India: Mumbai Noir edited by Altaf Tyrewala
Thoughts: The stories in Mumbai Noir are decent. Like in any anthology, some are better than others. Stand-outs for me were The Watchman by Altaf Tyrewala, The Egg by Namita Devidayal, and Nagpada Blues by Ahmed Bunglowala. Nagpada Blues especially channels the traditional noir story line with a down-on-his-luck PI. However, for a book that markets itself as noir, there’s a griminess that’s lacking in a lot of the stories. There’s a sort of sunshine that pervades throughout – maybe because so many of the stories have daylight components.
So a decent diversion for an afternoon, but if you’re looking for a real gritty collection of dark stories, this isn’t it.
Rating: 3.5/5