✱✱Book Review✱✱ Kiss of Salt by Smita Bhattacharya

 

Kiss of Salt 

Darya Nandkarni's Misadventures Book 1

by Smita Bhattacharya 

♥ A slow-burn atmospheric literary mystery. With armchair travel, intriguing characters, small-town noir, and a troubled heroine. For those who love a compulsive story told in beautiful prose. ♥

Families are dying because of a secret they kept. Can Darya find the murderer before he gets to her?

Summary

It was crazy really, for Darya to think she could have some peace and quiet at Heliconia Lane. Yes, it was located in a beautiful corner of South Goa—by the beach, no less—but after her Aunt Farideh disappeared twenty years ago—from this very place—nothing has been the same again. And now her uncle was dead under bizarre circumstances as were two of the neighbours on his street.

What was happening? Was there a murderer on the loose? Why were people dying? Was it connected to her aunt’s disappearance in some way?

And most importantly, was Darya going to be next?

A cosy, Agatha Christie-style whodunnit, Kiss of Salt introduces Darya Nandkarni, an amateur, and accidental detective, who is clever, spirited, resourceful, yet troubled and vulnerable. Her adventures will make you laugh, cry, gape, and marvel, and you won't be able to put down the book until you've solved the mystery along with her in the beautiful side-streets of Goa.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SB4M2M6

Momma Says: 4 stars⭐⭐⭐⭐

I've learned to pretty much ignore the hype of things promised in blurbs after being disappointed numerous times. Instead, I read the meat of it and see if it captures my attention. This one did, and then, when I was getting ready to write this review, I read that first line, the one about slow-burn mystery, armchair travel, intriguing characters, etc. And I've gotta say that whether the author wrote that or it's a snippet from a review, it hits the nail right on the head. The story is atmospheric and scenic with the author pulling us right into it. It's also complex and some things are so Agatha Christie-like, I'd swear I was reading one of her novels. Other things are very much the author's own, and they are quite good. I enjoyed almost everything about this one. The only drawback for me was the pacing, but the blurb does promise a slow burn. I just wish it hadn't felt quite that slow. That aside, the book is everything I could hope for in a mystery to sink into, and I'd certainly recommend it. 

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