- Publisher : CinnamonTeal Publishing (13 February 2022)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 94 pages
Of Closets and Skeletons and Other Crime Stories by Kaivalya Ramnath is a spellbinding collection of short stories that explore the why, rather than who, of crimes. Each story is intriguing, twisted, and has all the necessary elements to keep you turning the pages. At some 90 odd pages, this collection has nasty actions, sinister intent, and extraordinary mystery attached to each story.
The stories might be ordinary but the extraordinary twists made them fascinating. They start on a simple note, with monotonous characters and their predictable routines, but the course of their actions, their choices, changes everything. Some of these stories play with the mind while others have typical crime scenes of violence and gore.
One of the key highlights of this book has to be the mention of trigger warnings right at the onset. The second has to be the fact that this collection deals with more than crime-focused narratives. It sheds light on queer relationships, toxic masculinity, Islamophobia, domestic violence, and more.
Besides these, I feel the author has done an amazing job at articulating crime-based stories in the form of short stories. I mean we already know how tough it could get to condense meaning into fewer words. The tension, the thrill remains a part of each story throughout.
The writing is refreshingly different for a crime fiction collection. It is precise with a punch of wit. And some lines have struck a chord with me. Amongst all the stories, I feel I enjoyed Demons and Of Closets and Skeletons the most. While the former deals with a witness to a criminal fleeing the scene, only to be forced to confront her personal demons, the latter is a coming-of-age story of two queer folks and sinister events.
It is undoubtedly an unmissable collection if you like quality crime stories.
Purchase the copy here
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