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
