The Diamond Crown by V S Rao: Book Review

Title: The Diamond Crown

Author: V S Rao

Publisher: Srishti Publishers

Publication Date: 10^th April,2018

My Rating: 2.5 stars

Links: Amazon Goodreads Instagram Twitter

I do agree about the freaky book cover which will never prompt any reader to pick this book. Well in my case, it’s the author’s introduction on the back cover of the book which gave me the reason to read this one.

The author VS Rao is a celebrated, multifaceted Telugu author, playwright, translator and scriptwriter. He is the recipient of numerous literary honors and awards. This line was fairly enough to get the hold on to this book.

The book gets kick off with the meeting of Balaram, Parabrahma Rao, Gajapati, Ramjogi and Kumkum to formulate a plan to steal the diamond crown amounting to two crores rupees which is to be presented to Swamiji on his Shashtipoorti day. Their planning process was very much alike old Bollywood movie where the diamond gets looted. The twist was tried to put in the story through another contender for the diamond crown where both of them were double-crossed by Kumkum.

On the Shashtipoorti day, In spite of tight security, the diamond crown gets replaced with the fake one and then detective Tempo is hired to solve the case. In time the way he was hired and likewise he solved the case and that only in one day! And that too with pointless deductions.

The narration was very simple and straightforward and a little naive though. Also, the characterization didn’t impress me much.

The book is a so-so crime fiction where there is nothing new in the concept. Nevertheless, I was quite disappointed after reading this one. There was no thrill or enjoyment in reading. It’s a book of mere 120 pages which felt like a lifetime.

Why to read this book

The ones who want a quick and very light read could go for this one. But the readers looking for thrill or enthrallment may be disappointed. This is a story which you may have heard or seen before.

 

Have you happened to read this book?

Do share your thoughts in the comments below.

 

-Harshita