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My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Many Thanks to Book Sirens and the author for a copy of this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

What an incredibly written quagmire of a whodunnit this turned out to be.

Smita Bhattacharya’s book #1 Kiss Of Salt in Darya Nandkarni’s Misadventures series is an exhilarating ride thru the enchanting locales of Goa, a place famously known as the Pearl Of the Orient.

Darya Nandkarni is on a mission to help her father clear out his brother’s house after his demise. Sea Swept, Constellation and Casa de Primavera; the 3 houses that are located in Heliconia Lane hidden away from prying eyes, is a location to die for. Darya arrives in Sea Swept hoping for rejuvenation and recovery after some trying and distraught time in her life. Sea Swept is however hardly the place of solace as Darya confronts the past of a missing Farideh, the wife of her uncle Paritosh. Soon Darya realizes that nothing is as it seems in Heliconia Lane as one mystery after another begins unfolding.

How to know what’s behind smiling faces? We think a smile means happiness…contentment, but it’s only an appearance, a cloak of pretence. Only a child smile when he’s really happy.

Kiss Of Salt, Smita Bhattacharya

There’s romance, there’s suspense, there’s a cold-case investigation, there’s amateur sleuthing, and then there’s the final denouement in the climax a la Agatha Christie style that made this a thumping winner for me. Darya’s character has been so wonderfully etched, she’s flawed in so many ways like many of us trying to find our footing, but she shows grit and determination to untangle the myriad clues and secrets lurking under the surface of this placid waters. Interspersed with beautiful quotes from Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam , Kiss Of Salt is a book to be savored.

A gripping and brilliant whodunnit, there’s never a dull moment in the story as Darya follows her heart to bring the truth to light. The supporting characters adds an additional layer of enigma as the past of not just Farideh but that of Aaron also unravels.

Looking forward in delight to read all the books in the series.

Highly recommended.

*Heliconia Lane was a spot of heaven until you discover the secrets that lay behind its closed doors.*

It was crazy really, for Darya to think she could have some peace and quiet at Heliconia Lane. Yes, it was located in a beautiful corner of South Goa—by the beach, no less—but after her Aunt Farideh disappeared twenty years ago—from this very place—nothing has been the same again. And now her uncle was dead under bizarre circumstances as were two of the neighbours on his street.

What was happening? Was there a murderer on the loose? Why were people dying? Was it connected to her aunt’s disappearance in some way?

And most importantly, was Darya going to be next?

A cozy, Agatha Christie-style whodunnit, Kiss of Salt introduces Darya Nandkarni, an amateur, and accidental detective, who is clever, spirited, resourceful, yet troubled and vulnerable. Her adventures will make you laugh, cry, gape, and marvel, and you won’t be able to put down the book until you’ve solved the mystery along with her in the beautiful side-streets of Goa.

** If you liked Kiss of Salt, check out the next in the series: THE SECRET ANGELS **

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