Book Review: We Need New Names, by NoViolet Bulawayo

When a book is shortlisted for an award, the fact that it is good is known. A jury of critics wouldn’t select the book for an award if there wasn’t some facet of it that was worth the nomination. An award-shortlisted book makes me ask the questions, “Is the nomination deserving?” and “What was that facet which helped it get the nomination?” Sometimes, both questions feel the same. After all, one might say that it was that facet which made it deserving of a nomination, right?

Book Review: A Calamitous Chinese Killing, by Shamini Flint

Humor in crime fiction is something that I feel is difficult to execute. If the humor becomes too much and overwhelms the crime, the genre loses out on something special. The detective’s character is what makes this mix successful or otherwise. Recently, I had read Tarquin Hall, and his central character, Vish Puri is one such delightful detective. When this book fell into my lap, I was expecting another such character.