Manreet Sodhi Someshwar is in news for her newly released book The Hunt For Kohinoor, the second book in the Mehrunisa series. But what I got my hand on was her first book in the thriller series The Taj Conspiracy. And instantly got hooked to it.
As the title of the book suggest, the plot of the story is woven around the heritage monument of India Taj Mahal build under the emperorship of Shah Jahan in remembering of her deceased wife Mumtaz Mahal.
Well this is the known fact in the world but there is one psychopath in the story who wants to establish as a Hindu monument, A Shiva Temple in origin. This is the core plot with murder mystery attached to it which Mehrunisa and police have to hatch before it become a religious riot.
The novel was to some extend written in style of Dan Brown there are many stories running in parallel nothing seem to getting connecting with each other. But slowly and steadily all the strings are joined. It is this style of her keep the suspense in the plot.
I kept guessing all the while about the real culprit. I must also give credit to the author for dropping the hints about the possible suspect which rarely authors do in their book. In most cases the real culprit is always kept well wrapped but not in the case The Taj Conspiracy.
The author gave very strong indications towards the actual villain of the story but there are so many incidents linked to the conspiracy happening around that readers will get easily distracted.
The author has written the novel in most impeccable way. There are hardly any no loose ends and she has the full command over the language and has described many situation in the most real way that you can actually imagine happening in front of your eye.
This is the second thriller I have which involved Taj Mahal. The first being The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi. While Ashwin has woved the plot around Taj Mahal as a nuclear reactor, Manreet has almost made Taj Mahal, a Shiva Temple.
More Books by Manreet Sodhi Someshwar
Earning the Laundry Stripes (2006)
The Long Walk Home (2009)
The Hunt for Kohinoor: Book 2 of the Thriller Series Featuring Mehrunisa (2013)
