s case that brings the shift in the crime scene. Like many others before her, she is drugged. But she is the only one found outside her home door.
Khattri has crafted her characters articulately. And her narrative builds the situations in concise manner. She builds the momentum smartly in the first half of the book, taking us through the slow route of consistent effort, following the trail carefully with each small fragment of suspicious activity, evidence that crops up.
There is no scope for deviation, as Karan and his team spend days tracking three different cases. And all the branches lead to one person: Mataji. A mastermind who’s travelled across continents, who uses raw emotions between families to become a modern vigilante and knows the power of the web to trace the victims.
It’s a novel that moves through the emotional, psychological drama and ends with some good old-fashioned romance.
To know “whodun it”, you have to be a part of Play to Kill. I think you’ll enjoy weaving your way through some happy travel writing, beautiful photographs, sharp and alert teams, guns and birds, eco-friendly homes and rigid elders. There’s also a short dose of tarot and meditation, should be keen on understanding how they encourage self control.
Puja Mukherjee Khattri is an Indian freelance writer, author, and Army wife who has been a voracious reader since her teens. This is her debut novel published by Srishti Publishers.
