The Crime Busters’ League: The Case of The Chinese Mastermind

Author: Ketaki Karnik
Publisher: JAICO Publishing House, Mumbai
(Pp 185; ISBN: 139788184954067; Rs 199)

Mystery mixed with horror! This is what it defines The Crime Busters’ League: The Case of The Chinese Mastermind. The story unfolds with three teenagers driving down the countryside road that leads to their destination – Pinky aunty’s farmhouse. Kavya, Raima and Varun never expected their leisure visit would turn out to be something crafty. The Crime Busters’ League… is a kind one can enjoy tasting proportionate mix of mystery and horror. Pinky aunty, as the three teens call, owns the farmhouse known to everyone all around the town for being supernatural in nature. Kavya calls the house something sprawling straight out of a suspense thriller.

It is also said that Pinky aunty’s farmhouse was once a haunted lodge cum headway of the king of Patiala. Kanva who rated herself a sort of mystery addict loves to be around the farmhouse where a lady, who does not exist in real, often roams around. Pinky aunty’s farmhouse is mystery itself, but multiplying the obscurity are the guests including the three teens. Among the host of guests is an extraordinarily-behaved Chinese couple,

Mr and Mrs Hu. And suspense begins at Pinky aunty’s farmhouse when it comes to tracing uncle Ravi’s valuable designs being stolen as his company refuses to lodge a complaint to police. Ultimately, every task to explore the missing designs comes to the responsibility of the three youngsters. But they cannot handle it in a take-it-easy way. Hurdles on the road are blood-thirsty monsters, killer cars, hounds of horror, menacing threats—most of all, rogue spies and six Chinese daggers!

Readers will find more characters, namely, Rhea Shabharwal, Anand Mehta, Dev, Rameswaran in the story, apart from the ones mentioned above. Leave the task of finding out who they are to readers. If the whole thing is dug up here in this mere review, mystery may lose its charm.

–Jyaneswar Laishram