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bunnie225's review
2.0
I tried to like this novel, I really did. The story seemed intriguing and the book started out quite entertaining. But I finished it with difficulty.
The frequency of idiomatic language and metaphor was jarring after a while - how I hate people who call their partner "the spouse", "the man" or children "the fruit of my womb" instead of according them names and sticking to it. I get that the author was being humourous and trying to match the "tongue in cheek" humour that you encounter in British authors, but it comes across as unnecessary when every second line is filled with it.
Also, the portrayal of an urban, wealthy family put me off. The main characters are a mother who does little to bring up her only child, shows no interest in anything but gossip and spending money, who shames herself constantly for being overweight (and others for their various features), who seems stressed no matter how much household help she has; a husband who barely even talks to his family, who seems to have no personality; a child who comes across as a brat who will only eat junk food and boss his parents around - it's a portrayal that made me feel extremely relieved I don't have her problems to deal with. Are men really still talking to their wives like this, condescending and mean?
The plot could have moved much faster and I may have enjoyed it more if the characters had been more likeable and their world had been a little less frivolous.
The frequency of idiomatic language and metaphor was jarring after a while - how I hate people who call their partner "the spouse", "the man" or children "the fruit of my womb" instead of according them names and sticking to it. I get that the author was being humourous and trying to match the "tongue in cheek" humour that you encounter in British authors, but it comes across as unnecessary when every second line is filled with it.
Also, the portrayal of an urban, wealthy family put me off. The main characters are a mother who does little to bring up her only child, shows no interest in anything but gossip and spending money, who shames herself constantly for being overweight (and others for their various features), who seems stressed no matter how much household help she has; a husband who barely even talks to his family, who seems to have no personality; a child who comes across as a brat who will only eat junk food and boss his parents around - it's a portrayal that made me feel extremely relieved I don't have her problems to deal with. Are men really still talking to their wives like this, condescending and mean?
The plot could have moved much faster and I may have enjoyed it more if the characters had been more likeable and their world had been a little less frivolous.
aanchi3's review
4.0
This book has been such a roller coaster ride for me. It starts of with the life a very normal house wife, Kanan. She is a married woman and mother of Kabir.
The story starts with the introduction into the life of Kay. The way this book has been narrated is simply fabulous. I was hooked from the very first page. I didn’t find a single sentence without a sarcastic or a humorous comment. You will be laughing your hearts out, while relating a little too much. The way a normal housewife’s life turns into a very adventurous one is so smooth. Loving shopping, food and gossip, this housewife has a tendency to sniff out the trouble and somehow become a part of it. The story is a brilliant connotation of humour, sarcasm, thriller and normality of life. The way Kanan only refers to her husband as ‘Spouse’ had me chuckling throughout.
I can’t stop admiring the wittiness of the author.
What made me a little uncomfortable at times was the brutal way the author has portrayed the injustice faced by women in today’s world. Other than that, this book was a complete package and I couldn’t find any flaws. Only some grammatical mistakes, though they are not really noticeable. The ending was satisfactory, and weirdly pleasing. I was looking for a more thrill or action packed ending, but is was not disappointed by the real ending in any sense.
Loved it!!
Highly recommend it.
The story starts with the introduction into the life of Kay. The way this book has been narrated is simply fabulous. I was hooked from the very first page. I didn’t find a single sentence without a sarcastic or a humorous comment. You will be laughing your hearts out, while relating a little too much. The way a normal housewife’s life turns into a very adventurous one is so smooth. Loving shopping, food and gossip, this housewife has a tendency to sniff out the trouble and somehow become a part of it. The story is a brilliant connotation of humour, sarcasm, thriller and normality of life. The way Kanan only refers to her husband as ‘Spouse’ had me chuckling throughout.
I can’t stop admiring the wittiness of the author.
What made me a little uncomfortable at times was the brutal way the author has portrayed the injustice faced by women in today’s world. Other than that, this book was a complete package and I couldn’t find any flaws. Only some grammatical mistakes, though they are not really noticeable. The ending was satisfactory, and weirdly pleasing. I was looking for a more thrill or action packed ending, but is was not disappointed by the real ending in any sense.
Loved it!!
Highly recommend it.
deepan2486's review
2.0
"The Kitty Party Murder" is somewhat everything apart from a novel of the mystery genre, which it was supposed to be. Initially the idea was perhaps to have a book which was parallely humorous as well as thrilling, but it all muddles up together into a mess.
The humour part of the book seemed outstretched and overdone. After a point, a reader will most probably have no choice but to give up on the hope that the book will fulfill any of the expectations that had been anticipated. In an attempt to swerve away from the classic way of telling a crime novel, the author presumably had resorted to a more laid back writing style. However, the book ceases to provide any sort of excitement after a while.
The plot which starts off with a promising note, almost soon becomes a truckload of gossip, chattering and far-fetched judmentalism of everyone around. Surrounding itself around kitty parties, the protagonist tries to weave mild satires and humour in the dialogues, but it seldom works out. The thrill or the suspense swiftly becomes invisible from the storytelling and a blatant stereotype mindset of each and everything quickly creeps in.
"The Kitty Party Murder" had the potential of becoming a fast-paced and promising story which could have gifted us humour in the most unconventional of ways. However, it has actually seen a plain bad execution.
Thanks HarperCollins India for the book.
The humour part of the book seemed outstretched and overdone. After a point, a reader will most probably have no choice but to give up on the hope that the book will fulfill any of the expectations that had been anticipated. In an attempt to swerve away from the classic way of telling a crime novel, the author presumably had resorted to a more laid back writing style. However, the book ceases to provide any sort of excitement after a while.
The plot which starts off with a promising note, almost soon becomes a truckload of gossip, chattering and far-fetched judmentalism of everyone around. Surrounding itself around kitty parties, the protagonist tries to weave mild satires and humour in the dialogues, but it seldom works out. The thrill or the suspense swiftly becomes invisible from the storytelling and a blatant stereotype mindset of each and everything quickly creeps in.
"The Kitty Party Murder" had the potential of becoming a fast-paced and promising story which could have gifted us humour in the most unconventional of ways. However, it has actually seen a plain bad execution.
Thanks HarperCollins India for the book.
dhw_ani's review
4.0
3.75/5
The Kitty Party Murder by Kiran Manral is the kind of murder mystery that will tickle you with its writing. Inspite of the main genre being serious, you will literally fly through the book.
Kay aka Kanan Mehra, the protagonist is a mother to a smart and naughty six year old and a wife. In her appartment building, she hears sharp cries of a woman but nobody else seems to have heard them. Then there’s the suspicious couple in flat No. 504. The woman in Flat No. 504 is found dead a few days later and Kay is the only one who witnessed her minutes before her death. On top of that, her detective friend Runa, needs Kay’s help to infilter a Kitty Party Group to help aid a suicide investigation. Kay, wanting to utilise her time, decides to work upon both the investigations. Are these investigations connected? Whose screams were the ones she heard while on the stairs? Read the book to find out.
The best part about the book is it’s writing style. I’ve never chuckled while reading a book as much as I did while reading this one. The writing style is witty and absorbing; every chapter is going to leave you wanting for more and more. The author (Kiran Manral) has a gift for making even the smallest of things or incidents entertaining. She does it by merging two things : details and humour. The way the protagonist addresses her husband and son reminds me a bit of Twinkle Khanna’s writing. With language a tad bit modern, the chapters are of a moderate length and have interesting titles. The narration is in first person throughout and is very enjoyable. The characters have been very well developed and are the ones we all may have known at some point. The mystery part of the book was a little predictable but I’m willing to overlook it solely because of the way the entire mystery was built up.
With an interesting title and an equally beautiful cover, The Kitty Party Murder is recommended to those who want a light murder mystery served upon their reading platter.
The Kitty Party Murder by Kiran Manral is the kind of murder mystery that will tickle you with its writing. Inspite of the main genre being serious, you will literally fly through the book.
Kay aka Kanan Mehra, the protagonist is a mother to a smart and naughty six year old and a wife. In her appartment building, she hears sharp cries of a woman but nobody else seems to have heard them. Then there’s the suspicious couple in flat No. 504. The woman in Flat No. 504 is found dead a few days later and Kay is the only one who witnessed her minutes before her death. On top of that, her detective friend Runa, needs Kay’s help to infilter a Kitty Party Group to help aid a suicide investigation. Kay, wanting to utilise her time, decides to work upon both the investigations. Are these investigations connected? Whose screams were the ones she heard while on the stairs? Read the book to find out.
The best part about the book is it’s writing style. I’ve never chuckled while reading a book as much as I did while reading this one. The writing style is witty and absorbing; every chapter is going to leave you wanting for more and more. The author (Kiran Manral) has a gift for making even the smallest of things or incidents entertaining. She does it by merging two things : details and humour. The way the protagonist addresses her husband and son reminds me a bit of Twinkle Khanna’s writing. With language a tad bit modern, the chapters are of a moderate length and have interesting titles. The narration is in first person throughout and is very enjoyable. The characters have been very well developed and are the ones we all may have known at some point. The mystery part of the book was a little predictable but I’m willing to overlook it solely because of the way the entire mystery was built up.
With an interesting title and an equally beautiful cover, The Kitty Party Murder is recommended to those who want a light murder mystery served upon their reading platter.
nazarin's review
1.5
The Kitty Party Murder by Kiran Manral is a riveting and satirical murder mystery, witty journey of a mother and her detective friend to find the culprit. Kanan Mehra aka Kay is fed up with her daily life, bored to the gills with motherhood. Awaiting for something interesting and rejuvenating, Kay agrees to help Runa, a detective and her bestie, in a suicide investigation. Was it really a suicide? Or MURDER?!!. Kay's ultimate task is to get into a kitty party group and disentomb their secrets as the twelve members of the Kitty Party are the prime suspects.
Kiran Manral will take you to the wonderful world of exquisite humor, and her beautiful narrative of daily life in Mumbai. One of the lovely things about this book is that it blends two different genres into one fine novel. This was an easy and simple read, rather sarcastic and calming. It was a bit lagging sometimes, but Manral's hysterical writing style kept it entertaining. This was indeed a hilarious and refreshing read. If you want to read something that calm you down and split your gut, then this book is you!
Kiran Manral will take you to the wonderful world of exquisite humor, and her beautiful narrative of daily life in Mumbai. One of the lovely things about this book is that it blends two different genres into one fine novel. This was an easy and simple read, rather sarcastic and calming. It was a bit lagging sometimes, but Manral's hysterical writing style kept it entertaining. This was indeed a hilarious and refreshing read. If you want to read something that calm you down and split your gut, then this book is you!
dancingbibliophile's review
2.0
I love Mystery & Thriller Novels!!! And thus was very intrigued by this seemingly Juicy Novel, "The Kitty Party Murder"
✨
The book starts as we are introduced to Kanan Mehra a.k.a. Kay, who's utterly bored by her mundane life, tackling a child and a husband. That's when she's asked by her detective friend Runa, to help her in a Suicide Investigation.
✨
Meanwhile, Kay's apartment is distressed by a Mysterious Death! You'll have to read the book to know whether Kay and Runa are successful in deciphering the Mystery around the strange happenings!
✨
As I've already said Mystery is my favourite genre, but this book didn't live upto my expectations. A trial of mixing Crime Thriller with Humour hasn't been executed well, making it a predictable mystery. The narration wasn't upto the mark making it a lousy read, thus making me stretch the reading a lot!
I definitely had high hopes from the book which weren't fulfilled. The book was definitely not my cup of tea! Wouldn't recommend!
✨
The book starts as we are introduced to Kanan Mehra a.k.a. Kay, who's utterly bored by her mundane life, tackling a child and a husband. That's when she's asked by her detective friend Runa, to help her in a Suicide Investigation.
✨
Meanwhile, Kay's apartment is distressed by a Mysterious Death! You'll have to read the book to know whether Kay and Runa are successful in deciphering the Mystery around the strange happenings!
✨
As I've already said Mystery is my favourite genre, but this book didn't live upto my expectations. A trial of mixing Crime Thriller with Humour hasn't been executed well, making it a predictable mystery. The narration wasn't upto the mark making it a lousy read, thus making me stretch the reading a lot!
I definitely had high hopes from the book which weren't fulfilled. The book was definitely not my cup of tea! Wouldn't recommend!
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