The third Lalli novel is not much of an adrenaline rush as one might wish it to be. With the well-researched sciences, the credibility of this novel cannot be doubted, but there was no chase that would lead to a dash to the next page. Lalli is unlike any detective that the popular culture nurtures. The most astonishing part of The Secret Gardener was that people come to her and seek advice. It is on rare occasions that she would venture out for a clue. She is not on her heels all the time.
Evidence in this book keeps popping up at 24 Patwardhan Cross. A sphenoid or a mummified finger with chic manicure, Lalli keeps getting the clues. Yet, there is no urgency to solve this mystery. It is only a kid that melts the heart of this detective and she takes up this case. Talking in these terms, the novel is breaking many clichés about detective novels. The narrator in this book can guide you well, if this is one of your initial detective novels. But if you are a regular with these novels then it might become a distraction.
Characters in The Secret Gardener have set frames though. The clear difference between a good girl and a bad one is that the good girl knows how to cook. If an Indian detective novel portrays such domestic traits in women, it is definitely reflective, but reflexive too. Not just that, there are many stereotypical attributes to the characters in the book that tend to reconfirm the gender roles. No matter how amazing a detective Lalli is, she will have to cook and her niece will be named Sita. Dr Q and Inspector Savio also keep reflecting these conditions.
While that part of The Secret Gardener will keep on pinching the gender-sensitive readers, there are also characters like Anil who would question, “What does a woman have to do to get it right in our society?” Kalpana Swaminathan has definitely tried to scrutinise the problems in our society, but the subtleness can be misunderstood for absenteeism. This book has also tried to explore the complexities of human relationships.
There is child abuse, rape and murder that would generally feature in a thriller/ detective novel, but there is a twist to The Secret Gardener.
Unlike other detectives, who are mostly a step behind the perpetrator, here the detective is years behind. The crime is set in the past and there is a lot of digging to be done, rather than a popular trail that any detective novel lover would be on a look out for. This is a well-thought and a woven plot that takes its time to ripen to the climax. Curiosity definitely builds up, but it has a slow pace. The ending is like a Bollywood climax where all characters come to a common platform and the picture fits like a jigsaw puzzle. More than searching for the culprit, the book seems to be in search of peace.
