The sun shone brightly in a suburban neighborhood, the local book club meets every Friday evening. The members are a close-knit group of literature lovers. Rashmi sauntered into the cozy confines of The Reading Haven, a charming bookstore cafe. Filled with warm lighting, faded green upholstery of overstuffed chairs and the buttery smell of freshly baked pastries. She walks past the oak-paneled bookshelves lined back to back with paperbacks of adventures, fantasies, horror to mysteries. She smoothens her embroidered kurta before seating herself. She eagerly held on to her pile of crime fiction books which was the theme for this week.
A few moments later which seemed like an eternity. Rashmi smiled and greeted Rani her bestie, Karan the professor, Geeta the well-known mystery author, Sujata the cafe owner and Divya the group moderator. Suddenly the cafe is buzzing with candid conversations amongst group members. Divya in her late twenties, with wavy hair, and a slender frame also took the initiative initially to form the book club. Divya in a lively throaty voice announced “I welcome you all to the third book club meeting and this week's theme is crime fiction." She smiles at Geetha and continues “Today's guest speaker is none other than the author of a recent bestseller Whodunnit and I leave the floor open to discussion and exchange of reviews on the book.”
Sujata meticulously placed the tray of freshly brewed coffee and pastries next to the floral centerpiece on the table. The chatter died down and Sujata ran her hand through her salt and pepper hair. All eyes darted to her weathered face as she carefully exclaimed, "A page-turner and the character so intricately weaved that my curiosity was piqued from start to finish. The murky dark past of the protagonist and the clues leading to the culprit were bone-chilling. An excellent true crime fiction that I would highly recommend." Sujata handed over her copy to Geetha and got it autographed.
Rashmi a middle-aged single working mother of two sat crossing her legs and lost deep in thought. Rani her shrewd colleague elbowed her to show a photo of her and her fiance at a book fair. Rani in her distinct sandy brown hair and gruff voice echoed similar sentiments as that of Sujata in her review. Geetha gushed and in her usual cheerful voice thanked Rani.
The disoriented professor of theology fiddled with his wire-rimmed glasses before he shared his views. His solemn grave eyes bespoke of dissent and in a decisive voice said " The book was awful and the plot flawed. It was so agonizingly slow he dreaded reading the book midway."
Geetha stood to read a few lines from her bestseller Whodunnit. The room was filled with anticipation as she flipped the pages of the book. Suddenly she felt a spell come over her, the room felt dizzy, faces blurred, suffered a blackout before she collapsed on the floor.