Crime and murder... in Goan tales FN, in The Navhind Times
Crime fiction (also called the detective story or a murder mystery) is known to come in several sub-genres. These include detective fiction (or the whodunit), courtroom drama, legal thrillers, or hard-boiled fiction (where the protagonist is a detective who battles organised crime). But Mario Coelho's 'Moonlight and Shadow: Unsettling Tales' (2024) is one of the few in this genre which is set entirely in Goa. You need a tough stomach to get under the skin of what the author has described as his "darker tales that delve into horror, suspense and the macabre". But, these stories can also be addictive. Once you start reading, Coelho deftly takes you along his pages, making you want to know how the story is going to end up, when and with what twists. Of the last, much can be said, but let's avoid plot-spoilers. His settings vary, and are well chosen. Nilava is a migrant poor rag-picker who "has a hip-swaying gait that draws the gaze of every male within a hundred yards". Vinod Chopra is a wannabee Bollywood star who gets a rich heiress to fall for him, and then ends up at Dudhsagar in unexpected circumstances. Agostino is on a mission of revenge. Derek, too, has a debt to settle, on account for what his niece has undergone a year earlier. Some of this, you could guess; but the book is definitely not predictable. And so on... It's the longest story in the book, 'Still Waters', which is the most masterfully narrated. It begins with this gripping short para: "If anyone on the outside happened to be looking in, it would've possibly looked very funny indeed -- except for all the blood, that is. And the dead body stretched out on the floor." The narrator of this story, Peter Rosario, has just discovered his business partner and very close friend, of many decades, murdered. Through the meanderings across many pages (all the time being very engrossing), we are introduced to possible suspects in a business crime thriller. It's packed with the politics that arise in an office, in a dramatised and catchy manner. If only all offices were rife with such gossip and colour.... Through these twists and turns, we encounter so much of Goa too. But you need to weave your way through one murder in every chapter (at the very least; at the St Mariette High School whodunit, we are told that three staff members have been killed in the past few months). Coelho has a talented repertoire. In one story, the narrator, through whose point-of-view the story unfolds, is left unnamed (and unidentified) till the very end. This can lead to an impatience on the part of the reader, to know whose story one is hearing. In the last chapter, we come across the mastermind's attempt to harm a love-interest who spurned the former. But the stories are not just meaningless ones of crime and violence. You get a hint of this in blurb, which says: "They got away with murder... or did they?" A careful read shows us that the emphasis is on the last three words. Coelho makes use of his dramatic license to dispense his sense of justice. Take the case of Clara's actions in 'Of Dreams, Long Buried', where a family wrestles with the attitudes of an autocratic father. You also get the impression that Coelho has strong feelings about the spoiled kin of politicians, who are shown in unflattering light. * * * So, who is Coelho's ideal reader? In a way, the author extends, to Goa, a genre which has hardly any writing on its kind so far here. This is not a book only for police and crime-reporters. If you like crime-stories and thrillers, go for it. In addition, the "non-vegetarian" murders apart, Coelho has done a good job of weaving the Goa story into what is a light and entertaining read, going far beyond the sensational and screaming news headlines that once portrayed Goa as the "rape capital of India". Coelho's short stories are ten in number, as short as 11 pages in length to as long as 35 pages. Priced at Rs250, and published by "India's fastest-growing self-publishing platform" Notion Press, the book is filled with stories that are fairly well told, and keep the reader on the edge. Goa has made it to the national, and even international, headlines for crime committed here. But crime books set in Goa have been few and far between. The Sea of Innocence by Kishwar Desai (2013). It's about: "Goa, south India. A beautiful holiday hideaway where hippies and backpackers while away the hours. But beneath the clear blue skies lies a dirty secret..." Its story focuses on a British teenager gone missing. 'Goa Galata' in Hindi is another in this series. You will get a gist of where these are headed from the blurbs: "In Netaji Jehangir Contractor’s Khandala house, Rajaram Lokhande shoots dead his cook Fazal Haque who has turned an informer. Jeet Singh kills Rajaram in his hotel room and escapes with seventy-five lakh rupees to Goa. Amidst multiple high-profile intrigues and conspiracies at the gambling den of Club Kokiro, Jeet Singh meets the don of the city, Lawrence Briganza (sic), who offers him a contract to kill. Who is he going to kill next?" There's also Aarya Sarkar's ebook 'Murder in Goa', Paul Mann's 'Ganja Coast' (when "professionals move into the drug trade"), Manisha Saxena's Blue Jeans on crime set in Baga, discos, drug peddlers and the like. Ahmed Bungalowala 'Shorty Gomes: Vintage Indian Crime Stories' is based in the Bandra and other parts of Bombay in the 1970s and 1980s, though the detective character has a distinctly Catholic Goan-sounding name. But there's one difference between the above and Coelho's work. Coming from an 'insider', the latter strikes you as being written quite realistically, largely free of stereotypes (apart from the killing all around, but one would expect this in such a genre) and insightful of the local reality. Coelho takes us to the beach belt (naturally), and his settings are mapped with places like the Caribou nightclub in Candolim and the new Mariano's gym. We reach Farmagudi, the Goa Medical College, Altinho and its Polytechnic, Dhempe College and the Miramar beach circle. By way of villages, featuring here are Xirvonnem (on the outskirts of Mapusa), Abolim, Saligao, Merces, Shirshirem and Nagmodem, and the like. The local reader doesn't need much guessing over which of these places exist. We're told that the author loves theatre, singing and acting, and has composed and sung for various plays. His interests, besides writing, including teaching drama, creative writing and poetry, among others. Coelho has also worked in the field of children's short stories. His bio says: "He also experiments with darker tales that delve into horror, suspense and the macabre." In small Goa, those who know Coelho would also know his links to a prominent business family in Ponda, who takes his writing more seriously than the world of business. Had he been in a big city in India, his talent would have surely got more of the recognition it deserves. ### *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Join a discussion on Goa-related issues by posting your comments on this or other issues via email to [email protected] See archives at http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/ *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
