A surprise birthday party. The birthday girl found dead. Is it a case of suicide or murder? What are the circumstances that lead to the death of Ruhi, the 25-year-old birthday girl? That’s a near-perfect start to a mystery.
Ruhi lives with her siblings Kartik and Dipika and the early portion of the novel is dedicated to exploring their relationships. Even as the mystery around Ruhi’s death unravels, their individual stories come into play.
We are constantly reminded about how much Kartik, the brother, cares for his sisters, particularly Ruhi. In the early parts of the book, there’s at least one line popping up on every alternate page telling us how much Kartik loves Ruhi and what his plans for her birthday are. Passages that philosophise and sentimentalise add to the repetitiveness. Sample this: “Time is our birthright and our only luxury; it’s also a curse when we can’t bring back the past or the loved ones we have lost.” Or this: “In a world where we often hear stories of fights and grudges between brothers and sisters in dysfunctional families, these three were the epitome of sibling love.” If only we had more showing and less telling.
All crime fiction needs a red herring or two, to get your mind going in one direction and later getting dragged back to another thread. Crime fiction also needs to give its readers some ‘aha’ moments, where we think we have almost cracked the mystery — like a good crossword puzzle. ‘Stand by Me’ does have a few red herrings. It also has an aha moment or two towards the end. But this somehow doesn’t seem enough for those looking to sink their teeth into a meaty crime thriller.
Another important element of crime fiction is the setting or atmosphere, which in itself generates frisson in the reader. ‘Stand by Me’ generates that thrill during a couple of instances towards the latter half, but again, we could have done with more. The pace is unhurried over a major portion of the book. It only picks up towards the end, as we find out what led to Ruhi’s death. As the mystery is resolved, we have more philosophising about truth and karma.
‘Stand by Me’ is an easy read. A slim book, you can finish it in a day. With a much more intricate plot and a little more work for the reader, it could have been a more satisfying read.
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