Mysterious Incidents At Lone Rock

Rajendra Pillai,

Krishna Pillai

3.39 · Rating details · 18 ratings · 5 reviews

Professor Rich Harrison and his colleague from India Chinni Roy have been invited for a relaxing weekend at Lone Rock, an estate in the country owned by an female friend of Rich's. While Rich anticipates the trip, Chinni is thinking about murder. That's not surprising. After all, he was a police detective in India, so he's always prepared for the worst, carrying his detect ...more

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Paperback, 256 pages

Published January 18th 2008 by Heartsong Presents

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Nov 13, 2020 J.Aleksandr Wootton rated it liked it

I liked this book in spite of itself.

We can admit the title is bland. Would never have picked it up if I hadn't attended a professional writing seminar taught by the author some 25 years ago.

The story itself was well-put-together, especially from a technical standpoint. Structurally, the events play out just right to keep the reader engaged and guessing, with various confounding factors turning up to shift the balance of the equation. Our main sleuth, Chinni Roy, is an engaging character. I woul ...more

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Mar 05, 2011 Bev rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery, academic-mystery, cozy, historical-mystery, mount-tbr-2012

"A murder--it is like a math problem, you see." ~Chinni Roy

In Mysterious Incidents at Lone Rock by Rajendra Pillai, Chinni Roy, a visiting scholar and former police detective from India, gets the chance to prove his theories about murder. He and his host, Professor Rich Harrison, are invited to spend a "relaxing" weekend in the country at the home of the university's Dean, Roberta Glasson. Roberta is a long-time friend of Harrison's and has arranged a house party at her estate, Lone Rock. Includ "A murder--it is like a math problem, you see." ~Chinni Roy

In Mysterious Incidents at Lone Rock by Rajendra Pillai, Chinni Roy, a visiting scholar and former police detective from India, gets the chance to prove his theories about murder. He and his host, Professor Rich Harrison, are invited to spend a "relaxing" weekend in the country at the home of the university's Dean, Roberta Glasson. Roberta is a long-time friend of Harrison's and has arranged a house party at her estate, Lone Rock. Included in the party are other friends of Roberta's as well as Sir Melvin and Lady Martha Ellington--British diplomats. Sir Melvin is a strongly (and adversely) opinionated man whose colonial outlook and abrasive comments soon manage to offend just about everyone in the house party.

A snow storm hits and before the first night is over, Lady Martha will confide to Rich and Roy that she believes her husband is trying to poison her. Later that same night, a gunshot rings out. Sir Melvin is dead and Lady Martha is standing over him with the gun in her hand. Did she shoot in self-defense? Or should they believe her story of an intruder who thrust the gun into her hand as she stood dazed? The police are called in and Chinni begins constructing his math problem--lining up the facts and the variables in neat, orderly algebraic formulas. But can a detective really solve for Y and come up with Mr. or Ms. X? And what if there are too many variables to allow for a sensible solution?

Pillai's book is quite a mix--a Christian cozy with academic overtones. No violence onstage and no strong language or gore. The setting and the set-up show strong influences from Agatha Christie--from the snowbound house party to the foreign detective insisting on order and method. Not quite emphasizing the working of the "little grey cells," but the echoes are definitely there. And Harrison most assuredly plays the part of Captain Hastings or Watson to the detective. Never quite seeing all there is to be seen and offering up solutions of his own that aren't quite right. There are plenty of red herrings and twist and turns to satisfy the fans of Golden-Age-style mysteries. It looks (from my brief researches on the internet) that this book (pub. 2008) is the author's only foray into the mystery genre. That's a shame. This is a good solid outing and the character of Chinni has great promise. I would have enjoyed seeing a series and the development of the detective. Three stars for a very nice debut mystery.

This review was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks. ...more

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Mar 29, 2014 Ken Bickley rated it liked it

This was apparently projected to be the first in a series of Chinni Roy mysteries, but no others have yet been published (to my knowledge). The author, a pastor, has combined Christian testimony with a murder mystery in an engaging story that could, perhaps, have been better written. Still, as noted, it will hold your attention and keep you guessing right to the end. His Hindu detective, Chinni Roy, is an interesting character who may yet be converted to Christianity. All in all, I liked it.

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Dec 09, 2009 Rose rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery, fiction, read-in-2009, rh17-11-5000-miles-away, 2017-read-hard, hard-copy-book

The Good: Gentle mystery. Kept me trying to guess what was significant about certain clues. Excellent job with the distractors. A real eye-popper at the end.

The Bad: Some things seemed to be forced into the story -- almost as an afterthought.

The Ugly: Nothing ugly about this one.

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Aug 02, 2008 joyce lynn rated it really liked it

good mystery w/ lots of twists and unexpected turns. the murderer is definitely NOT who you think it is!

book/character style of figuring out "whodunit" reminds me of Peter Falk and the old Columbo series

would read more by this author ...more

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