I first read Raman’s work when @reader_girl_reader gifted me his novel, A Will to Kill. In many ways it reminded me of Bhaskar Chattopadhyay’s Penumbra but with its own unique twist. When I heard that his latest book was out, I knew I had to read it. This one was quite different from his previous book. Firstly, I took almost a week to wrap up this murder mystery which isn’t usually a good sign. Although the premise was interesting, with the concept of supernatural powers mingled with murder mystery, somewhere along the way the story became very stretchy. Grave Intentions isn’t definitely a great novel but surprisingly, it wasn’t too bad either.

Harith Athreya is known for solving cases that are as enigmatic as him. He is often roped in by the police when they find it difficult to crack certain important cases and it is on one such mission that he stumbles upon Naaz Tapu, an islet with the myth of being haunted by a pair of ghosts. There’s an archaeological site set up quite close to it and in addition to solving a financial scam happening within that organisation, he is also entrusted with an unexpected incident that involves an elderly woman who heads the archaeological team and also with a bunch of thieves. Naaz Tapu is known for being dangerous and no local would voluntarily step onto the islet for the fear of facing the wrath of spirits. So when Athreya is pulled into this mysterious case, he carefully untangles all the causes until he finds the truth.

I personally loved the setting of this book and Raman’s clever idea of mixing a thriller with that of a supernatural aspect to it. My only qualm was with how the story felt stagnant somewhere in the middle, forcing me to abandon it almost twice. The end is certainly unexpected but it didn’t leave with the sense of satisfaction that usually comes when you finish a good murder mystery novel.

All in all, Grave Intentions didn’t impress me much but I would still very well read his next book.