“In this sequel to the acclaimed The Magicians of Madh, Aditi Krishnakumar pulls off another delightful romp, full of mystery, humour and hilarious predicaments.”
NO MAJOR SPOILERS
Melucha is a place where murder breeds by magical means or otherwise. Prince Kalban finds threatening cobras in his bedroom and cannot use magic to deal with them. Aditi Krishnakumar has written a lively sequel to Magicians of Madh and we realise that the two cities are totally different – one is full of arts and magic and the other is full of politics and murder plots. Kalban’s friend Meenakshi is being sent from Madh to Melucha to study negotiations. The day before she arrives, the tutor assigned to her, Kras is poisoned and this despite being at a high profile dinner and rather boring where the chef is expected to dine with the guests to prevent poisoning,
Meenakshi arrives nonethless with her secretary and a celestial dancer in tow and proceeds to rebel at the stringent course of life in Melucha while investigating the murder and discovering to her horror that Kalban is a suspect. Her secretary wants her to get out of a dangerous world in which she is at sea but Meenakshi is determined to find the murderer, especially since Chitralekha has tempted her with a mysterious necklace.
Krishnakumar mixes fun and mayhem while tightening the screws of the deadline with every twist. Meenakshi may not be a negotiator but people seems to open their hearts to her. At every turn there are comparisons between Madh and Melucha which may encourage readers tp pick up the Magicians of Madh. Fast paced and intelligent with enough smoke and mirrors to keep the reader guessing, Murder in Melucha is an entertaining adventure romp with deadly undercurrents.
Reviewed by:
Anjana Basu
Added 12th February 2021
