Presumed dead in a bloody coup to quell Indian revolutionaries, Arjun Rana returns to the sleepy town of Ooty after six years, throwing the townsfolk, and his household, in disarray.
Troubled by the suicide of his father, Zamindar Digvijay Rana, Arjun tries his best to live up to the town’s expectations as he takes up the mantle of zamindar. Little does he know that his detractors are many, and formidable.

The Zamindar’s Ghost set in the 1930s, in Ooty of pre-independence India, there is a manor which is rumoured to be haunted. It is said that the old Zamindar who committed suicide is haunting the manner and is now out for revenge.

One by one, people start dying mysteriously and there are ominous footprints near the place of death. The town is baffled, police are at a loss and no one seems to have any idea as to what is happening there. For a small town like Ooty, the murders are not only baffling but also nightmarish.

Khayaal Patel has written a period murder mystery with a haunted manor at its heart. The characterisation has been aptly done keeping in mind the pre-independence time when the English were in control but India was also moving towards modern thinking.

The book does not talk about the British or colonisation, maybe because it concerns itself with the lives of the main characters of the story. A little of the struggles of Indians at the time would have been a good addition but nevertheless this is an interesting book to read.

The build up of the mystery and the ghost has been nicely done and all the characters are shown to have some ulterior motive. Khayaal Patel’s storytelling is masterful and I can assure you The Zamindar’s Ghost will not disappoint you.

My rating: 4.3/5

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