Shylashri Shankar
Masters strike the right balance between action and emotion
Black River | Exiles | Thirty Days of Darkness | Mr Bowling Buys a Newspaper | The Running Grave | The Year of the Locust | The Proof of the Pudding | All the Sinners Bleed | The Mistress of Bhatia House | The Deep
Thrillers that pack emotional drama with larger political and social issues
The Maid | The Island | Murder before Evensong | The Ink Black Heart | Never Saw Me Coming | Murder Most Royal | No Plan B | The Twist of a Knife | Five Decembers | The Paris Apartment
Thrillers for the season—those who live by the mob may die by it; a village where everyone knows everyone’s secrets; a tribute to Miss Marple; and a whodunit where the author is a character
An eclectic crop of detectives in our midst—a constable in a backwater town; an inspector examining deleted audio files; a woman detective in 1920s Bangalore; and a middle-aged bachelor-priest