Nobody Killed Her by SABYN JAVERI

Book : Nobody killed her
Author : Sabyn Jhaveri
Publication year : 2017

I chose this book to meet the ' kickass heroine 'and whom I found was an unapologetic heroine with little hypocrisy. Now, that stirred my interest. Prior to it, I had hardly any experience with South Asian thrillers though I was a huge sucker for mysteries and suspense fictions.

Javeri's book prompted me to turn my attention to South Asia and I ended up reading Kalpana Swaminathan and Ashwin Sanghi. Needless to say, it was a good experience. Reviewing these books gave me immense pleasure for there were many serious issues to ponder upon. Javeri's debut novel was no different.

When the story opens, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Rani Shah was assassinated and her confidante Nazneen Khan ( Nazo )was held accountable for the murder. For, she was the one who was with Rani during her last hours.

 “ Who killed her?”


The story which was narrated in the course of courtroom proceedings was unputdownable. A pacy thriller with a maze of elements – treachery, gender equality, corruption, politics and what not.

Javeri had put the narrative in the unreliable hands of Nazo and this made the maze more thrilling.

What I liked about the book was that Javeri had left no stone unturned to depict the real life situations and it shunned hypocrisy to the core. The author was right when she said she was tired of suitable South Asian heroines. Even many of us were tired of that. She had torn apart those false faces which hardly existed and it's a big relief.


Jhaveri's character would make us think twice before we put every woman under one category when it's pertaining to topics like women empowerment, gender equality and feminism. The reasons for misinterpreting these words were mainly because we often tend to forget that there are different kinds of women with different circumstances with Nazo and Rani being the perfect examples.

There are a good number of women who have manipulative skills to get what they want. I liked the way Javeri left her characters ( Rani & Nazo) without judging them. They are at times strong, sometimes vulnerable and they get disillusioned too.

When Rani was born into an affluent family of politicians and everything had been offered to her on a platter, Nazo's family was murdered in front of her eyes by the General who was ruling Pakistan. Strangely, even such a strong background could not help Rani to wriggle through the maze of politics. But Nazo once determined had pushed the envelope and told us the story of survival. 


She was a refugee and Rani was Nazo's icon, God, lover and everything. She offered her at Rani's feet thinking that only she could save the country from the treacherous role of the General. But she was wrong. The moment Rani got the power her ideals quickly started changing. Mysogyny was prevalent. But with her hard-earned power did Rani do anything to change that? She comfortable placed herself where her society wanted her to be in.

The book created headlines even before it was released owing to Rani Shah's sharp semblance to the late Benazir Bhutto. It could not be denied but what amazed me was that even with a similar backdrop as of Mrs Bhutto, Rani Shah, all through the book hardly showed any traces of the late former premier. Now, that is something to be appreciated.


Once you finish reading the story, you will understand the quote mentioned by Sabyn Javeri at the outset of the book.

“I think you can love a person too much.You put someone up on a pedestal, and all of a sudden, from that perspective, you notice what's wrong - a hair out of place, a run in a stocking, a broken bone. You spend all your time and energy making it right, and all the while, you are falling apart yourself. You don't even realize what you look like, how far you've deteriorated, because you only have eyes for someone else.”

― Jodi Picoult, Handle with Care

Going to read her short story.

by Shalet Jimmy

Private India ( Private #8) - Ashwin Sanghi & James Patterson

Despite being an Indian, I have always been wary of reading thrillers, or murder mysteries written by Indian English writers. Some of the books which I tried reading were a complete turn off just because they were trying to emulate the western thriller writers. The common knowledge that the sensibilities of India are different from the West was shockingly lacking in many of them.

Nevertheless to say, Pakistani Writer Sabyn Jhaveri’s thriller‘Nobody killed her’ changed my perception. She has written a beautiful thriller with her country Pakistan as its backdrop. It’s not difficult for an Indian to understand that backdrop and stories with a South Asian background.
For years, I have been longing to read a book with Indian backdrop and a story just like ‘ Samay - When the time strikes’, one of the best crime thriller movies, I have seen starring ex- Miss Universe Sushmita Sen.

The starting chapters of this book reminded me of Samay, though both are entirely different and unique in their own way.

I chose ‘Private India’ book for two particular reasons - firstly, no doubt, the name James Patterson and secondly the backdrop of the book - Mumbai. The book was co-written by Indian thriller author Ashwin Sanghi and it was one of the books in Private India series. Honestly speaking, I have never read a book by Sanghi before, though I have seen him interviewed thriller writers like Dan Brown- yes! I acknowledge that it’s a huge mistake from my side. That’s why I started reading his
“ Chanakya Chant”.

To my surprise, the book was unputdownable. I knew Patterson’s style of writing. But the writing style of the author of this book was not similar to his previous books. Perhaps, that made me read the whole book as an Ashwin Sanghi book. I was not wrong in my assumption as I learnt that the plot belonged to Sanghi when I went through the articles about the duo signing a deal.

It all began when a plastic surgeon from Thailand was murdered in a hotel and the Private India - the Indian branch of an investigative agency started by ex-CIA Jack Morgan had to plunge into the investigation as the organization was also in charge of the hotel’s security. Within a matter of hours, the dead bodies of women started piling up in different parts of Mumbai. The yellow scarves using which the victims were strangled were enough proof that the murders were being committed by a single person.
The Indian touch was added to the story when each of the victims was found with certain props which indicated the nine avatars of Goddess Durga.

Sanghi says the story was a response to the misogyny which has become so prominent after the gruesome Delhi Gangrape. But when you delve into the story, there’s much more. Who is responsible for misogyny? Is it just the repercussion of a patriarchal society? Are Men alone responsible for that? 

I have read somewhere that even crime thrillers can highlight certain issues plaguing the society and ‘How’ was my question. I think this book was an answer to that.

Ashwin Sanghi, who has never written a contemporary thriller prior to this, but thrillers based on mythological and historical settings have efficiently made use of his knowledge here and has not gone overboard. The props placed around every victim and a reference to the Thugee cult existed in India were an example for that. Santhosh Wagh, the man in charge of Private India knew that there will be eight more killings. Cain the murderer, complete that circle? Will the Private India be able to prevent the murderer? There’s a tempo all throughout the book. But somewhere while reaching the end of the story that the tempo was found slackening. That could have been avoided.

I also like the character ‘Nisha’ who is an agent in Private India. Her character consoled the reader in me who always wanted the main protagonist to be a woman (though I am trying to come out of that self -made rule).

As I already said, the book was set in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India and one of the most happening cities in the world.
When the collaboration was announced, Patterson said, "With its vibrant and chaotic cities, and rich history and heritage there could be no better place to set Private’s next adventure than India. And in Ashwin Sanghi, with his wide historical knowledge and his love of a fast-paced plot, there could be no better writing partner."

Though I have a high opinion of the book, I have certain questions. There’s is a tendency in many of the novels to portray the main detective as depressed owing to his personal grief.  Don't you think there should be more Holmes or a Poirot unlike Suresh Wagh of Private India? Besides, why the detectives are not married or in a relationship?  Is it because the author/authors want to alienate them from the mundane thing so that, they could give more importance to the investigation.

The book is a turning point as it has made me explore the crime thriller novels from South Asia.

Ashwin Sanghi ranks among India’s highest selling English fiction authors. He has written several bestsellers (The Rozabal Line, Chanakya’s Chant, The Krishna Key and The Sialkot Saga). In addition, he has co-authored a New York Times bestselling crime thriller with James Patterson called Private India (followed by another in the series called Private Delhi). Included by Forbes India in their Celebrity 100 and winner of the Crossword Popular Choice, Ashwin also co-writes the 13 Steps series of self-help books (13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck and 13 Steps to Bloody Good Wealth) to be followed by several other titles in the series. Scroll down to see Ashwin’s journey from an avid reader to a New York Times Best Selling Author. ( Source: http://www.sanghi.in/)