Book Review : The Case of the Missing Turtles

 

The Case of the Missing Turtles
Mallika Ravikumar
Speaking Tiger Books, 2024
Genre : Children's Fiction


This is the second book in the M4 series. If the first was a crime thriller, this one is an environmental thriller as the title suggests.

Mirchi is approached by Shimplya whose father has been arrested for smuggling turtles by the police. Strangely enough, someone has planted a bag full of river turtles on his boat while the fisherman only ventures out to the sea to catch fish. So who has done it becomes a case for the M4 to solve. 

Step in NGOs that protect wildlife, the M4 and the readers are schooled on which are protected wild life and which are not in India,the Asian wildlife smuggling network and how children are used in it. As the M4 investigate pet shops, they are shocked by how easily the pet shop owners are able to access protected wildlife 

The writing is crisp, fast paced and provides awareness of wildlife law in India. It also provides awareness about police arrests and the legal procedure for getting bail. 

While there is a happy ending, it shocks  the reader how commonplace wild life smuggling is in India.   

To buy the book go here Speaking Tiger Books

Book Review : The Bangkok Girl

 

The Bangkok Girl 
by 
Sean O'Leary
Level Best Books, 2025
Genre: Fiction


Lee Jenson is a schizophrenic Australian private investigator living in Bangkok, Thailand. He is hired by an Australian family to find their missing daughter Zoe who disappeared in Bangkok. When Jenson accepts the case, the reader is in for a surprise.  As Jenson acts like a pit-bull with a never give up attitude, he is forced to go against the sex trafficking ring in Thailand, the Yakuza -Japanese mafia and the international network of sex traffickers who use drugs to keep the girls into the business. Does he find Zoe ? Does he fall in love? Who is the Bangkok girl?

Zipping across Bangkok, Tokyo and Hong Kong, effortlessly, the story is told realistically and without judgement. How do tourists become sex slaves? Is it ignorance or something else? It is a strange narrative that there is no exaggeration and you feel almost resigned to the fate of the girls trafficked except the protagonist doesn't give up. Lee is one heck of a character and keeps making you read. 

O'Leary narrative style is clean, the writing crisp and well paced as he takes you on a ride filled with twists, turns and surprises. If you want to know who the Bangkok girl is, read the book to find out. 

To buy the book, get it here Amazon