When I pick up books because of their compelling covers, most of the times (as it also happened this time) the story is compelling enough as well. Moreover, ‘Scar on the Moon’ was among one of my most anticipated reads for this year strongly because of its plotline and my eternal love for thrillers; the cover design and the title did the rest!

Coming forward to the story front, the novel follows the life of Chandrika, an able police sub inspector in Himachal Pradesh police department. She is posted at Shimla, the place where she will be solving her life’s first and major murder case. If you are with the book since the first page, I am sure her family roots will daze you, especially her childhood stories. The fact is that she is dark.  A dark woman! That fact repeatedly subjects her to remarks from her mother and other people. Fact is that she is turned down most of the times because of her dark scruffy look.

Yet her characterization is remarkable, she is not mad or bossy but someone strange and humane. You’ve never met anyone like her before, I guarantee as does the author. She admires one of the best fashion models of India – Varunika. Varunika is everything that she is not – hot, beautiful, charming, ravishing, and popular.

The author slyly explores the unbridled desire of a woman through Chandrika to look beautiful in her life. To some extent, she gets support from Varunika for a change in looks but Chandrika is there to solve the murder mystery of the model’s husband – Hardik.

From the murder case, the story turns in a rewind mode. However it doesn’t lose its investigative sheen. As a police cop she is humble, learnt the lesson of justice from one of the female officers, she is aware of the loopholes in the system, but it cannot bog her down. Chandrika hardly gets any substantial support from her seniors. Up to her aid, is constable Girdhari, her ally and a man who believes that slapping convicts is a time saving interrogative trick. He was as common as a family man.

Anyway to broaden the cast of suspects, the author has Saransh, Ravi, and Ashok – they were living in the same resort as Varunika. Initially, they were harassing her. Chandrika had to figure out who is actually harassing her. They turned out to be lecherous followers of her. But in between Hardik is murdered, and the lady police is caught in the web of duty. Some extent of police drama kept the thrill on. But in the end it was Chandrika whose intellectual brilliance put the puzzles at the right place and the secrets of Varunika nonplussed her. Everything discovered…yet far from the courtroom trials.

Other characters pop out from time and again, but no one is as prodigious and perfect as Chandrika. She manages her personal life with calmness of a queen. The novel is crime thriller with a superb plotline, nevertheless, it also throws light on the attitude of the society on a dark woman. It was visible and noticeable mainly as the novel is staged against North India. Had it been South, dark woman are taken as normals.

The plot is intricate with multiple layers of mystery and deception and delves into themes of trust, betrayal, and the lengths people will go to protect their secrets. On the whole, though there are a few open ends and the story felt just a little bit dragged somewhere in the middle, overall I enjoyed reading this book because of its plotline, storytelling, amazing ending, and character development. A must read for thriller audiences!