Goa noir | Review of ‘Scarlet Sands’ by Udayan Mukherjee With a keen reporter’s eye, the author lays bare the faultlines of contemporary society
Published - June 13, 2025 09:00 am IST K.S. Swati <https://www.thehindu.com/profile/author/k-s-swati-19406/> [image: Google Preferred Source] <https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=https://www.thehindu.com/> Udayan Mukherjee’s *Scarlet Sands*, the second instalment in the Neville Wadia Mystery series, is engulfed in a web of murders, bureaucratic mess-ups, political power plays, and the silencing of witnesses and dissent. Set in Goa, the story draws sharp observations from, and mirrors, the current socio-political environment in India. At the heart of the story are Neville Wadia and his wife Shehnaz who have moved to Goa in hopes of a quiet life. Soon, Neville gets tangled up in the murder case of Joshua Davies, an investigative journalist who was pursuing various leads — from a money laundering racket in casinos, illegalities in the construction of Mopa airport to the activities of right-wing outfit Hindu Shresthata Sangh. This leaves a laundry list of suspects and motives for the murder. The novel feels eerily close to reality. It’s a world where speaking out can cost you your life, and where money and influence dictate who gets justice. The author doesn’t hold back when it comes to describing people in positions of authority and their relationship with power and money. The dialogues are sharp, and engaging. Just when you think you are lost deep within the story, the author throws in a new character, a fresh angle, and you’re hooked all over again. With a keen reporter’s eye and a novelist’s flair for atmosphere, Mukherjee, a former business journalist, lays bare the systems that fail, the people who look away, and the few who choose to speak up despite the risks. *Scarlet Sands* is more than just a gripping mystery — it’s an urgent, unsettling commentary on the country’s shifting political and moral landscape. *[email protected] <[email protected]>* Scarlet Sands Udayan MukherjeePicador India₹450 _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ Frederick Noronha फ्रेडरिक नोरोन्या * فريدريك نورونيا _/ AUDIO https://archive.org/details/@fredericknoronha _/ http://goa1556.in +91-9822122436 784 Saligao Goa _/ Goanet :: 30 years of discussions. [email protected] _/ http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/ _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ -- *** Please be polite and on-topic in your posts. *** --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Goa Book Club" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-book-club/CA%2Bmqab_%3DOARmKArx%3DRQkf8Zi9OgBa%3D8OfXYaQO9i%2Br0CQS%2BXmw%40mail.gmail.com.
