In God’s Country, Karwar by Vijay Medtia:  Addictive Twisty Thriller

April 2024

This is a nod to a classic crime and suspense thriller with three distinct characters. Right at the first chapter it turns out to be a murder mystery. It immediately takes you in your grip as Uma’s lecherous lawyer husband Satish is found dead on the shore of Karwar. She is accused of murdering her husband with the help of a secret lover. She is terrified and denies such crazy allegations. As the story comes to light her secrets with Vinod Hegde and Arjun, the police cop, come to light. Filled with suspense, mystery, and many twists and turns, this is an absolute murder mystery at the first hunch.

The story has three main interconnected characters – Uma and Arjun in Karwar while Vinod serving prison for a crime he did twenty years back for the sake of his friends. Inspector Arjun aka Rock is worried about receiving Vinod on one hand, and on the other side he has to dig deeper about the motives related to the murder of Satish Verma.  

The backstory revolves around Vinod: his life had been through ups and down, being rejected by its spirits. Inspector Rock, his friend, awaits him to come to Karwar but he gets lost in Bangalore, helping a carpenter wedding her daughter peacefully. The action part of the novel is associated with Vinod. He is a man of few words but true to his rectitude. When he makes a forced entry to Karwar, he works around Uma, giving her protection oblivion to her.

On the other side, when Rock begins his intense investigation into murders, shady things started to be unearthed about Vikash Mahtre’s real-estate company and the mystery of it goes up till end. Will he be able to find the inside and outside linked truth? What is the larger conspiracy and what cost will others pay upon finding everything about Karwars’s changing social and political landscape?

The language is pretty lucid and the fast-paced narration keeps the momentum of the story going. Every few chapters unravel a new twist in the story. It was a very well-written book. Readers will like how there weren’t many filler characters and each character had a role to play in the storyline. You may resonate with Arjun, being a silent sufferer of the old deeds that broke the lineage of their friendship. He was suffering, however, internally. In fact, all characters and none could open up to anyone. The character build-up of the lead protagonists was intriguing that mystery surrounded them and that slowly unruffled in the very end.

It is an enjoyable fast-paced well-written, keep-you-guessing crime thriller. This book is extremely difficult to put down, partly due to delightfully short chapters but also due to the captivating characters. Twist and turns are brilliant and ending is surprisingly shocking, totally in tandem with the fate of three main characters. – by Asian Review March 2024

Reviews for The Lost Woman of Santacruz   Aug 2021

“Vijay Medtia is a terrific crime thriller author. His previous book ‘The Missing Husband’ was a great read, set in Mumbai of 1990s. If you are someone who loves to follow serial detectives like Dirk Pitt of Clive Cussler or Cormoran Strike of Robert Galbraith, and looking to have a pleasant and readable Indian detectives, your first choice should be Vijay Medtia novels.”  News World Inc.

“Only a handful of Indian authors are able to write page-turning crime thrillers. If you can remember Vijay other than his novels, well then it would be his brilliant writing style. He is a class in himself. You can pick up any of his novels – you will not be disappointed with respect to writing, engagement, grammar, and everything. He truly holds a genuine flair for penning down crime thriller novels.

A brilliantly written piece of literature, the Lost Woman of Santacruz qualifies for a classical crime novel. Nothing is redundant about the book; it’s perfectly sized up with many sizzling subplots. The novel can be remembered for its unconventional investigative scaffold, with powerful yet intriguing characters.”     The Asian Review.

“The novel is highly likeable and readable since the very first page. Mr. Vijay is a superb storyteller – his narration is easy to follow without any traces of boredom.”  Insight Online News.

“The Lost Woman of Santacruz” is an incredible thriller. Told in fast paced narration and in a tightly spun around storyline, it tells the story of a murder spree mystery with as an opening, what follows is sheer adrenaline rush.   Booxoul.com

“A rambunctious, detective story, one of the best I’ve read this year, Medtia achieves that rare feat of simultaneously yoking the broad existential question of how we achieve intimacy in the anonymising, dehumanising modern city, with the page-turning suspense and joy (yes, joy!) of a well-crafted, detective story.  The Lost Woman of Santacruz exhibits a masterful economy of description, and perfectly pitched dialogue; these are synched and filtered through the compelling internal voice of the main character through whose eyes we see the action.  It is this voice which – more than any other element carries the brilliance of Medtia as fiction writer.” Peter Kalu, Author

“It is an entertaining, fast-paced and captivating murder mystery packed with action. The suspense was maintained throughout the book, and the constant discoveries and twists made the plot interesting. Addictive writing style and mind-blowing characterization made this an excellent reading experience.”  The Bookish elf.

“Vijay Medtia is a very promising crime thriller author. His previous novel ‘The Missing Husband’ was a masterpiece. Once again, he didn’t fail to impress all his fans and readers with his new novel ‘The Lost Woman of Santacruz.’ This is the first book in the Police Inspector Ajay Shaktawat series. The novel is truly a page turner and terrific with its intensity and overall storyline.”  Kevein books and review.