It Takes A Murder by Anu Kumar

"You look as if you have seen a murder, Mrs Hyde. Do sit down. I was talking to the missus about motives. That's what all detectives tell you - look for a motive. once there is a motive, things fall into place. And here, in this instance, we have one, even if...even if."

 It Takes A Murder by Anu Kumar

It Takes a Murder is set in Brooks Town, a hill-station where people know all about each other. Even about those who would rather remain anonymous. The narrator, Charlotte Hyde, speaks about events which take place 25 years after 1984, where a Prime Minister is gunned down by her own guards. Charlotte has her own secrets and haunted by it. 

When Gautam Dogra is found murdered, the police dismiss it as a simple case. Slowly, it unfolds that Dogra was responsible for the way the narrator's life shaped up and her estrangement with her daughter, Maddy. 

It is not a love story but has a strong undercurrent of love although we do not know who loves/loved Charlotte and vice versa. The narration goes in a languid pace. The sleepy town comes alive by the writing. It is lyrical at times with the prose almost poetic. The world described here is common place yet it seems so different. A classic tale of love, loss and fury told in a very evocative way.