India is not a fertile soil for detectives like Sherlock Homes or Miss Marple. Pot-bellied cops with harsh moustache often investigate cases here, and might does more good than observation in proving them. So, it is a bit hard to imagine an Indian version of Mr. Sherlock Homes or Miss Marple usually. But, for fictional purpose and for the sake of aesthetic enjoyment, let us accept Lalli, the Indian copy of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple. She is ‘brilliant, sharp-witted, and her skills often helps Mumbai Police to solve murder mysteries. This ex-cop often appears in Kalpana Swaminathan’s novels. I stumbled upon the latest in the Lalli series- The Monochrome Madonna, and it turned out to be desperation.
The story in a few sentences- Sita, the narrator, one day receives a call form her friend Sitara with a panic-stricken voice. When sita arrives at her flat, she literally stumbles upon a corpse of a murdered man there. There is an altered Monochrome Madonna painting in the house. After some time amid the monotonous story, Lalli appears and proves the case, leaving the readers wondering where in the world this kind of story take place.
This is strange to Mumbai. The narrative often defies basic logic behind human affairs and behavior. Besides, in an attempt to make a noble connection with a classic art seems forced in a way that it might make Dan Brown frown.
No doubt, Kalpana Swaminathan is prolific in her writing and she often coins astonishingly impressive phrases. But, the story and the incidents in Monochrome Madonna is, well, monotonously bleak.
