One MURDER Suspects Galore, Discover Lutyens Delhi like Never Before!
Anuja Chauhan’s latest, Club You to Death revolves around Delhi’s most renowned and elitist club – The Delhi Turf Club (DTC), where amidst the upcoming Club Presidential elections the members unearth a dead body in broad daylight. One murder and suspects galore, Chauhan surely knows how to weave a dark tale of crime and murder in a place full of glitz and glamour. The readers are introduced to several characters, all members of the club and belonging to influential households of the city. The more colorful a character is, the darker are their secrets. When the Delhi Police is handed over the case, will they be able to catch the killer and save the sinking reputation of the Club; or will power politics get the better of them?
Club you to Death is riddled with several twists and turns and an array of characters with their perceptions, prejudices, and shady pasts. However tight-lipped the suspects are regarding the reality, one cannot get enough of gossips floating around their lives. Whether it is an ex-military man with a suspected affair whose military tales are outdated and boring or the beautiful and elegant Club Presidential candidate who can bowl over any man. Whether it is a beautiful young woman whose fiancé passes away a day after their engagement or a perfect example of a youth-gone-wasted due to substance abuse – the complicated lives of the members of the DTC has it all. This opens up the grey shades of all the characters revealing yet again that no man or woman in the world can ever be sorted as good or bad; their actions based on their circumstances seal their fates.
Mental confusion and loneliness play an important part in shaping up the personalities of the suspects. While they may live in posh bungalows with palatial interiors, their hearts and minds are filled with loneliness, irritation, anger, lust, hypocrisy and a thirst for power. Behind the masks of heavy make-up, fragrant perfumes, kohl-lined eyes and muscular bodies lie devastated souls coming face-to-face with their realities. From dysfunctional families, parental pressure, estranged children and strained marital relations to professional rivalries and power of politics; all exerts pressure on their mental health and not to mention increased incessant gossip and the media does not help in calming any nerves! Guarding their secrets through cash or kind becomes their lives biggest motive; and when someone threatens to expose these secrets and their wrong-doings, can one become hysterical and maniac enough to kill?
Where there is glitz, glamour and gossip…there is the media. Although media articles on the murder is used as a narrative to progress with the storyline, one cannot deny the over-curiosity of the media in general, especially the Page 3 buffs, buzzing all around the Club to get the latest scoop. Who is seen leaving the restaurant with whom? Who is having an extra marital affair with whom? Who slept with whom last night? Who is whose partner? … are all news that the media hunts like wolves. Thus, when a cold-blooded murder takes place in the Delhi Turf Club, the media considers it as their loyal duty to cover every minute detail of the case while enlightening the whole world about the private lives of the suspects.
Chauhan talks about Lutyens Delhi best known to an insider in this perfect mirch-masala murder -mystery with adrenaline rushing twists, dead-ends, love affairs and buried secrets; in the most talked about Club of Dilwalon Ki Dilli! If you happen to like reading thrillers and crime fiction novels then this one definitely needs to be added to your kitty.
P.S next time you enter a club do check if you are safe or the members can Club You To Death!
No. of Pages : 417
Publisher : Harper Collins
Availability : Flipkart / Amazon
Rating : 3.5/5
* I would like to Thank Writersmelon for giving me the opportunity to review this book.
by Subhadrika Sen 
Such a great review!
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