Souffle - Anand Ranganathan - Review

 

An orphan who had lost his parents to a terrible accident at the age of 10, ends up spending his better part of the childhood years and early teens in the kitchen of langar. The kid learns about the finer nuances of tasty cooking which leads him to Canada and eventually scales himself as a top rated Michelin Masterchef. Rajiv Mehra, the masterchef protogonist of the story, leads a high flying life being a poster boy of leading magazines and flies across the globe in private jets to execute his assignments. 

Rajiv's excellence in his field of work gets him on a close range with India's top business leader Mihir Kothari and his family. The frequent interaction earns Rajiv a certain affinity with the family and an initiative to open an international chain of restaurants under Rajiv's leadership is under consideration, by all means he has scaled heights that are beyond one's imagination. As a preferred chef for all key events, Rajiv is called upon to lead dinner orchestration for Mihir Kothari's birthday celebrations. 

Extensive preparations are laid out for hundreds of esteemed guests who turned up for the event and the menu list fine tuned with exquisite dishes carved out to delight everyone's taste buds. Highlight of the event is pitted upon Souffle which happens to be Rajiv's signature dish, a baked egg dish with various other ingredients that originated from France. Souffle is presented to Mihir who gleefully tastes the dish only to fall flat moments later and is consequently declared dead. The unexpected turn of events puts the guest gathering in a state of shock and the news channels goes berserk over a top business leader's murder due to consuming cyanide mixed Souffle.  

Rajiv's life comes crashing down with an arrest that sends him to rot in Mumbai jail followed by a fast tracked court awarding him death sentence few months down the line. The clear evidence results in the conviction of Rajiv, largely seen as an open and shut case by the Mumbai police force. But why did he murder India's top business leader ? Was Rajiv framed in the whole drama ? How did someone cut across the security checks and ensured that the cyanide mixed dish only reached the target ? Above all does Rajiv have any hope of proving his innocence ? 

I wouldn't want to play spoiler any further and with those questions, I will let the reader explore the mystery behind the murder. 

Anand Ranganathan's command over language is exemplary and his thriller novel with unexpected twists in the storyline can be an awesome read over a weekend !