Detective novels, journals and films have been staple intellectual food in the Bengali literature landscape since the colonial times. Bengalis have been stereotyped as cerebral and inclined towards detection; this same pedigree brings on another sleuth, Detective Tarinichoron Ray. Kaushik Majumdar, after creating “the masonic series”, has brought out a focused Tarini short story collection. The book “Detective Tarinichoron” was published by Book Farm in November of 2024.

The book illustrations, the cover and the jacket of the book deserve special attention as they attract and decimate a sense of nostalgia for the old hardcover books found in unknown corners of an old library. The whole aesthetic of the book belongs to a pre-technology-dependent time. The stories are no exception. The character of Tarini is an exception from the discourse of detective fiction prevalent in Bengal. He is poor, lower middle class, and is very rarely comfortable in his surroundings. There are shadows of a private consultant from London and an armchair detective from France, but Kaushik Majumdar says, “It was not a conscious choice, and shadows and inspirations come unknowingly.”

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There are a total of four stories of various adventures of the drawing room detective working under the tutelage of the Queen of England in a colonial city of evolving criminals and morals. The character, though very fictional, has been jumbled with real historic figures in our timeline, as is the very intricate style of Majumdar. Characters like inspector Priyanath Mookherji and Priyanath Bose, the first Bengali circus owner, have all had their roles described in these stories.

More than the modus operandi, greater than the mysteries of a closed room murder, the attraction is the time capsule Majumdar creates into the late 19th century Bengali life. Be it Darjeeling, Calcutta or the undivided Bengal village life, the setting of the stories is so picturesque and so very alluring, it feels like reading a journey of a colonial Bengali citizen.

In the preface of the book, Majumdar sets the exposition. He explains, “Detective novels were becoming increasingly patterned, going into the uncle/aunt-nephew relations, and were becoming more travel journals more than detective novels. No one wanted to take the risk of breaking the pattern, doing something new.” Kaushik Majumdar has definitely broken the pattern.

The writer’s use of Jibananda Das’ poetry in his writing captures the essence of a sense of homelessness and love in the stories of what would otherwise be mysteries. The four stories are all closed-door mysteries, which means the victim of murder is found in a closed room with no killer in sight. The deduction skills of Tarini are put to serious test when even the high-ranking officials of authority are dumbfounded by the killings. There is also the addition of love in Tarini’s life. He is shown to be newly wed; Tarini feels like a relative we would all know he is portrayed so quintessentially, but at the same time there hides a very sharp and intellectual young detective who will not stop until justice is served. The most remarkable feature of Tarini is his empathy; such is his moral compass that he would even compromise his case and save the murderer when the victim of murder has been a monster altogether. Majumdar has very cunningly shown the character of a “poor” man financially who is humble and always conscious of his social standing and yet has a backbone of steel, staunch principles of ideals, and, most importantly, isn’t prejudiced. Though a periodic storyline, the character is inclusive of all the realms of the society he belongs in and has a taste for chic cultural taste. Majumdar assures the readers, “There will be more stories of Tarini soon.”

The presence of sub-discourse in the well-researched detective genre is a fresh breeze, and the readers are sure to expect more such adventures in the colonial British era, where the streets of Calcutta were dark, and the psyche of criminals darker.

Spotlight

Detective Tarinichoron

By Kaushik Majumdar

Book Farm, 2024

264 pages, Rs 399/-