The Blue Bar

The Blue Bar is the first book in Damyanti Biswas' Blue Mumbai Thriller duology. The second book, The Blue Black Hair, will be published in October 2023. Damyanti Biswas lives in Singapore and works for a charitable organization that promotes education and social enhancement in underprivileged communities. Her short stories have been published in magazines in the US, UK, and Asia, and her debut crime novel, You Beneath Your Skin, was published in November 2022. She writes psychological thrillers.

The publisher's summary:  

After years of dancing in Mumbai’s bars, Tara Mondal was desperate for a new start. So when a client offered her a life-changing payout to indulge a harmless, if odd, fantasy, she accepted. The setup was simple: wear a blue-sequined saree, enter a crowded railway station, and escape from view in less than three minutes. It was the last time anyone saw Tara.

Thirteen years later, Tara’s lover, Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput, is still grappling with her disappearance as he faces a horrifying new crisis: on the city’s outskirts, women’s dismembered bodies are being unearthed from shallow graves. Very little links the murders, except a scattering of blue sequins and a decade’s worth of missing persons reports that correspond with major festivals.

Past and present blur as Arnav realizes he’s on the trail of a serial killer and that someone wants his investigation buried at any cost. Could the key to finding Tara and solving these murders be hidden in one of his cold cases? Or will the next body they recover be hers?

The Blue Bar is a fantastic read. The Indian setting is one that I am always attracted to. I love reading about the saris and the food but cannot imagine having to deal with the noise. Likewise, the characters were interesting. Tara and Arnav's love story was charming. However, it didn't seem plausible that Arnav's current girlfriend Nandini would stick around knowing that he was still in love with Tara. Nandini is a professional woman and while she is presented as being independent, I thought she was a doormat. She tripped over her feet while trying to serve him.  

The story had a fast pace, owing to the intricate plot. When it became apparent that a serial killer was the perpetrator, I couldn't figure out who it was. The author gave us about 5 prospects for the villain and stumped me. I reread some of the pages hoping to determine the identity of the whodunit but didn't gain any additional insight. I am ambivalent about the ending (after the whodunit reveal) and would have preferred something else. Let's see how it plays out in the second book.

4 out of 5 stars.