A Tap on the Window by LINWOOD BARCLAY

Book: A Tap on the Window
Author: Linwood Barclay
Publication Date : 2013

P D James, the acclaimed crime fiction writer believed murder mysteries were made of clues and not coincidences. But when it came to Linwood Barclay's ' A tap on the window', it was just the opposite. It was just full of coincidences.

It all began when a teenage girl tapped on the window of Mr Weaver's car asking for a ride. He refused as he knew that it wouldn't be a good idea to give a lift to a girl at night. But he couldn't resist any longer when she said she knew his son Scott who died two months ago.

The death of his son was yet to sink in for him and his wife. They could not bring themselves to believe that he had jumped from a building. Of course, he was under the influence of ecstasy. Still! could he just jump to end his life?

Cal Weaver who was a private detective was in search of an answer for his son's death and when Claire Sanders, the girl asked for a ride said she knew Scott, he just admitted the girl into the car, thinking he might get some leads that could direct him to his son's death. On the way, she said she would like to stop at Iggy's, a restaurant for she was feeling sick and wanted to use the wash room before they proceed to her house.

Even after 15 minutes, when she did not come back, he decided to check. He couldn't find her anywhere in the bathroom. Thinking she might have left through another entrance, he came to the car just to see that she was sitting inside his vehicle. It just took a few seconds for Weaver to understand that the girl who was sitting inside his vehicle was not Claire but somebody else who dressed like her.

When the questions came pouring in, she demanded to get out of the car and Weaver had to drop her in the middle of the road. Very soon, he along with boyfriend found her dead body under the bridge where Weaver had dropped her. He was quick to realise that/if the second girl was killed, the life of Claire was no doubt in danger. And when he inquired he could find that she was missing too. Since he was dragged into it, he felt that he should go in search of her.

Weaver was sure that the girls were followed by somebody and they played the game to hoodwink the stalker.

At the same time, there were so many happenings taking place in Griffon city which was on the borders of Canada. The Police Chief and Mayor of the city were at loggerheads. Claires Sanders was the daughter of the Mayor Bert Sanders and the police chief Augustus Perry was the brother - in-law of Weaver.
Cops Brindles and Haines were giving Weaver, a tough time. Hanna who died was underage but was delivering beer to the people.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It might be due to the reason that for the past several days, I was just reading classics and classic mysteries. I really had to struggle hard to get out of that world and embrace the modernity.

Linwood Barclay

 For the first few pages, I couldn't find anything substantial happening and that dampened my spirit. I was expecting something else just like his wonderful book ' No time to say good bye ". Hence, I just searched for it in the good reads and my friends over there assured me with their reviews that it's a good book and you could witness the elements of suspense only if I read till the end. That was what I did. Still, I am in a dilemma. I could not specifically that I liked or disliked it. Maybe, I stand in the midway.

Sometimes, I used to think that Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes would not have done this way. Then I reprimanded myself for thinking like that as this murder mystery was all about coincidences and our protagonist was dragged into it. He was a vulnerable man which was perfectly fine.

Barclay has effectively portrayed the emotional turmoil, the Weaver and his wife Donna was going through due to the death of their son. They blamed themselves. It was not that they were not caring parents. First I thought I was not convinced of the motive which made the culprit to take a few drastic steps. Later I realised it would be wrong to say that as the human nature was beyond comprehension. If you like Linwood Barclay, then go for this book.

- by Shalet Jimmy

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