Seeking thrillers- Why I am reading mystery books this year

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If you have been following me for sometime, you might know that I am on a personal mission to read as many first thrillers where a Detective or a Detective Inspector makes an appearance, from world over. So far, I have read some awesome Detectives etched by writers from the Nordic countries (Jo Nesbo, Helen Tursten, Kristina Ohlsson),  the US (JK Rowling aka Robert Galbraith) and this one that I am going to review next, from England (MJ Arlidge, this though is his fifth on the link). I have also read some remarkable stand alone thrillers like No time for Goodbye and the Japanese masterpiece Devotion Suspect X (which I think kicked my obsession with finding the first ones of the series and which was so mind-blowing that its review isn't even comprehensible slink to another one of his works that is also so so good. Must rectify that one someday though when I can get over the awesomeness).

You might wonder why am I doing it. Even I think what is this going to achieve and I don't really have an answer. Come, let's try to discern it and make sense of this growing love for the thriller.

I have always been kind of obsessive about reading, having seen my mother read everything from paper bags made out of newspapers and magazines to books, living in a house filled with my father's enviable collection of Reader's Digest(s), Conan Doyles and being gifted books, ranging from comics to books on GK by relatives. Mystery, suspense and thrillers featured in my childhood via comics like Nagaraj and detective serials on Doordarshan like Byomkesh Bakshi and Karamchand Jaasoos.

Image Courtesy: nytimes.com
When I was pregnant with my first child, I kind of lost my mojo. I read articles and poems that someone kind who recognised my thirst for reading would mail me, but with time I lost that too- whether motherhood sapped me of the strength to read or whether I was lost so deeply  to myself that I did not realise that I had stopped reading mast fully, I know not.

On a birthday, when I wasn't expecting anything, a friend showed up with a book in a brown paper bag. It was an Agatha Christie. Not one by the grand Dame herself but by Sophie Hannah- The First New Hercule Poirot- The Monogram Murders. I can't bless my friend Sapna for picking up that particular book. I don't know what made her pick a mystery for me but I am so so glad that she picked this and not some chicklit or a romance or whatever else is there. This book proved to be a turning point in my life.

I was back in the game! Seven years after becoming a mother, I restarted reading as frantically as I used to. I realised how I had missed it and how that had contributed to the sense of loss that was always gnawing me. I read as many Agatha Christies as I could while I was carrying my second child and even got an earful for it from in-laws but I was unstoppable.

Today I do read various thing from time time- historical novels, non-fiction, chicklit, romances and
Image Courtesy: washingtonpost.com
everything in between but only after a couple of mysteries and thrillers. I get back to a thriller if a book fails to hold my interest and know that though I might not faithfully go through every single printed word, the book will hold gently coercing me to finish it.

I read thrillers maybe I don't know if to add a twist in to my otherwise plain, ordinary existence or to live vicariously through the detectives whose exploits I read. I continue to look for the very firsts, the introductions of the DIs to find their stories, their flaws and strengths. If you like to read thrillers, mysteries or suspense novels and have a recommendation for me, I would love to hear from you. If you suffer from something like this (maybe on a different genre) we can exchange notes.




Comments

Dr Pradeep Chowdhury said…
I read it with great interest. Thrillers are always a sure it. I can't go beyond reading a short story these days
11:26 AM
amu said…
Keep at it Dt Chowdhury and maybe you will go back to reading tomes.
9:34 AM
Suchita said…
Have always loved reading thrillers. Do try The Kind Worth Killing if you haven't already. Jo Nesbo is on my list :)
10:45 AM
Aanandika said…
Wonderful Suchita! Always happy to meet a thriller lover. I haven't read the book. Will look it up soon.
5:05 PM
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