Written by Bhaskar Chatterjee , 'The Dissappearance of Sally Sequeira', belongs to a series of detective novels featuring the astute Crime detector Janardan Maity and his friend/writer Prakash.

Intially appearing in
'Penumbra' and 'Here Falls the Shadows', this is the 3rd entry in the series.
Despite the 2nd book being quiet weak and falling flat.
This has honestly been a welcome return to form.

Arriving to a secluded yet stunningly picturesque hamlet in Goa with a much earned holiday in mind, our protagonists find themselves in midst of an intriguing scenario. As the father of a local teenage girl receives a letter asking for a huge ransom in exchange of their daughter. The story takes an unlikely turn as they discover, the girl in question hasn't been kidnapped at all, and is currently safe and sound in her own house.

How will Janardan Maity solve a crime, that has not yet been committed ?

We get the answer in a quite enjoyable fashion. As the writer weaves a tale of crime and mystery, while doing a beautiful job in describing the 'pristine beaches and clear turquoise waters of Goa'.
The language is quite easy to grasp, and lacks any unnecessary boasting of vocabulary.
An easy read indeed.
He has described the various scenes with some genuine care and attention to detail.
The pace is quite breezy and taut till the end.

This is one of those stories, where every minute details are important and falls into pieces at the conclusion.

And the conclusion harbours an almost Hitchcock-like twist, I swear I never saw coming.

All in all, a detective by interest and his writer companion going to far away places and solving crimes, is for sure a 'clichéd' scenario at this stage. However the old sense of familiarity is addictive. And might just be why I come back to this series yet again.

A rainy day. Blankets. Detective mystery. A Chopin nocturne piece playing in the background. Some coffee.
Give it a try.